Caring as Being in Nursing: Unique or Ubiquitous

The purpose of this column is to explore ambiguities concerning the concept of caring as being in nursing and to consider if caring is unique to nursing or ubiquitous, present not only within other health disciplines, but as a poten-tial choice for each person. Clarification is sought through an exploration of four pathways for thinking about car-ing as being—artistic endeavors, moving beyond self in caring relationships and spirituality, creating caring envi-ronments through caring-healing consciousness, and soulful caring consciousness. It is proposed that caring as being is an essential, but not necessarily unique, knowledge source within nursing. The only truth is what you remember. —Lee (1977, p. 52) I believe that caring and healing are core processes of nurs-ing and essential to our central mission. “Caring is the candle that lights the dark, that permits us to find answers where oth-ers see none ” (Schorr & Kennedy, 1999, p. 175). Knowledge-able caring in nursing requires substantive and emergent knowledge as developed by numerous nurse scholars (see fo