Ankana Spekkink (MA)

"It all seems so perfectly organised, the care system, all tightly tied together by protocols and guidelines. Technology is creating ever more possibilities, making it possible to detect more and more diseases at an early stage. Increasing numbers of people are being diagnosed and then presented with medication and elaborate treatments. Disease is something that needs to be fought, and vulnerability and dependence don’t seem to have much of a place in our society anymore.

My experiences while I was training to be a nurse and my personal experience with caring for a relative left me with an increasing number of questions about care. I discovered that giving and receiving care is a complex matter in which following protocols and performing interventions to the letter does not necessarily constitute good care. But what is the source of that dissatisfaction? Why does the care system, in my experience and that of many others, fail? I wanted to explore this further and to put my feeling of discontent into words, so I searched for follow-up education, and found Care Ethics and Policy. It’s a programme that seamlessly connects to my desire for reflection and contemplation with regard to care and what caring means for both the giver and receiver of care.

Together with lecturers and fellow students, I learned to put words to my dissatisfaction through critical reflection, argumentation and looking at care practices from other perspectives. Many of the students have a lot of experience in care or welfare work, so we could learn a lot from each other’s practical experiences. The lecturers are passionate and quickly sweep you up in their enthusiasm for better care and for thinking about care on micro, meso and macro levels.

Through this programme, I gained a clear understanding of what I consider to be good care, and I hope to contribute to realising it. I hope that society will start to reflect on the power of caring for each other, and how we can give shape to that in a humane and dignified manner. Care will always be a relevant matter, as something that happens every day and all around us. Whether that care is always good care is something that I believe should continue to be questioned."

Ankana Spekkink, Apeldoorn Municipal Health Service nurse, completed the Master programme of Care Ethics: 'Care will always be a relevant matter, as something that happens every day and all around us. Whether that care is always good care is something that I believe should continue to be questioned.'