The two clinical consultation experiences were juxtaposed, contrasted,
questioned, related, and synthesized to envision their unified
contribution to the construct of "clinical." The synthetic construct of
"clinical" is not viewed as a mere juxtaposing, a disintegrating, or
reconstructing of the contributions {108} to my knowing from either of
these experiences. This comparison is viewed as a facing of the
multiplicities they both present. The synthesis is an illumination of
both experiences with each transfigured through their mutual presence in
the "knowing place" of the comparer.[17]
In this comparison my appreciation grew of how I had uniquely
implemented and conceptualized clinical consultation in my work
experience. I recognized through the comparison that adequate clinical
consultation demands both a passionate and dispassionate phase of
"I-Thou" and "I-It" relating. Without either of these forms of
consultant being-in-the-situation we degrade the term "clinical" if we
employ it. Consultation lends itself naturally to a collaborative
cooperative relationship. The consultant is dependent on the consultee
for presentation of the specifics of particular situations. The
consultee is dependent on the consultant for the tailoring of general
knowledge to the consultees' particular situations. The relationship if
appropriately called consultation is then of necessity interdependent.
In being separate from the other while feeling with the other the
consultant does not lose the ability to question. Passion undealt with
or identification with the consultee inhibits the clinical purpose of
the consultant and of the consultation. In identification one feels as
if he were the other, rather than turning to the other and feeling with
him. The degree of anxiety this provokes in the consultant can prevent
looking at the consultation situation and issues in an "I-It" manner.
The consultant loses the ability to question.
Through this comparison I was able to reflect on the graduate student
nursing consultation experience in an "I-It" way. At this time it became
a "clinical" experience for me. The lack of this reflective phase in
this experience highlighted the reflective phase already existent in the
working clinical consultation experience. The existence of this phase in
the working clinical consultation experience highlighted its absence in
the graduate student nursing consultation experience. My commonplace
nursing world through this comparison became awarely meaningful and
availed itself for conceptualization. A situation is not a "clinical"
experience until the "would be" clinician can reflect, analyze,
categorize, and synthesize it.