bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rapture and Suffering with Technology in Nursing
Authors: Locsin Rozzano C.
Published: September 2018

Technology has shaped human life. As technology has become increasingly sophisticated philosophers, such as Heidegger, have pondered the worth of its influence on the quality and duration of life. Concerns about technology encompass the experiences of persons whose lives depend upon technologies and the experiences of those persons who care for them. Accompanying the rapture of technologies in nursing is the consequent suffering or the price of advancing dependency with technologies that critically influence contemporary human lives. With increased use of technologies and ensuing technological dependency experienced by recipients of care, the imperative is to provide technological competency as caring in nursing, guided by a formalized practice model such as the technological competency as caring in nursing theory.
Student Paper
Authors: McCluskey Kaitlyn
Published: September 2018

The recipient of the Droesbeke Caring Award attended the 2005 International Association for Human Caring (IAHC) meeting at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Kaitlyn McCluskey reflects on the application of caring sciences to her practice during her first year as a professional nurse.
The Prescriptive Power of Caring for Self: Women in Recovery from Substance Use Disorders
Authors: Lange Bernadette
Published: September 2018

Although nurses have considerable knowledge about the health promotion practices of caring for self, little is known about women with substance use disorders and their patterns of self care. Leininger’s (1991) ethnonursing method is used to understand the culture care value and beliefs of women during addiction and recovery. Both etic and emic views contribute to a reflective analysis of the field experience and guide interpretation of life ways expressed by women in the study. Themes concerning the women’s pain and suffering, and their culture care beliefs of caring for self are discussed: relieving the pain, relieving the stress of addiction and recovery, and relieving the guilt of harming others.
Becoming Through Suffering—The Path to Health and Holiness
Authors: Eriksson Katie
Published: September 2018

The mission of caring is the alleviation of human suffering and the serving of life and health. This article addresses continually relevant questions within the field of caring science: What is holiness? Which path do humans take to entity and holiness—the path of health and suffering? and What is the significance of caring? Humans’ inner ethos, the fundamental value of life and ability to adhere to ethos, forms the dynamic movement toward entity and holiness. Humans bear within themselves an everlasting desire for love and communion, to be able to participate in the “original drama.”
Achieving Compassionate Excellence: A Cooperative Accelerated BSN Program
Authors: Starck Patricia L.
Published: September 2018

This article describes an educational innovation whereby two independent, neighboring schools of nursing developed a cooperative program with each school teaching half the courses in an accelerated baccalaureate nursing program for second career students. The model was designed to increase enrollment and share faculty resources, thereby addressing the nursing shortage. The new curriculum was built on the caring framework and philosophies of each institution and then melded to create more than the sum of its parts. Lessons learned describe challenges encountered and solutions found. Finally, thought is given to the future evolution of a program dedicated to compassionate excellence.
Grounding Nursing Simulations in Caring: An Innovative Approach
Authors: Eggenberger Terry L.
Published: September 2018

Nursing is a discipline of knowledge and a field of professional practice grounded in caring (Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Philosophy, 2005). Simulation in nursing education generally does not take an approach that recognizes the unique individual who is dynamically interconnected with others and the environment in a caring relationship. The challenge has been to develop simulation scenarios that integrate and appreciate multiple ways of knowing in nursing. This paper describes a process for assuring that the learning of nursing using simulation technology is grounded in caring.
Caring Scholar Response To: Grounding Nursing Simulations in Caring
Authors: Locsin Rozzano C.
Published: September 2018

Two critical attributes in simulation technology are artificiality and realism. These attributes are successfully blurred in high fidelity simulations as outlined by Eggenberger and Keller in their description of a nursing curriculum on caring. Knowing persons as a process of nursing founded in caring is critical to understanding this innovative approach. Technological knowing in nursing describes the person through technological competency. Use of high fidelity simulation technologies in nursing education in the future must include educating faculty in appropriate ways of teaching with the technology and accurately replicating the clinical practice experience of human care.
Beyond On-Line: Enhancing Caring and Professional Practice in Nursing Education
Authors: Gabbert Wrennah L.
Published: September 2018

The nursing shortage is increasing and on-line learning has become an attractive recruitment tool in a competitive marketplace. The study investigated current nursing students’ perceptions of their interactions with instructors in on-line nursing courses using the Organizational Climate of Caring Questionnaire (Hughes, 1993). Relationships with demographic factors of age, professional and on-line learning experience, and type of program were also explored. The outcomes of this study support the use of Watson’s human caring theory to facilitate the evolution of on-line nursing education pedagogy.
Self-Care for Caring Practice: Student Nurses’ Perspectives
Authors: Chow, Jean , Kalischuk, Ruth Grant
Published: September 2018

