value and connectedness. Caring is not the unique
province of nursing. However, as a discipline and a
profession, nursing uniquely focuses on caring as
its central value, its primary interest, and the direct
intention of its practice. The full meaning of caring
cannot be restricted to a definition but is illumi-
nated in the experience of caring and in the reflec-
tion on that experience.
Focus and Intention of Nursing
Disciplines as identifiable entities or “branches of
knowledge” grow from the holistic “tree of knowl-
edge” as need and purpose develop. A discipline is a
community of scholars (King & Brownell, 1976)
with a particular perspective on the world and what
it means to be in the world. The disciplinary com-
munity represents a value system that is expressed
in its unique focus on knowledge and practice.
The focus of nursing, from the perspec-
tive of the theory of nursing as caring, is
person as living in caring and growing in
caring.The focus of nursing,from the perspective of the
theory of nursing as caring, is person as living in
caring and growing in caring. The general intention
of nursingas a practiced discipline is nurturing per-
sons living caring and growing in caring.
Nursing Situation
The practice of nursing, and thus the practical
knowledge of nursing, lives in the context of
person-with-person caring. The nursing situation
involves particular values, intentions, and actions
of two or more persons choosing to live a nursing
relationship. Nursing situation is understood to
mean the shared lived experience in which caring
betweennurse and nursed enhances personhood.
Nursing is created in the caring between. All knowl-
edge of nursing is created and understood within
the nursing situation. Any single nursing situation
has the potential to illuminate the depth and com-
plexity of nursing knowledge. Nursing situations
are best communicated through aesthetic media to
preserve the lived meaning of the situation and the
openness of the situation as text. Storytelling, po-
etry, graphic arts, and dance are examples of effec-
tive modes of representing the lived experience and
allowing for reflection and creativity in advancing
understanding.Personhood
Personhood is understood to mean living grounded
in caring. From the perspective of the theory of
nursing as caring, personhood is the universal
human call. A profound understanding of person-
hood communicates the paradox of person-as-
person and person-in-communion all at once.Call for Nursing
“A call for nursing is a call for acknowledgment and
affirmation of the person living caring in specific
ways in the immediate situation” (Boykin &
Schoenhofer, 1993, p. 24).Calls for nursingare calls
for nurturance through personal expressions of
caring. Calls for nursing originate within persons as
they live out caring uniquely, expressing personally
meaningful dreams and aspirations for growing in
caring. Calls for nursing are individually relevant
ways of saying, “Know me as caring person in the
moment and be with me as I try to live fully who I
truly am.” Intentionality (Schoenhofer, 2002) and
authentic presence open the nurse to hearing calls
for nursing. Because calls for nursing are unique
situated personal expressions, they cannot be pre-
dicted, as in a “diagnosis.” Nurses develop sensitiv-
ity and expertise in hearing calls through intention,
experience, study, and reflection in a broad range of
human situations.Nursing Response
As an expression of nursing, “caring is the inten-
tional and authentic presence of the nurse with an-
other who is recognized as living caring and
growing in caring” (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 1993,
p. 25). The nurse enters the nursing situation with
the intentional commitment of knowing the other
as a caring person, and in that knowing, acknowl-
edging, affirming, and celebrating the person as
caring. The nursing response is a specific expres-
sion of caring nurturance to sustain and enhance
the “other” as he or she lives caring and grows in
caring in the situation of concern. Nursing re-
sponses to calls for caring evolve as nurses clarify
their understandings of calls through presence and
dialogue. Nursing responses are uniquely created
for the moment and cannot be predicted or applied
as preplanned protocols (Boykin & Schoenhofer,336 SECTION III Nursing Theory in Nursing Practice, Education, Research, and Administration