New book explores the relationship between humanities and nursing

Associate professor Dr. Graham McCaffrey (PhD’12) has combined his knowledge of nursing and the importance of the humanities to the profession in his recently published book Nursing and Humanities (Routledge, January 2020). 

While long used in nursing education, research and theory, there has been no in-depth exploration of the humanities and their relationship to nursing.

“I felt that an examination of the role of the humanities in complex nursing knowledge was overdue,” explains McCaffrey, whose research interests include mental health and Buddhism, and using literature in education. 

“I began with a survey of the history of the humanities in nursing in comparison with medical humanities and in the context of the emergence of interdisciplinary health humanities. I look at ways in which history, art, literature and philosophy give us creative ways of understanding what makes for the best kind of nursing care at the moment of person-to-person contact."

McCaffrey joined UCalgary Nursing in 2012 and was associate dean, undergraduate programs for three years; he is also a member of the Humanities Health Committee in the Cumming School of Medicine. He continues to look at the interface between nursing and humanities, for example, in hermeneutics research and in studying poetry for how it can generate insights into nursing experience.

The book is intended for anyone interested in the blending of humanities and nursing, particularly nurse academics and graduate students studying nursing theory and qualitative research methods. It is available now in hardcover or e-book form.