This study took place in Western Canada; it examined undergraduate nursing students’ self-care behaviors. The researchers developed a 27-item questionnaire asking students about sleep, exercise, diet, fluid intake, weight, checkups, relaxation, complementary therapy use, alcohol intake, health goals, and smoking habits. Of 330 degree, diploma, and post-diploma nursing students, 211 students responded to the questionnaire. The majority of students reported that they engaged in health-promoting selfcare behaviors. However, it seems that busy schedules often prevented students from having enough sleep, fluid, exercise, and self-care activities. The majority of the students reported that they used complementary therapies.
Effect of Sacred Space Environment on Surgical Patient Outcomes: A Pilot Study
Authors: Schmock, Barbara Nabreski , Breckenridge, Diane M. , Benedict, Karen
Published: September 2018

This study’s purpose was to create an alternative to the traditional environment for surgical patients in the operating room (OR). Acaring-healing environment with nurse caring behaviors was designed according to Watson’s theory of human caring. Aposttest only design with comparison group was employed. The sacred space environment combined soft lighting, warmth, selected music, and an art mural in an OR. Data were collected on 50 patients in the comparison group and 50 patients in the experimental group using the Sacred Space Assessment Instrument. Results showed that a statistically significant difference existed when perception of sacred space and perception of nurse caring were compared by group. However, no statistically significant difference resulted on patient satisfaction by group.
A Clinical Retrospective on Nurse-to-Nurse Caring
Authors: Roberts, Deborah , Morton, Teresa
Published: September 2018

This narrative of practice illuminates the manifestation of nurse-to-nurse caring. As clinical leaders, the authors witnessed nurses assuming shared accountability and responsibility consistent with the values of the profession. Perhaps one magnetizes into their lives whatever one holds dear in thought. The authors esteem and are in awe of the basic goodness of nurse-to-nurse caring within the clinical practice environment. The utility of Jean Watson’s caring theory provides an established structure and language to describe and support the reminiscence. Failure to chronicle and make explicit the concept of caring across the multigenerational workforce renders nurses’ efforts, investments, and contributions invisible to others. Such insight may be particularly salient at this time for nurses, patients, and leaders within today’s complex healthcare system.
The Drama of Suffering As Narrated By Patients Who Have Undergone Coronary Bypass Surgery
Authors: Wiklund-Gustin, Lena , Eriksson, Katie
Published: September 2018

The struggle with suffering can be said to be at the center of what can metaphorically be described as a drama. The study aims to establish whether the drama of suffering is conducted on different levels of health and suffering, and if so, to describe this suffering. Data were analyzed using a narrative hermeneutic approach. The analysis revealed four types of drama of suffering. They are described in terms of tragic, romantic, satiric, or comic drama. The differences between them relate to different levels of health and suffering and to what the sufferer has to sacrifice to relieve suffering.
Hurting at Work: The Lived Experience of Older Nurses
Authors: Letvak Susan
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenologic study was to describe the experiences of older nurses who work with their own health problem of depression and/or musculoskeletal pain. The study was guided by Mayeroff’s framework of caring. Fourteen nurses over the age of 50 participated in in-depth face-to-face interviews. Analysis was guided by Moustakas’ phenomenological method. Four major themes emerged from the nurses’ voices: A Daily Struggle, My Practice of Nursing Changed, Learning To Cope, and Team Support. Study findings demonstrate the need for increased caring for nurses who work with their own health problems and have spent their careers caring for others.
Electronic Documentation and the Caring Nurse-Patient Relationship
Authors: Spencer Julie A.
Published: September 2018

Caring behaviors demonstrated by the nurse facilitate the nurse-patient relationship and may ultimately promote healing. In already crowded curricula, nursing educators strive to incorporate the concept of caring. Moreover, today’s complex, information-driven healthcare climate calls upon educators to prepare students to use information and document care appropriately, often in an electronic format. Although seemingly disparate, high-tech documentation and technology can augment and support aspects of caring in the nurse-patient relationship. This occurs through enhanced caring communication, information access, and time-saving elements demonstrated and practiced by simulation techniques. This article provides a review of technology and simulation in nursing education and discusses the use of simulation as a means to incorporate electronic documentation into the caring nurse-patient relationship.
Teaching Caring Nursing to RN-BSN Students Using Simulation Technology
Authors: Blum Cynthia Ann
Published: September 2018

Teaching caring in nursing is critical to nursing practice. Nineteen RN-BSN students completed the Caring Behaviors Inventory in a pre-testlpost-test research design. The technological competency as caring in nursing theory supported the simulation intervention. The findings of the study revealed nurse caring behaviors increased post-intervention. The caring behavior “attentively listening to the patient” received highest starting and ending means. The caring dimensions of positive connectedness and professional knowledge and skill corresponded to the highest and lowest weighted means. The study provides quantitative support for teaching caring nursing and influencing nurse caring behaviors using simulation technology. Nursing implications are discussed.
Incorporating Cultural Diversity and Caring through Simulation in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program
Authors: Haas Beth
Published: September 2018

