Touching the void – taking decisions and finding solutions

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EDITORIAL

JCHC

Touching the void – taking decisions and finding solutions BERNIE CARTER

Journal of Child Health Care Copyright © 2004 SAGE Publications London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi Vol 8(2) 90–91 DOI: 10.1177/1367493504041860

Editor of the Journal of Child Health Care Professor of Children’s Nursing, Department of Nursing University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

Keywords

complex needs decision making solutions ●

●

Back in 1985 in a remote part of the Peruvian Andes, Joe Simpson made probably the biggest decision of his life. Alone, injured and with no hope of being rescued from deep within a crevasse, Joe decides that since he can’t climb up out of the crevasse his only hope is to descend deeper into it. His decision takes him away from the light and truly into the unknown: a seemingly crazy, impossible decision. A wrong decision. However, this decision, along with a dogged determination to survive meant that he was able to escape the crevasse and crawl back down the glacier to base camp. His story made news headlines, a book and more recently a film. So what has Joe Simpson got to do with child health care? Nothing at all. Everything. The essence of Joe’s story is that he had two choices (1) not making a decision (and staying where he was) or (2) making a decision (albeit one that could have compounded his already grim situation). The point is he made a decision; he acted. He appraised the situation, saw a possible solution and wasn’t satisfied with the status quo. I’m currently working with some brilliant, courageous, innovative people – parents, social workers, health professionals, teachers, and voluntary workers. All of these people are working to ensure that children with complex needs get the resources, services, support and information they need. The single thing that sets them apart is that on an almost daily basis they are making small but vitally important decisions to act differently. Often each decision means stepping into the unknown by challenging protocols that don’t work and practices that don’t meet the needs of the children and their families. In their own ways they are leaving the comfort of the status quo and climbing into the unknown territory. Each time they do this, they are acting as trail-blazers. They are showing the

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CARTER: TOUCHING THE VOID . . .

systems within which they work, that they are not confined and constrained, and that they have the imagination and drive to make things better. They are not mavericks or unthinking risk takers, they are people working reflexively and with courage. They don’t always achieve their goals. They are often frustrated. They want to be able to do more. But they continue to try. Like Joe, they’re not happy with the status quo. They might not actually be abseiling into the maw of a seemingly bottomless crevasse – but some days, it probably feels like that.

References Simpson, J. (1988) Touching the Void. London: Vintage.

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