Department of Caring and Ethics

The department’s main objective is to develop and disseminate interdisciplinary knowledge of care and ethics, to assure high quality, sound practice and considerate help in health services.

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Facts
Employees

67

Head of Department

Kine Gjesdal

Ph.d. fellows

4

Find an employee

Academic staff

Visiting address

Kjell Arholms building, Kjell Arholms gate 43

Head of Department
51834143
Faculty of Health Sciences
Department of Caring and Ethics

About the department

Jordmor med mor og barn på barsel
Photo: Elisabeth Tønnessen

The department contributes to educating reflected and highly qualified professional practitioners, and shall be an arena where questions and dilemmas relevant to care and ethics are explored and challenged. Our approach to these issues is based on the understanding that relating to people in vulnerable situations and their basic existential conditions is constitutive for professional practice.

We identify bases and terms for health and care work and understand these as connections between bodily, emotional and existential experiences and conditions in culture and society. We explore subjective experiences of health, illness and suffering in all phases of life, and emphasise dialogic meetings between patients, professionals and next of kin.

The department has competence spanning theoretical and clinical specialisation, interdisciplinary, critical and innovative approaches to care and ethics, and method development.

Research areas at the department:

  • Bases for and terms of care in today’s welfare
  • Health, suffering and life phenomena
  • Nursing science – theoretical and clinical
  • Professional development in relational work
  • Care ethics, ethical practices in health and care services
  • Qualitative method development