Cultural competency is a national healthcare goal for baccalaureate nursing programs. Students care for patients from diverse populations with varying cultural backgrounds. In recent years, simulation has enabled educators to impact students’ worldview by introducing them to different perspectives that exist within different cultures. Simulation provides opportunities that incorporate exposure to religious relics, dietary restrictions, language concerns, family dynamics, and communication skills in a clinical environment. These concepts are essential to nursing education and simulation technology allow students to become aware of humanistic components of caring.
A Call to Christian Health Ministry: Being God’s Agent
Authors: Shrubsole Judi
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this study was to discover the engagement process when Christian faith communities and public health nurses build healthier communities. A narrative inquiry was used as the conceptual framework to discover the processes that guided 24 nurses, pastors, and congregants to engage in building healthier communities. Over half of the participants indicated they became engaged as collaborators because of a call to health ministry. They conceptualized call as a process that included “Being called to a life of faith,” “Being directed by God,” “Being God’s agent,” and “Being blessed by God.” The findings support some previous studies in which it was concluded that nurses and pastors become involved in health ministry because of God’s calling.
An Integral Nursing Education: A Stress Management and Life Balance Course
Authors: Clark, Carey S. , Pelicci, Gabrielle
Published: September 2018

Building upon a previously published article, this article examines how nursing faculty face the challenge of working with nursing students who are in stressful circumstances and who may have come from dysfunctional family backgrounds. It has been documented that nursing students need support in their personal transformative and selfcare processes in order to create sustainable caring-healing nursing practices. Hence, nursing faculty need experience in supporting students through these processes. As a proposed solution to addressing these ongoing issues in nursing curricula, outcomes from a class entitled, Stress Management and Life Balance, are examined and the challenges for implementing such an integral course within the nursing curricula are elucidated.
Realization and Development of Self in CAM Nurses and CAM Treatment: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Johannessen, Berit
Published: September 2018

This article presents and discusses how nurses express the importance of self-development and self-realization through Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The theoretical perspective is twofold: nursing and cultural science. Cultural science includes CAM in New Age and allows for a critical analysis of the actual phenomenon. Qualitative research interviews were conducted. Four subcategories emerged: (a) to work with CAM allows for self-development in the nurse, (b) the nurse’s own experience of being sick promotes self-development, (c) CAM nurses help people see their illness as an opportunity for self-development, and (d) development of self as therapy. Self-realization and development of self is a core issue in New Age and in holistic nursing; it is connected to psychological and spiritual aspects.
On Caring
Authors: Mayeroff Milton
Published: September 2018

Caring like knowing is a human activity that is intrinsically interesting, and also like knowing it is an activity whose understanding is central to the understanding of man. But unlike knowing, it has been the subject of very little philosophical reflection.1 In this paper, I point out some characteristics of caring in a way that, I hope, will suggest it as a worthy area for further inquiry. My purpose is not to try to provide a meaning of “care” that will link all usages of the word together; it is to attempt to make an important way of living a little more intelligible.
Essay: One Last Time for Mama
Authors: Birnn, Jane Taylor
Published: September 2018

This essay portrays a nurse’s journey in attempting to comprehend her mother’s dementia on a family trip to the beach.
The Art of Holding Hand: A Fieldwork Study Outlining the Significance of physical Touch in Facilities for Short-Term Stay
Authors: Bundgaard, Karin , Nielsen, Karl Brian
Published: September 2018

In a study to decrease medication administration errors (MAEs), nurses wore brightly colored sashes as a symbol that they were performing the important task of giving medications and were not to be interrupted. Situated within Watson's (2005a) caritas theory, the study gave nurses the opportunity to “center” themselves to enhance focus and concentration on medication administration. While nurses appreciated the opportunity to concentrate on administering medications without interruptions by other staff or phone calls, they worried that patient care coordination, for which they were responsible, was suffering. Interventions focused on enhancing safety of a single task may be incongruent with total patient-centered care.
Between Nuring, Caring, and Technology: Being Alive is More Than Having a Beating Heart
Authors: Powers-Jarvis, Robin S.
Published: September 2018

