This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Arber, A. Articles by Gallagher, A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Arber, A. Articles by Gallagher, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Generosity and the Moral Imagination in the Practice of Teamwork

University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, a.arber{at}surrey.ac.uk

Ann Gallagher

University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

In this article we discuss generosity, a virtue that has received little attention in relation to nursing practice. We make a distinction between material generosity and generosity of spirit. The moral imagination is central to our analysis of generosity of spirit. We discuss data taken from a team meeting and identify the components of generosity, for example, the role of the moral imagination in interrupting value judgements, protecting the identity of the chronically ill patient through use of the psychosocial format, and displaying empathetic maturity. The talk of the team enables us to understand and make visible the link between generosity, moral imagination and identity construction. The topic of generosity, although contextualized in a UK setting, has relevance to other cultural contexts.

Key Words: generosity • moral imagination • reputation • teamwork • virtue ethics

Nursing Ethics, Vol. 16, No. 6, 775-785 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0969733009343134


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?