Page 59 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

c a ra tiv e F act or s/ C ar it as ProC e s se s
a practice of forgiveness, silently citing positive affirmations, opening
to blessings in the midst of difficulties, whereby one’s consciousness is
expanded through all these practices. These are only some examples
of how to enter into and sustain this professional ethic of altruism and
loving-kindness. This work is related not only to caring but also to the
health and healing of practitioner as well as patient.
If “health is expanded consciousness,” as Newman posits (Newman
1994), then what is the highest level of consciousness? It is Love in the
fullest universal, cosmic sense. What is the greatest source of Healing?
It, too, is Love. So, in cultivating the practice of loving-kindness toward
self and other, one is opening his or her heart; one is heightened to
give and receive, to be present to what is presenting itself in one’s life;
to open to exercising and receiving grace, mercy, forgiveness, and so
on. Thus, one can better appreciate the gifts of giving and receiving,
being there for another person to offer presence, loving consciousness,
and informed moral caring actions in the midst of suffering, despair,
love, hate, illness, sorrow, questions, trauma, unknowns, fears, hopes,
and so on. In this personal/professional caring work, one cultivates an
acceptance, a level of humility, before the mystery of it all—opening
to it with equanimity, compassion, and mercy as part of the human
condition. This level of consciousness with which to enter and sus-
tain professional caring in nursing, while honoring our deep human-
ity, is founded on a very different model than conventional nursing and
medicine.
This mode of Caritas thinking invites a total transformation of
self and systems. In this model of Caring Science, the changes occur
not from the outer focus on systems but from that deep inner place
within the creativity of the human spirit. Here is where the deep
humanity, the individual heart and consciousness of practitioners,
evolves and connects with the ultimate source of all true re-formation/
transformation.
While the original Carative Factors remain relevant and accessible
for first-level concrete entry into the work, once one grows with the
ideas and their evolution, it is hoped that one moves more fully into
a knowing that is behind the original material and enters a more pro-
found level of insight, personal/professional growth, understanding,

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