Nurses are often faced with the challenge of reconciling what is seen and believed regarding life with what is popular and commonly known by biomedical science. Faced with this philosophical, ethical, and moral dilemma, nurses can use many of the philosophical viewpoints grounding nursing science and its practice to assist in the reconciliation to this life-death issue. Using various perspectives and reflecting on Boykin and Schoenhofer’s theory of nursing as caring, this article addresses the question whether the presence of a beating heart is a sufficient determining factor to declare that a person is “alive,” influencing the reconciliation of technologic, caring, and nursing perspectives on health and human care. In essence, “Is a beating heart tantamount to being alive?”
The Influence of Film on the Empathy Ratings of Nursing Students
Authors: Briggs, Crista L. , Abell, Cathy H.
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the effects of viewing the feature film Wit on the empathy ratings of nursing students. The Jefferson Scale of empathy (JSE) was used to measure nursing students’ empathy levels. findings suggest a statistically significant increase in empathy scores in the experimental group from pre-test to post-test #1 (t = 2.60; p = 0.0133) and also from pre-test to post-test #2 (t = 2.10; p = 0.0424). In this study, the experience of viewing the film, as opposed to classroom teaching alone, enhanced student empathy ratings.
STUDENT PAPER: Patient Participation
Authors: Maslowski Julia
Published: September 2018

To ensure effective management of Canadian healthcare system resources, increasing demands are placed on patients to become further engaged in their health. The registered nurse (RN) must understand the complex factors that influence the provision of meaningful care to successfully work in partnership with patients. ray’s (1989) theory of bureaucratic caring provides a valuable framework through which patient participation may be explored utilizing the social, ethical, and political variables from this theory. The importance of patient engagement with implications for the patient, RN, healthcare team, and larger healthcare system are examined.
Changing Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs via an Immersion Experience
Authors: Diesel, Holly J. , Taliaferro, Donna L.
Published: September 2018

The human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic has heightened recognition that nurses are the gatekeepers to healthcare in Africa. Building nursing capacity has been identified as critical. This study measured knowledge acquisition, attitude, and belief change regarding care in American nursing students of HIV patients and compared the effect of international travel and cultural immersion on the same criteria. A quasi-experimental, longitudinal study surveyed nursing students at three points in time. Statistically significant changes in scores demonstrated greater willingness to provide care and moderate knowledge improvement occurred. The study indicated that international travel contributes to greater changes in attitudes and beliefs and improved knowledge retention.
Patient and Nurse Perceptions of Caring in Rural United States
Authors: Sossong, Ann , Poirier, Patricia
Published: September 2018

Focus on patient-centered care requires adaptation to patient perceptions according to the Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2001) report, Crossing the Quality Chasm. True patient-centered care necessitates congruence in patient and nurse perceptions of caring. Wolf et al.’s (2006) Caring Behaviors Inventory – elderly was administered to patients and nurses to determine differences in their perceptions of caring. There were statistically significant differences between patient and nurse ratings on several caring behaviors in specialty units. Since healthcare facilities assert patient-centered care is central to high quality and cost-effective care, it is critical to ensure there is congruency between patient and nurse perceptions of caring.
Using Caring-Science to Design a Healing Environment for Transradial Catheterization Recovery
Authors: Wilson, Megan , Casterline, Gayle L.
Published: September 2018

The medical approach to performing a cardiac catheterization is changing from femoral artery to radial artery access. This technique radically changes patient recovery, as patients can sit up immediately following the procedure, ambulate almost immediately post procedure, and may recover in their street clothes. Nursing care and the healing environment was reframed using Watson’s (2008) theory of human caring to enhance patient outcomes and to improve nursing quality indicators for patients undergoing a transradial catheterization and recovery. The design of a radial recovery lounge or cath café was undertaken using a theory-guided nursing approach to create a holistic caring-healing environment.
Tranquility Room Study: Caring Perspectives
Authors: Gonzalez, Roxana , Pizzi, Jillian , Thomas, Sabratha , Cooper, Kristin , Clyne, Mary Ellen
Published: September 2018

A tranquility room in the nursing environment can serve as a self-reflective sanctuary. Self-reflection is essential to gain a true sense of authenticity and service to others (Pipe & Bortz, 2009). Telemetry nurses participated in a qualitative research study based on grounded theory and the theory of human caring. Caring perspective themes relating to the wellness of the mind, body, and spirit were identified. Fostering a supportive patient-centered environment the tranquility room facilitated a presence of self. Nurses are able to nurture and relate caring in their relationships with colleagues and patients when provided with the opportunity for self-care and reflection.
Paterson and Zderad’s Humanistic Nursing Theory: Concepts and Applications
Authors: Wolf, Zane Robinson , Bailey, Denise Nagle
Published: September 2018

This continuing education article analyzes Paterson and Zderad’s humanistic nursing theory. It examines its origins by exploring early publications and investigates the theory’s major concepts. The article determines the influence of humanistic nursing theory on the development of caring theories and its application to research, nursing education, and patient care situations. Humanistic nursing theory has been applied to nursing research, education, and clinical practice. Its utility for understanding and analyzing relational encounters in healthcare settings continues and is significant.
Music in Clinical Care
Authors: Nyström Maria
Published: September 2018

