Reviewer: Dr. Debra E. Stieve, DNP, MSN, RN, CNE (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
Description: Caritas is a Latin word meaning "to cherish," in other words, to care with love, compassion, generosity, and spirit. Caritas is what the theorist Jean Watson and followers describe as the science of caring. There is a science component, the objective part of what we need to do, but the caring part is what I believe has been the core of the nursing profession, which distinguishes it from other healthcare professions. Possibly having it labeled with a new term and defined by a well known nursing theorist is just what our profession needs to recapture this important quality.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide a better understanding of the science of caring by describing the Caritas Coaching Education Program curriculum and the application of Caritas education in academic and clinical settings and Caritas praxis and Caritas leadership, and by creating a foundation for praxis and creating a vision for the future. Providing a plan for integrating these processes into education and practice may help bring caring back to those who practice and have lost this fundamental nursing quality. This book provides definitions and descriptions of applying these processes to professional life and as well as examples through personal testimony on how each objective was met.
Audience: The audience is nurses and practitioners in any area of healthcare. The book describes the importance of caring for self and, when working with others, the importance of being for transpersonal caring to occur. Jean Watson has authored the theory of caring and has transitioned that to the science of caring with the processes necessary to do so. Today, with the lack of human connection in a world of less face-to-face interaction, there is a need to reboot. This book provides a framework to instill the necessary component of caring in nursing practice.
Features: In the beginning of the book, a table describes the ontological relationships of Caritas to American Nurses Association Standards and the Nurse Coach Practice Competencies. There are 10 processes in the science of caring to guide this practice. Initially, the emphasis is on self-awareness and being present to self as a human. This is vital to the success of practicing in the caring science. These processes require readers to become conscious learners and accept the concepts necessary to practice the science of caring. There is an emphasis on an awareness of who we are, who the patient is as a human, and how to care for the whole person. The concepts can be integrated into the work environment, and the book provides examples of the shift from burnout and nonengagement with peers and patients to being present and human with them, with the benefit of enjoying work. Each section has a personal story of where the writer was professionally and personally before Caritas training, and what changed when they applied the Caritas Coaching Program processes. These personal testimonies help readers relate to the concepts.
Assessment: There is no other book on this topic. Because this is an extension of Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring, it adds to the application of the science of caring to self and others. It provides examples of how others have integrated this into their work and personal lives. The prevalence of caregiver fatigue, burnout, lateral violence, and bullying has shifted our focus as healthcare providers from one of caring as the core of our profession to one of callousness and mechanics. I am saddened that we need to relearn how to care, but it is necessary to the viability of keeping caregivers where they are needed most.
