Attributing meaning to ecological, planetary, collective, and environmental care according to a complex thinking stragegy

Abstract

The objective of this qualitative-interpretive study was to comprehend the meaning of ecological, planetary, collective, and environmental care among nursing professionals employing complex thinking strategies. The study originated from a Master's Thesis developed and carried out in a University Hospital in Santa Catarina. Its participants included nurses, nursing technicians, and assistant nurses in a clinical surgery unit. The data originated from workshops carried out through an educational, reflexive, and interpretative process. Using content analysis, the category Ecological/ Planetary/ Collective/ Environmental Care was designated. The study developed the idea that being aware of such care is basically an individual process; nevertheless it is also collective once each individual action is directed towards achieving totality in care for humanity and the environment which shelters it. It is necessary and important to think and rethink individual daily practices related to the environment and consider that the individual conduct reflects the collective product. All human beings are responsible for an ecological, planetary, collective, and environmental care, since we all depend on it for our survival. Caring for the ecosystem is also a nursing care, since environmental problems can represent potential healthcare hazards. Preventing environmental damage and diagnosing current problems are important nursing actions which permit the allocation of priorities and the designation of strategies in healthcare management. An integrative vision approach of the human-nature and healthcare-environment binomials is the only way to establish a complex healthcare relationship.