This study describes elemental components of musical activities in clinical care. Caregivers from different professions who all use music as a caring or therapeutic tool were interviewed about the purpose and outcome of various elements in their own practice. The elements described were interpreted as active or receptive, structured, or improvised. Both structured and improvised elements were found to be necessary in order to achieve a reciprocity between activity and reception. The discussion highlights the importance of also including a theory of care in the musical activity.
STUDENT PAPER: Nursing is Separate from Medicine
Authors: Rosa William E.
Published: September 2018

Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) quickly learn they are being prepared for a bureaucratic environment indifferent to their history as a separate profession, unique in its contributions of human caring. APRNs are expected to fulfill the role of hospitalist, perform functions reserved previously for physicians, and expand the scope of nursing into the realm of medicine. There is a sacred opportunity to merge the theoretical underpinnings of the discipline with the clinical realities of the profession, for bedside and advanced practice alike. A transpersonal plan of care between nurse and patient has the potential to heal both parties within an intersubjective field of mutuality and context of human caring science. The evolutionary expectation of nursing can only be met if there is clear identification of the nurse within the APRN role and a rediscovery of human caring as the underlying foundation of practice.
State of the Science of Nursing Presence Revisited: Knowledge for Preserving Nursing Presence Capability
Authors: Turpin, Rebecca L.
Published: September 2018

Nursing presence has been a central focus for theorists, researchers, educators, and practicing professional nurses for over a half a century. Knowledge development and measurement of this experience is crucial at a time when human communication is becoming more impersonal, and nursing presence capability is potentially declining. A literature search was conducted using Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and other discipline-specific databases. Extensive manual review of all relevant journals, reference lists, and additional publications were explored and synthesized. This article provides an updated state of the science report on nursing presence in regard to cross-discipline conceptual comparison, nursing theoretic model development, and instrument development.
Aesthetic Expression: Holding Heartspace
Authors: Rosa, William
Published: September 2018

… the practitioners of caring and healing require more personal work than ever before; because we practice who we are; we research who we are; we teach who we are; we live who we are. So our very Being-Becoming more human and humane is what is at stake in healing work. We emanate our presence and radiate from our heart center in a given caring moment. (Watson, 2005, p. 115)
The Specialist Breast Care Nurse Within an Online Support Community: Adding the 16th Moment of Cancer Care
Authors: Witney, Cynthia , Hendricks, Joyce , Cope, Vicki
Published: September 2018

The presence and active participation of a specialist breast care nurse, as both a member and employed health professional in an online support community, can have positive effects on the knowledge, understanding, and supportive care of online community members who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and their supporters. The nurse in this instance is a SBCN; however, other specialist nurses could undertake a similar role within other disease-specific support websites.
Compassion Fatigue and Psychological Capital in Nurses Working in Acute Care Settings
Authors: Bao, Suping , Taliaferro, Donna
Published: September 2018

Recent studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of compassion fatigue is negatively impacting both the quality of caring for patients and nurses’ professional quality of life. Psychological Capital (PsyCap) has the potential to enable nurses to be resilient and flourishing in overwhelming situations. This cross-sectional study tested the correlations between Compassion Fatigue (CF) and PsyCap. Findings of this study suggested that PsyCap was moderately to strongly negatively correlated with CF. This suggested that improving PsyCap might be a good intervention for preventing CF. The findings from this study have implications related to caring in many of the service industries.
The Lived Experience of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in a Rural Community in Northern Thailand
Authors: Danyuthasilpe, Chuleekorn , Barry, Charlotte D. , Locsin, Rozzano C.
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of community-dwelling older adults living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a rural community in Northern Thailand. The study was grounded in Parker and Barry’s model of community nursing practice model based on the concepts and values of respect, persons in their wholeness, and caring in nursing. Data were generated and analyzed using Giorgi’s phenomenological approach. Four themes were revealed: confronting a life-threatening illness, caring for self, keeping meaningful relationships, and living guided by spiritual beliefs. The meaning of the experience was synthesized as finding balance between living with a threatening illness and living meaningful lives.
Sense, Connect, Facilitate: Nurse Educator Experiences of Caring Online Through Watson’s Lens
Authors: Sitzman, Kathleen
Published: September 2018

Twenty-four nurse educators spontaneously provided rich narratives in response to an online survey that asked only for brief answers to 4 questions: Is it possible to demonstrate caring online? What cues prompt you to initiate caring interventions with students? What caring interventions do you initiate in response to those cues? How do students respond to your caring efforts? Themes encompassed within these remarkable narratives include sense, connect, and facilitate. These themes correspond to key elements in Watson’s human caring theory and provide a window into the philosophies and practices of 24 wise, intuitive, creative, and deeply caring nurse educators.
Global Perpectives of Caring: An Integrative Review
Authors: Leyva, Erwin William A. , Peralta, Arnold B. , Tejero, Lourdes Marie S. , Santos, Marinelli A.
Published: September 2018

