Page 259 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

c H a P t E r n i n E t E E n

Human Experiences: Health, Healing,
and Caritas NursiNg*

It seems to me that one of the reasons we have been limited and
restricted in our evolution, in the ways we have defined ourselves, our
jobs, and our science is because we have failed to see that work in
the field of caring-healing intersects with the very tasks of not only
“facing our humanity,” but deepening our humanity. Indeed, the very
endeavors we are embarked upon with respect to being human are the
very endeavors we mirror, reflect, and engage in as part of our caring-
healing work with self and other. Just what are these human tasks that
intersect with the Caring Science model? Well, the four tasks include
the essential human tasks for healing and deepening our humanity:

* Excerpts: Reprinted with permission from J. Watson (2005). Caring Science
as Sacred Science. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 132–139.

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