Contributor: Dr. Rafael Tubongbanua EdD, MN, RN, FSIEN

The Nursing As Caring Theory by Boykin and Schoenhofer (1993, 2001) cultivates the power of nurses to develop the caring consciousness needed for contemporary nursing practice. The future of nursing grounded in caring will remain relevant as nurses who have developed caring consciousness go on a lifelong journey of self-discovery and human awakening. Every nursing situation, whether virtual or in person, is an exciting opportunity for caring to coexist between the nurse and the person nursed. Nursing As Caring serves as a guiding light for nurses to foster this caring coexistence as they embark on a path of discovery to know themselves and every person they encounter as caring individuals. The shared human experiences between the nurse and the person being nursed in every nursing situation foster multiple caring co-creations, giving nurses a chance to discover and express their caring in unique, seamless, and meaningful ways, thereby affirming, supporting, and enhancing the person-centered focus of nursing.

The growing complexities of the current healthcare system landscape, driven by innovation, transformation, and reforms, prompted a call for nurses to communicate more creative, caring expressions. Nursing As Caring answers the unique calls for future nursing practices as it provides an opportunity for the nurse and the person nursed to innovate new ways of knowing and caring in advanced and complex nursing situations. Nursing As Caring highlights the importance of caring between persons and allows the nurse and the person nursed to express their caring in creative and multiple ways. Thus, Nursing As Caring will continue to guide nurses as they discover themselves and others, grow, and live in caring in complex healthcare environments.

The future of Nursing As Caring is promising as more and more contemporary nursing theorists reexamine and revolutionize this theory, paving the way for new caring expressions in every nursing situation to emerge in a limitless, boundaryless, and seamless manner. Nursing As Caring transcending through time and space will continue to awaken the caring consciousness of every nurse to respond to the unique calls of nursing in contemporary practice. As complex as the future may seem, the unique demands for human caring in nursing will always exist. Caring nurses continually seek to discover the complexities of human phenomena existing uniquely in every nursing situation, thereby creating new ways for communicating caring expressions in the process. Thus, caring is a unique gift to humanity because it is innate in every person to be caring. The challenge for nurses lies not in caring itself but in how caring is expressed and lived between the nurse and the person nursed in every moment. Knowing and expressing caring is a lifelong journey for nurses, a call to venture into a life of self-discovery, meaning, and awakening.

Caring is a gift not only for nurses but for humanity. As nurses venture on a journey of human awakening through knowing themselves and others as caring persons, caring is co-created in the process, ensuring nursing’s relevancy today and in the future. Looking ahead, nurses can rely on Nursing As Caring Theory as a guide to a meaningful journey of human discovery, a conscious awakening for both the nurse and the person nursed to live and grow together in caring.

References

Boykin, A., & Schoenhofer, S. O. (1993). Nursing As Caring: A model for transforming practice. National League for Nursing.

Boykin, A., & Schoenhofer, S. O. B. (2001). Nursing as caring: A model for transforming practice. National League for Nursing.

About Dr. Tubongbanua

Dr. Rafael Tubongbanua is an associate professor of nursing at Truman State University. He earned his doctorate in education (EdD) with a major in nursing education from the University of West Georgia’s Tanner Health School of Nursing, where he received the Outstanding EdD Student Award. He completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of St. La Salle in the Philippines. Dr. Tubongbanua is firmly committed to advancing the disciplinary knowledge of nursing grounded in caring. He was inspired to write about the Nursing As Caring theory because he believes that this theory serves as a guide for nurses in their journey of self-discovery, meaning, and expressions of caring. He thinks that in today’s complex healthcare environments, nurses must continue to nurture and develop new ways of communicating caring in nursing guided by this theory.