Watson, a nursing theorist and philosopher, offers insight into caring. In her theory of Human Care, she examines caring as an intersubjective human process expressing respect for the mystery of being-in-the-world, reflected in the three spheres of mind-body-soul. Human care transactions based on reciprocity allow for a unique and authentic quality of presence in the world of the other. In a related vein, Parse (1981) defines the ontology of caring as "risking being with someone toward a moment of joy." Through being with another, connectedness occurs and moments of joy are experienced by both.
If the ontological basis for being is that all persons are caring and that by our humanness caring is, then I accept that I am a caring person. This belief that all persons are caring, however, entails a commitment to know self and other as caring person. According to Trigg (1973), commitment "presupposes certain beliefs and also involves a personal dedication to the actions implied by them" (p. 44). Mayeroff (1971) speaks of this dedication as devotion and states "devotion is essential to caring .. . when devotion breaks down, caring breaks down" (p. 8). Mayeroff also states that "obligations that derive from devotion are a constituent element in caring" (p. 9). Moral obligations arise from our commitments; therefore, when I make a commitment to caring as a way of being, I have become morally obligated. The quality of the moral commitment is a measure of being "in place" in the world. Gadow (1980) asserts that caring represents the moral ideal of nursing wherein the human dignity of the patient and nurse is recognized and enhanced.
As individuals we are continually in the process of developing expressions of ourselves as caring persons. The flow of life experiences provides ongoing opportunities for knowing self as caring person. As we learn to live fully each of these experiences, it becomes easier to allow self and others the space and time to develop innate caring capabilities and authentic being. The awareness of self as caring person calls to consciousness the belief that caring, is lived by each person moment to moment and directs the "oughts" of actions. When decisions are made from this perspective, the emerging question consistently is, "How ought I act as caring person?"
How one is with others is influenced by the degree of authentic awareness of self as caring person. Caring for self as person requires experiencing self as other and yet being one with self, valuing self as special and unique, and having the courage, humility, and trust to honestly know self. It takes courage to let go of the present so that it may be transcended and new meaning be discovered. Letting go, of course, implies a freeing of oneself from present constraints so that we may see and be in new ways. One who cares is genuinely humble in being ready and willing to know more about self and others. Such humility involves the realization that learning is continuous and the recognition that each experience is unique. As my commitment to persons as caring moves into the future, I must choose again and again to ratify it or not. This commitment remains binding and choices are made based on devotion to this commitment.
Personhood is the process of living grounded in caring. Personhood implies living out who we are, demonstrating congruence between beliefs and behaviors, and living the meaning of one's life. As a process, personhood acknowledges the person as having continuous potential for further tapping the current of caring. Therefore, as person we are constantly living caring and unfolding possibilities for self as caring person in each moment. Personhood is being authentic, being who I am as caring person in the moment. This process is enhanced through participation in nurturing relationships with others.
The nature of relationships is transformed through caring. All relations between and among persons carry with them mutual expectations. Caring is living in the context of relational responsibilities. A relationship experienced through caring holds at its heart the importance of person-as-person. Being in the world also mandates participating in human relationships that require re-sponsibility—responsibility to self and other. To the extent that these relationships are shaped through caring, they are consistent with the obligations entailed in relational responsibility, and the "person-al" (person-to-person) relationships. When being with self and others is approached from a desire to know person as living caring, the human potential for actualizing caring directs the moment.
All relationships are opportunities to draw forth caring possibilities, opportunities to reinforce the beauty of person-as-person. Through knowing self as caring person, I am able to be authentic to self and with others. I am able to see from the inside what others see from the outside. Feelings, attitudes, and actions lived in the moment are matched by an inner genuine awareness. The more I am open to knowing and appreciating self and trying to understand the world of other, the greater the awareness of our interconnectedness as caring persons. Knowing of self frees one to truly be with other. How does one come to know self as caring person? Mayeroff's (1971) caring ingredients are useful conceptual tools when one is struggling to know self and other as caring. These ingredients include: honesty, courage, hope, knowing (both knowing about and knowing directly), trust, humility, and alternating rhythm. The idea of a hologram serves as a way of understanding self and other. Pri-bram (1985) offers us an interesting view on relationships in his discussion of hologram. He states that the uniqueness of a hologram is such that if a part (of the hologram) is broken, any part of it is capable of reconstructing the total image (p. 133). Using this idea, if the lens for "being" in relationships is holographic, then the beauty of the person will be retained. Through entering, experiencing, and appreciating the world of other, the nature of being human is ore fully understood. The notion of person as whole or complete expresses an important value. As such, the respect for the total person—all that is in the moment—is communicated. Therefore, from a holographic perspective, it is impossible to focus on a part of a person without seeing the whole person reflected in the part. The wholeness (the fullness of being) is forever present. Perhaps in some context, the word part is incongruent with this notion that there is only wholeness. The term aspect, or dimension, may be a useful substitute.
The view of person as caring and complete is also intentional; it offers a lens for a way of being with another that prevents the segmenting of that other into component parts (e.g., mind, body, spirit). Here, valuing and respecting each person's beauty, worth, and uniqueness is lived as one seeks to understand fully the meaning of values, choices, and priority systems through which values are expressed. The inherent value that persons reflect and to which they respond is the wholeness of persons. The person is at all times whole. The idea of wholeness does not negate an appreciation of the complexity of being. However, from the perspective of the theory Nursing as Caring, to encounter person as less than whole involves a failure to encounter person. Un-il our view is such that it includes the whole as complete person and not just a part, we can not fully know the person. Gadow's (1984) contrasting paradigms, empathic and philanthropic, are relevant to this understanding. The philanthropic paradigm enables a relationship in which dignity is bestowed as a "gift from one who is whole to one who is not" (p. 68). Philanthropy marks the person as other than one like me. Gadow's empathic paradigm, on the other hand, "breaches objectivity" (p. 67) and expresses participating in the experience of another. In the empathic paradigm, the subjectivity of the other is "assumed to be as whole and valid as that of the caregiver" (p. 68). These paradigm descriptions facilitate our knowing how we are with others. Is the attitude expressed through nursing one of person as part or person as whole? How do these perspectives direct nursing practice?
Our understanding of person as caring centers on valuing and celebrating human wholeness, the human person as living and growing in caring, and active personal engagement with others. This perspective of what it means to be human is the foundation for understanding nursing as a human endeavor, a person-to-person service, a human social institution, and a human science.
Our view enables the development of nursing as a discipline of constant discovery and new knowing.