Christian Worldview and Caring in Nursing: The Legacy of Sister Simone Roach.

ABSTRACT: Sister Simone Roach, a noted philosopher of caring in nursing, left behind a significant body of theoretical and practical work highlighting the areas of nursing ethics, care/caring, and compassion. This article explores the integration of the moral foundation of agape love in Pauline theology and Roach's human caring in nursing (1992) as the action of agape love. A narrative literature review explores the relationship between the scriptural ethics of St. Paul (Pauline ethics) and Roach's caring in nursing.

A Dialogue with Dr. Marilyn A. Ray: Nurse Scholar and USAF Veteran.

Dr. Marilyn A. Ray, nurse scholar and retired United States Air Force (USAF) veteran and former flight nurse, began her nursing scholarship in Canada. She was influenced by the experiences and interprofessional scholarly ideas that she encountered along her career trajectory. Her early love of the air and space led her to the United States Air Force Nurse Corps, where she served as a flight nurse during the Vietnam war era, followed by leadership positions in nursing education, administration, practice, and research. Dr. Ray's contributions to nursing knowledge includes two nursing theories and a caring inquiry methodology. Dr. Ray is helping to create a new caring science certificate program at Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. In this column, Dr. Ray shares the story of her scholarly influences and how they helped her care for her husband and gain insight into her contributions to nursing knowledge development.

Nursing Theory in the Quest for the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are intended to promote a safe, healthy, and equitable world by the year 2030. Nurses are at the forefront of realizing the 2030 agenda through concerned citizenship and professional leadership. Nursing theory informs knowledge development and theory-guided practice essential for nurses working in all domains and in all nations. Although all extant nursing theories are relevant, a select few are discussed in detail to make explicit the links between theory and SDG realization. Middle-range theories are also valuable in helping to contextualize nursing practice through the lens of the SDGs. The SDGs address five themes - People, Planet, Peace, Prosperity, and Partnership - and theory remains vital to ensure nurses working in all settings are equipped to meet the needs of humanity and the world, now and in the future.

On Virtual Presence.

Advances in health care and communication technology have expanded nursing practice to nontraditional environments that preclude the physical presence of the nurse for a caring encounter. An increasing number of nurses are creating and maintaining nurse-patient relationships and practicing in a diverse range of specialties in virtual/distance environments. Can nursing presence as a caring modality be "real" in a virtual/distance environment? A new ontology of nursing presence is offered that transcends people, place, space, and time.

Caring as emancipatory nursing praxis: the theory of relational caring complexity.

In the culture of health care, nurses are challenged to understand their values and beliefs as humanistic within complex technical and economically driven bureaucratic systems. This article outlines the language of social justice and human rights and the advance of a Theory of Relational Caring Complexity, which offers insights into caring as emancipatory nursing praxis. Recommendations provide knowledge of the struggle to balance economics, technology, and caring. As nurses practice from a value-driven, philosophical, and ethical social justice framework, they will find "their voice" and realize the full potential that the power of caring has on patient and organizational outcomes.

Using a training-of-trainers approach and proactive technical assistance to bring evidence based programs to scale: an operationalization of the interactive systems framework's support system.

Bringing evidence based programs to scale was a major initial impetus for the development of the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF). The ISF demonstrates the importance of the Support System in facilitating the uptake of innovations in the community (the Delivery System). Two strategies that members of the Support System commonly use are training-of-trainers (TOT) models and technical assistance (TA). In this article, we focus on the role of the Support System in bringing evidence-based programs (EBPs) to scale in the Delivery System using a case example, with special attention on two strategies employed by Support Systems-training-of-trainers (TOT) and proactive technical assistance. We then report on findings from a case example from the Promoting Science Based Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention project that furthers our conceptualization of these strategies and the evidence base for them. We also report on the limitations in the literature regarding research on TOTs and proactive TA and provide suggestions for future research on TOTs and proactive TA that will enhance the science and practice of support in the ISF.

Instead of reconceptualizing the nursing process let's re-name it.