Caring, the core of nursing practice, remains a complex and vaguely defined concept. This paper presents various attempts to define caring and factors that affect its demonstration and associated outcomes from perspectives of patients and nurses. An integrative review was conducted from literature indexed in electronic databases from 2003 to 2014. Most published articles on caring were from Western cultures with a limited number from others. Caring was defined as a set of behaviors (knowledge, attitudes, and skills) exhibited in the process and context of the nurse-patient interaction. It is influenced by personal characteristics, culture, and the general environment of the nurse and client engaged in relationship. Caring behaviors were expressed in a continuum from mere presence to the performance of competent nursing care. Caring has been known to produce client satisfaction and positive patient outcomes.
Shifting Identities: Uncovering Complexities of Psychosocial Aspects of Care for an Adolescent Child Dying at Home in Rural Aotearoa/New Zealand
Authors: Dulieu, Francie
Published: September 2018

This narrative integrates ontological and technical competencies, along with perceptions, thoughts, and emotions, thus illuminating the fragility of human-to-human relationships. It uncovers many psychosocial difficulties encountered when caring for an adolescent child at home in rural Aotearoa/New Zealand. Revealing Sophie’s “shifting identities” as she transitioned from well child, to sick child, to terminally ill child, I quietly observed Sophie’s parents and her brother, as they joined the difficult dance, stepping skillfully around her, witnessing turning points and transformations as they unfolded, along with the hard and often silent work of dying, as explored by Coyle (2006).
Helping Patients Find Meaning: A Caring Responuse to Suffering
Authors: Eifried, Sharon
Published: September 2018

This interpretive phenomenological study describes the lived experience of four nurses who shared stories depicting the ways in which they assist patients to find meaning during experiences of suffering. The themes that emerge include listening, being present, providing hope, calling forth a voice, and being a guide. Patients are assisted in their search for meaning when nurses recognize patients’ suffering and stand alongside them in a response to the call to care. Nurses guide patients with a spirit of acceptance, openness, and attunement.
An Exploration of the Meaning of Caring in Taiwan
Authors: Hsieh, Jane , Fang, Yueh-Yen , Chiang, Ling-Yu
Published: September 2018

This phenomenologic study intended to explore the meaning of caring in Taiwanese culture. With 285 informants, the research was completed using open questions during an interviewing process. Using Van Kaam’s phenomenologic method for content analysis, the following categories related to caring were explored: psychosocial domain (unconditional acceptance, empathy, genuineness, respect and treating others as family members), caring action domain (providing professional behaviors, fulfilling needs, sensational approaching, self offering, supporting, and providing a suitable environment), motivation (caring provider’s situation, receiver’s needs, reinforcing factors, and restraining factors), and provider’s and receiver’s caring responses. Relationships between categories were incorporated into a dynamic caring model.
Patient Participation Determined by Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Caring
Authors: Henderson, Saras
Published: September 2018

Patient participation has gained widespread recognition as one measure of quality care that nurses provide. In the literature, participation has been defined as patients being involved in the decision making process concerning the delivery and evaluation of their own care. Practicing nurses are of the view that paltients should participate, so that they can experience positive outcomes such as greater satisfaction with care and decreased vulnerability. Despite this view, there is literature to show that nurses do not always invite patients to participate, resulting in patient dissatisfaction. One category that emerged from a grounded theory study of patient participation, involving 33 nurses and 32 patients from acute care hospitals, has found that nurses’ attitudes toward caring determined whether they invited patients to participate in their care. This in turn affected the degree to which patients were satisfied with their care. This paper presents and discuses the findings of this one category.
An Intervention Aimed at Reducing Uncertainty in Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: Ekman, Inger , Norberg, Astrid , Lundman, Berit
Published: September 2018

The overall aim of the study was to evaluate an intervention to reduce uncertainty among elderly patients with moderate to severe chronic heart failure (CHF). Patients diagnosed as having CHF (n=158) were screened and randomly assigned to structured care (intervention) or conventional care (control). Structured care was administered in a nurse-monitored heart failure clinic and conducted in the theoretical frame of reference expressed in Leininger’s Culture Care theory. The main goal of the nursing care at the heart failure clinic was for patients to gain a greater sense of well-being and certainty through being able to recognize and monitor symptoms of deterioration and obtain information about the effects and side effects of the medication they had been prescribed. In evaluating the intervention, the Cardiovascular Population Scale, designed to measure uncertainty among patients with cardiovascular diseases and a self-report tool were used. No differences in uncertainty could be found between structured care and conventional care. The level of uncertainty during hospitalization was however significantly higher than during the follow-up period after hospitalization. The patients randomized to structured care were more satisfied with the care given than those who received conventional care. The most appreciated caring action in the heart failure clinic was comfort. It is important to develop strategies to capture the essence of what nursing interventions mean to the patients and the effects of these interventions.
Spirituality and Bone Marrow Transplantation: When Faith is Stronger Than Fear
Authors: Cohen, Marlene Zichi , Headley, Judith , Sherwood, Gwen
Published: September 2018

