The growing popularity of caring is evident throughout the nursing profession. Research into the phenomenon caring, however, necessitates that caring as an ethic be distinguished from pseudo caring actions and experiences. Codependence and codependency are proposed as being of a pseudo-caring nature. Research interest into this field of study needs to be kindled.

BACKGROUND The need to provide humanistic care in the contemporary healthcare system is more imperative now and the importance of cultivating caring in nursing education is urgent. Caring as the primary work of nursing has been discussed extensively, such as the meaning of caring, and teaching and learning strategies to improve nursing students' caring ability. Yet attempts to understand studen...

Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring and the caring moment are based in part in the concepts of transpersonal psychology. This paper will provide a historical background around transpersonal psychology and how it relates to Watson’s human caring moment. The purpose of explicating these humanities-based concepts is to support nurses and nurse educators in creating a deeper understanding of Watso...

BACKGROUND The health and socioeconomic outcomes from being a caregiver are well described. In contrast, the long-term trajectories of caring undertaken by women, and the demographic, socioeconomic status, health status and health behaviour characteristics associated with these trajectories is not well known. METHODS The data were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Part...

BACKGROUND Nursing has come a long way since the days of Florence Nightingale and even though no consensus exists it would seem reasonable to assume that caring still remains the inner core, the essence of nursing. In the light of the societal, contextual and political changes that have taken place during the 21st century, it is important to explore whether these might have influenced the essen...