The discipline of nursing embraces the unitary-transformative paradigm and its theories that focus on nursing with attention to the language of humanbecoming, holism, relationship, authentic presence, caring, ethical interaction, complexity, pattern, energy, and recognition. In hospital nursing practice the medical paradigm is more prevalent and focuses on regulatory compliance, the standardization of technical language of the electronic health record, and the implementation of evidence-based practice initiatives for patient safety and quality improvement. Nursing and nursing theories are considered a moral enterprise; they involve seeking the good or caring for patients, others, and complex systems. With the continued influence of the medical paradigm, the questions for nursing are: what kind of good does nursing want to promote, and what unique contribution to patient care do nurses provide through their language, theories, and practice? A new mnemonic of Recognizing, Connecting, Partnering, and Reflecting is proposed.

Adventures in qualitative research: Traversing trustworthiness toward evidence-based practice: Complexity sciences, human sciences and relational caring complexity

This paper will address the meaning of evidence in qualitative research from the perspective of human science, complexity sciences, relational caring science, and implementation science (translational research). A brief comparison with Eastern philosophies will be presented. An evaluation of the meaning of relational caring data including technological or digital communication as trustworthy will be highlighted using human science, relational caring science and translational research to effect outcomes or the art of evidence-based practice in nursing and health.

Outcome and experience of implementing spinal muscular atrophy carrier screening on sperm donors.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) carrier screening was performed on 277 active semen donors and new semen donor applicants; five men tested positive as carriers for SMA. The risk for specific medical problems in donor offspring can be significantly reduced by incorporating new genetic tests, such as spinal muscular atrophy carrier screening, into donor screening practices; however, future efforts should focus on communicating the limitations of genetic screening to donor gamete recipients and on the development of guidelines for implementing new genetic tests on donors.

Genetic testing of sperm donors: survey of current practices.

OBJECTIVE: To determine which genetic tests are being performed on sperm donor applicants in the United States. DESIGN: An electronic survey was distributed to 26 sperm banks to evaluate their genetic testing practices. SETTING: Sperm banks in the United States. PATIENT(S): Not applicable. INTERVENTION(S): None. Survey of current practices. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Survey of current practices. RESULT(S): Cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier screening, chromosome analyses, and hemoglobin evaluations are performed on the majority of sperm donor applicants. Tay-Sachs disease carrier screening is performed on most donors with Jewish heritage but there is significant variation in screening for other disorders that occur with increased frequency in this population. Individual sperm banks use different laboratory tests for evaluation of the same conditions, with each test having different carrier detection rates and interpretations. CONCLUSION(S): The genetic testing performed on sperm donors varies significantly at sperm banks across the United States. Therefore, recipients should be clearly informed about the specific evaluations performed on their donor of interest. Thus it is important that sperm banks employ genetic professionals to evaluate the donors' and recipients' medical histories and perform a genetic risk assessment. This will allow clients to make informed decisions about use of semen specimens from an anonymous sperm donor.

Creating a caring practice environment through self-renewal.

The soul of nursing is seeking the good of self and others through compassionate caring. Healing and caring for oneself is vital to have the energy to compassionately care for others. Nurse leaders have the moral responsibility to facilitate self-care, renewal, and healing in the organizational culture to foster caring and trusting relationships. Nurses who have a strong sense of self and caring will provide holistic patient care grounded in caring values.

African American women describe support processes during high-risk pregnancy and postpartum.

OBJECTIVE: To explore social support processes in low-income African American women during high-risk pregnancy and postpartum. DESIGN: A qualitative grounded theory approach. Interview was the primary data collection technique and was combined with observation, medical chart review, and literature review. SETTING: A high-risk pregnancy clinic and participants' homes. PARTICIPANTS: Ten pregnant women, 3 social network members, and 11 health care providers. Four of the women at high risk tell their in-depth stories in this article: Yolanda, coping with gestational diabetes; Frances, participating in drug rehabilitation; Trista, waiting to deliver a fetus with severe congenital anomalies; and Beatrice, HIV positive and carrying her seventh child. RESULTS: The substantive theory of support developed in the study was termed mutual intentionality. Narratives illustrate the mutual roles that women at high risk and support givers played in the helping process. Support themes included being there, caring, respecting, sharing information, knowing, believing in, and doing for the other. CONCLUSION: The theorsy of mutual intentionality suggests that social support is a process or transaction involving intentionality. For support to happen, the therapeutic relationship must be valued as a mutual resource.