Nurse Education in Practice 13 (2013) e11
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Nurse Education in Practice journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/nepr
Book review
Healing Presence: the Essence of Nursing, JoEllen Koerner, sec- ond ed. Springer Publishing Company, New York (2011).
The major premise in this thought provoking book is that nurs- ing is sacred work dedicated to the service of others, and requires a nurse’s deliberate commitment to inner spiritual growth to achieve a healing presence with patients. Healing presence de- scribes the feminine energy and receptivity part of nursing’s heri- tage, which offers limitless possibilities for a nurse’s self enhancement through an inward spiritual journey, the results of which, in turn, contribute to and facilitate a patient’s self healing. This book invites deep personal/professional reflection on the nurse, the nurse–patient relationship, and the profession’s future direction. Its step-by-step approach guides such reflection from a multi-cultural global perspective.
An audience of experienced nurse clinicians and educators will discover practical application of healing presence’s evolutionary link to nursing science and art evident in the practical values guide, the professional development analysis and the leadership develop- ment analysis. In science, the nurse employs the ‘evaluator’ aspect of analytic thought; in art, the nurse ‘interprets’ abstract percep- tions and pattern recognition; and in healing presence, active receptivity permits the nurse to ‘witness’ the patient/person’s inner healing resources. Witnessing implies that the nurse’s own spir- itual journey provides personal knowledge of and belief in the pa- tient’s inner healing resources, and results in expanded conscious awareness, which transcends analysis and perception. This expanded consciousness, essential to healing