Spiritual themes have long been a part of the vision of nursing and continue to be reflected in caring theories of nursing. Spirituality is best understood within the relational aspects of knowing the person and how they are responding to life events, often in the context of story. Nurses have a long and continuing tradition of using patient stories, calling them case studies, for teaching and learning about patients. Naturalistic research methods also make use of these ideas by capturing stories about the phenomena under study. The purpose of this paper is to describe aspects of spirituality as reflected in a representative story of one person’s experience with bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The story was selected from a larger phenomenological study describing the experiences and perspectives of persons who had a BMT at a comprehensive cancer center. Elements of the story illustrate characteristics of spiritual needs and evidence of resolution. The case illustration ends with a discussion of ways nurses can assess and provide interventions to address spirituality.
Individual Moral Perspectives of Professional Nurses
Authors: DeLuca Havens, Gail Ann
Published: September 2018

Exploring nurses’ moral perspectives may provide insight into the varying degrees of caring that nurses integrate into their professional nursing practice. Building an understanding of nurses’ moral perspectives also can illuminate the moral experiences of professional nurses who endorse different ethical ideologies, as well as the consequences, such as moral distress, of such experiences. Psychometric assessment of the Modified Ethics Position Questionnaire (MEPQ) yielded a reliable and valid measure of the moral perspectives of practicing nurses. Findings suggest that respondents assumed that desirable consequences can, with the right ethical action, always be obtained. Whether this is a common moral stance among professional nurses requires further inquiry.
Nursing Education Model: Caring From a Christian Cultural Perspective
Authors: Conway, Janet Bauer
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this paper is to present the Cedarville University curricular model for nursing education. The Cedarville University model presents a Christian, theistic worldview within the Baptist tradition. Throughout the literature on caring, worldview teachings abound. Aworldview provides the presuppositional base used to guide actions and behaviors fundamental to the practice of caring in nursing. This paper begins with a general overview of the Cedarville University Christian, theistic worldview as a basis for nursing education and practice. Next, the curriculum model featuring 4 major curricular organizers-godly living, care, culture, and information managementis presented, with implementation of the model in achieving professional nursing competency outcomes.
Reflections on the Use of Johns’ Model of Structured Reflection in Nurse-Practitioner Education
Authors: Noveletsky-Rosenthal, Hollie T. , Solomon, Kathleen
Published: September 2018

This article examined the use of Johns’ model of structured reflection as a teaching strategy in nurse-practitioner education. Structured reflection provided students with the opportunity for retrospective analysis of clinical interactions to gain a greater sense of self-awareness. This increased self-awareness enabled the students to be more honest and present in their interactions. Thus, structured reflection provided a useful framework for students to uncover their caring potential within the human health experience.
Encounter: A Fundamental Category of Nursing as an Art
Authors: Nåden, Dagfinn , Eriksson, Katie
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this article is to discuss one of the main findings of an investigation of nursing as an art: the category of encounter. The deepest encounter is understood as it is described by M. Buber (190), R. May (198), and U. Å. Lindström (194). The investigators concluded that the encounter is characterized by “nakedness,” being on the same wavelength, giving oneself over, and of deep solidarity and closeness. Also, one of the most human qualities finds its form in the encounter, when the person is in contact with his or her self. Third, the encounter can be healing, life-giving, and alleviating. Finally, both participants are first and foremost human beings. The meaning of the category of encounter is found to be consistent with the becoming level of K. Eriksson’s ontological suffering model (193, 195).
Metaphysics of Virtual Caring Communities
Authors: Watson Jean
Published: September 2018

Caring science and virtual reality both constitute a new form of human knowledge and human experience. Both have the potential to define the culture that results from their use. This paper explores the latest developments in caring science against some of the metaphysical aspects of virtual caring communities. Transpersonal theory and virtual concepts that transcend time, space, and physicality will be identified. The ontology of cyberspace will be uncovered against a backdrop of caring-science knowledge and practices. New territory for creating and entering virtual global caring communities will be considered as one path toward nursing and the public’s future in health care.
From Practice to Caring Praxis Through Newman’s Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness: A Personal Journey
Authors: Neill, Jane
Published: September 2018

