Page 38 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

c h a P t e r o n e

NURSING: THE PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE OF CARING
Revised Edition

The original text begins with a discussion of nursing as the Philosophy
and Science of Caring. I now ponder suggesting that today, almost
thirty years later, it perhaps could equally be framed as Caring: The
Philosophy and Science of Nursing. Discussions and ambiguity remain
as to the nature of Caring Science and its relation to nursing sci-
ence. Rhetorical questions arise, such as, are there distinct differences
between the two? Do they overlap? Do they intersect? Are they one
and the same? These questions perhaps remain, but the present work
offers a distinct position. By transposing the order of Nursing and
Caring, it invites a new discourse and context.
My position is this: Caring Science as a starting point for nursing
as a field of study offers a distinct disciplinary foundation for the pro-
fession; it provides an ethical, moral, values-guided meta-narrative for
its science and its human phenomena, its approach to caring-healing-

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