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370 UNIT IV Nursing Theories

Critique model for advanced practice nursing, Purnell’s (2006)
model of nursing education grounded in caring, and
Clarity Eggenberger and Keller’s (2008) approach for simula-
Boykin and Schoenhofer achieve semantic clarity by tion in caring.
developing the Theory of Nursing as Caring with
everyday language. The major assumptions that un- Accessibility
dergird the theory are clearly stated and interrelated. The Theory of Nursing as Caring lends itself to
Meanings are understood intuitively and reflectively. research methodologies with approaches of a human
The assumption that all persons are caring is necessary science. Because the locus of nursing inquiry is the
for understanding the theory because Boykin and nursing situation, the systematic study of nursing
Schoenhofer assert that the caring between the nurse calls for a method of inquiry that can encompass the
and the nursed is the source and ground of nursing. dialogic circle of understanding of persons connected
The assumption that nursing is both a discipline and a in caring. Boykin and Schoenhofer (2001a) distin-
profession provides a conceptual locus for the creation guish clearly between inquiry about nursing and
of research methodologies that fluidly unite the disci- inquiry of nursing.
pline and the profession within the notion of research
within praxis, or praxis as research. Importance
When integrated into nursing practice, the Theory
Simplicity of Nursing as Caring illuminates and brings into
The simplicity of the theory rests in the everyday lan- consciousness and articulation the values of nursing
guage and in the reciprocal nature of nursing, charac- care. These include the direct, unmediated worth of
terized by the fundamental grounding in person as nursing care in economic terms, the value of nursing
caring. The assumptions of the theory encompass a as a social and human service, the value of nursing
broad sweep of human understanding and lay plain caring as a rich, satisfying practice for nurses, and the
conceptual groundwork for living caring. In this value of regenerative nursing for the discipline. The
regard, however, the theory becomes more complex, significance of Nursing as Caring is evidenced by
in that assumptions and conceptual meanings are the adoption of the theory at multiple levels ranging
densely interconnected as the nurse comes to know from individual practice to hospital department, to
self as caring person in ever greater dimensions nursing administration, and now, for institution-wide
(Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2001a). The lived meaning of and system-wide adoptions. Nursing values are being
Nursing as Caring is illuminated best in a nursing translated into values for general well-being, and car-
situation in which the notion of living caring ing is being infused into the domains of non-nursing
enhances the knowing of self and other. personnel.
Generality
Boykin and colleagues (2003) describe the Theory of Summary
Nursing as Caring as a general or grand nursing the- The Theory of Nursing as Caring is a general or grand
ory that offers a broad philosophical framework with nursing theory that offers a broad philosophical
practical implications for transforming practice. framework with practical implications for transform-
From the perspective of Nursing as Caring, the focus ing practice (Boykin Schoenhofer, Smith, et al., 2003).
of nursing knowledge and nursing action is nurturing From the perspective of Nursing as Caring, the focus
persons who are living caring and growing in caring. and aim of nursing as a discipline of knowledge and
The theory may be used to guide individual practice a professional service is “nurturing persons living car-
or to guide practice for the organizational level of ing and growing in caring” (Boykin & Schoenhofer,
institutions. The Theory of Nursing as Caring under- 2001a, p. 12). The theory is grounded in fundamental
pins middle-range theory development such as assumptions that (1) to be human is to be caring,
Locsin’s (1998) theory of technological competence as and (2) the activities of the discipline and the profes-
caring, Dunphy & Winland-Brown’s (2001) caring sion of nursing coalesce in coming to know persons