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COMENTED NOWADAYS LIBRARY

Re-thinking human fragility

Ética de la Dependencia
Enrique Bonete Perales
Editorial Tecnos
Madrid, 2009; 209 Págs.

Author of the comentary: Enelis Baena Martínez

Index de Enfermería [Index Enferm] 2011; 20(1-2): 144

The quick increase of the hope for life expectancy registered in the last century has been followed by a drastic rise in the number of dependent people. The Spanish National Health System has been a witness of how this huge amount of patients has flood Doctors Practices and hospitals during the past decades probably because the problem has not been faced by the use of the proper resources.
    Although the medical techniques and procedures are strictly necessary in dependency cases, once the patient has been diagnosed, it is extremely hard for the emergency and practical medical services to take care of the needs of the dependency patients and their relatives. For example it usually hasn't paid so much attention (it is usually unnoticed) to the fact that the dependency patients are not able to take care of themselves not even physically and morally.
    The recent law for dependency (Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for Dependent Persons) which took effect in 2006 has been created as response to all this problems. Such proposals are usually specified in form of care descriptions for dependent people that must be justified and reasoned in a proper way constituting a real challenge for politicians and professionals of caring: nurses who actually lead this process of transforming ideas into practical reality.
    A further knowledge of this new reality is of great importance and can be considered one of the pillars of our welfare state thus appointing us a leading role.
    "Ethics of dependency" is based on the mentioned law and shows and analyses at the same time the basis and contexts through different dimensions (ethical, social, healthcare, political) to offer them as useful tools to be advised (to take into account) in order to support our experience and help us to take position giving sense (matching) to our professional criteria.
     It is a deep analysis about the 'ethics of care' through the different branches of knowledge, including History, and considering the view of distinguished authors from the past to nowadays (Kant, Rawls...). The premises are stated from a practical and simple point of view; hence, this argument is essential for nurses due to the fact that nursing, rather than a profession, is a vocation, which needs to find out its mission day by day. From all this, it can be disclosed some ways to approach to the optimal and ideal care described by law, to turn it possible and real.
    Despite the mentioned work uses the dependency law as a background and reveals it to us, the ultimate intention of the author is to lead us to reflect and rise our professional rigor as nurses and the role that we play in the society as citizens that are used to treat with patients and consequently, have a deeper conscience of the human vulnerability.
    In spite of the large improvement represented by all arguments exposed, we shouldn't forget that we actually are halfway through this important issue and only by establishing solid foundations we will enable the achievement of efficient solutions to be carried out by future nurse generations.

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