The personal journey to caring actions informed by theory (praxis) that the author shares in this paper emerged from frustration with accepted nursing practice and changed her perspective on nursing encounters. She describes aspects of her doctoral research, in which she used Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness (HEC) to explore life patterns and underlying patterns of 7 women living with chronic illness. The mutual, caring relationships that she developed with these women show how a focus on pattern, transformation, and wholeness can make a difference in nursing. Aspects of this caring praxis are illuminated.
Human Response Outcomes Influenced by Nurse Caring
Authors: Werner, Joan Stehle , Wendler, M. Cecilia , McCormick, Julie , Paulus-Smith, Susan , Jackson, Celeste , Nie, Jennifer
Published: September 2018

The purpose of this project was to synthesize nursing research findings to determine which human responses are influenced by nurse caring through review and appraisal of the empirical literature in nursing for the years 1990 through 2000. Methods included integrative research review for deductive studies and meta-synthesis for interpretive studies. Findings suggest that human response outcomes of emotional well-being, emotional comfort, reassurance/security, hope, satisfaction with nursing and with a particular hospital, nurse-patient relationship and healing have considerable support as being positively influenced by nurse caring. Human responses having fair to moderate support include physical well-being, physical comfort, empowerment, anxiety, suffering, fortitude and coping effectiveness.
Grandparenting - A Matter of Love and Care: A Review of the Literature 1990-2000
Authors: Hall, Elisabeth O.C.
Published: September 2018

This article presents findings from a literature review concerning grandparenting in healthcare. Using qualitative content analysis, data were collected from CINAHL and organized in three categories: transition to grandparenthood; grandparental roles; and grandparental health and well-being due to transitions and roles. The review demonstrated a growing number of studies on grandparents rearing grandchildren and sparse studies on other issues. Grandparenting is discussed in a human caring paradigm as a phenomenon based on love and care, and as containing suffering that gives health problems. Directions for future research encompass how nurses include grandparents in the care of the sick grandchild.
An Educational Strategy to Enhance Caring in Nursing Students in an Associate Degree Program
Authors: Lee-Hsieh, Jane
Published: September 2018

This article describes a course to enhance caring ability, which the author designed and taught for 3 consecutive years, including course foundations, course themes, teaching strategies, and outcomes. Course design was based on two models established by the author in previous studies. The semester-long course focused sequentially on care for self, others, and the community. Each class session was arranged to include opportunities for reflection, group discussion, oral presentation, and lecture. Both student feedback and quantitative analysis indicated that student caring behavior significantly improved.
Easing Into the Light
Authors: Johns, Christopher
Published: September 2018

Reflection offers the practitioner the opportunity to access and learn through experience. It taps personal knowing and reveals the intuitive basis for practice. Reflection can also be a research process of self-inquiry and transformation whereby reflective accounts are carefully interpreted as hermeneutic text and written as a reflexive narrative. Narrative is always left open for further interpretation in light of the reader’s own practice perspectives. This paper presents a particular experience taken from a 2-year narrative, illuminating the craft of reflective writing and narrative construction. The text reveals the way I use concepts in taken-for-granted ways, and make assumptions in efforts to make sense of the world. Finally, the emancipatory intent of narrative is considered.
Spiritual Reflections Concerning End of Life Caring Decisions: A Qualitative Case Study
Authors: Maldonado, Nancy , Callahan, Kate , Efinger, Joan
Published: September 2018

This qualitative case study investigated the lived spiritual experiences of participants who attend a Five Weeks seminar about holistic and end of life (EOL) care decisions. Auditaped, semistructured interviews recorded participants’ responses. Content analysis was the central technique used to identify themes. Four themes emerged. These included perspectives, life after death, reflective insights, and rituals. Implications and recommendations are included for caring practices related to EOL care and spiritual support.
Community Caring of Yesteryear: A Care Study
Authors: Hegedus Kathryn Stewart
Published: September 2018

This article presents a care study focusing on surgery in the home from yesteryear. The perspectives of three key informants are presented: the patient, the patient’s Scottish private-duty nurse, and the patient’s sister. Their shared stories allow us to reflect on care giving in the home, as shared from the past, and to compare this to the delivery of community-based nursing care of today.
The Cocreative Aesthetic Process: A New Model for Aesthetics in Nursing
Authors: Gaydos, H. Lea Barbato
Published: September 2018

The cocreative aesthetic process is a new model to describe aesthetics in nursing. The process has four aspects: engagement, mutuality, movement, and new form. This description of an aesthetic process in nursing has some features in common with other descriptions of the art of nursing and adds to these in significant ways. Importantly, the cocreative aesthetic process demonstrates the necessity of both caring and holism to the art of nursing. This model can be used to evaluate the presence of nursing as art in selected situations.