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November 12, 2003
By Marilyn A.Ray, RN, PhD, CTN, Professor
Florida Atlantic University
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
Dr. David Peat, the renowned theoretical physicist and prolific writer of history and changes in science, along with his wife and family, has created a learning center in Pari, Italy. Pari is an enchanting place for reflective learning. It is an 800 year old hilltop village, like a fortress, where young and old live together and exchange wisdom in the local hotel and plaza. Beautiful hills, gardens, vineyards and Tuscan cities full of exquisite art and architecture surround Pari. It does seem that nothing much might has changed in all this time although we know that advances in science, technology and global commerce have been made.
Is science real? Peat (2002, 2003) has been exploring this question for over 40 years. Traditional science is objective and measurable and facts, such as, the speed of light or when ice freezes are universals. Peat has explored other disciplines, especially art, psychology and aboriginal cultures pertaining to questions of the universe and science. But questions of how aesthetics of nature and the beauty of science fit together leading to questions about the nature of art and healing capture Peat's interest.
I have been reading Peat's works for many years so I was drawn to study at the Pari Center for New Learning. My recent experience in October 2003 at the Pari Center led by Peat and shared with an inspiring group of people from different countries and disciplines prompted me to reflect on the nature of nursing and where we are in science and art or, in essence, where we are in our world. I have concluded that nursing has been exploring the questions of science, art, spirituality, philosophy, illness, health and healing, ethics, culture, complex organizations, technology, economics and politics for over 150 years, in reality, since Florence Nightingale (Dossey, 2000), the mystic, visionary healer. She is the mother of professional nursing in her knowledge of science—epidemiology, statistics and ecology and her caring art referred to nursing as the finest of the fine arts. Nursing has grown and developed since Nightingale and the works of many scholars such as Rogers, Watson, Leininger and others (Parker, 2001). Nursing as a discipline of knowledge has researched many of the questions that are being asked today in the new science.
The nature of nursing is a complex human science, art and also a spiritual endeavor. It uses all avenues including technology, to foster scholarship in colleges and universities. One thing that is very clear to me after the experience in Pari is the integrative nature of nursing. Nursing has much to give and share with colleagues from all disciplines. The reason for this is the privilege of CARING. Our discipline is relational-what, as I have learned, so many others are seeking to understand. Nursing is complex caring dynamics, love and compassion and right action for the suffering and needs of others in the world (Ray, 1994). The caring relationship is where the true art and healing take place. As professionals, we are able to actively care for the lives and well-being of others, holistically—body, mind and spirit. "Every step we take is a meeting with other interrelated living beings" (Thoma 2003, p. 15). Often nurses never recognize this privilege and power. And, because of the opposing internal and external forces in contemporary practice, nursing does not revere itself. We are overwhelmed by the conflicts of organizational cultures, time constraints, ethical dilemmas, technology, economics and political competition. We often do not appreciate the reciprocal nature of caring—the opportunity to give yet be the recipient of trust and love from the other who is always before us.
What is required to understand the nature of caring? How can we imagine and create a new future? How do we realize that we have the whole world in our hands and that our daily reality in the work of human caring is an integrated relational science and art. Watson (1985) enlightened us to the meaning of transpersonal caring in nursing—a moral ideal where our responsibilities are the protection, enhancement, and preservation of humanity to restore harmony and healing. This understanding and our privilege to act caringly is what seems to me, the questioning is all about, what many scientists and artists are seeking. Science, from Newtonian physics to complexity sciences tells us that the universe is multidimensional and continually unfolding. It is a mystery, partially hidden and always revealing. We must protect and preserve the universe and humanity through love and caring. Caring transforms. The universe thus cares for and is with us. Is science real? Yes, but science is no longer just science or is new science but science is caring.
References
- Dossey, B. (2000). Florence Nightingale: Mystic, visionary, healer. Springhouse, PA: Springhouse Press.
- Parker, M. (2001). Nursing theories, nursing practice. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company.
- Peat, F.D. (2002). From certainty to uncertainty. Washington, DC: John Henry Press.
- Peat, F.D. (2003). From physics to Pari. Resurgence, January/February, 216, 24-26.
- Ray, M. (1994). Complex caring dynamics: A unifying model of nursing inquiry. Theoretic and Applied Chaos in Nursing, 1(1), 1-31. (now Complexity and Chaos in Nursing)
- Thoma, H. (2003). All at the same time. Resurgence, January/ February, 216, 15-17.
- Watson, J. (1985). Nursing: Human science and human care. NY: National League for Nursing Press. (now published by Jones and Bartlett)
About the Author: Marilyn Ray, RN, PhD, CTN is a Professor at Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Boca Raton, Florida. A graduate of a diploma program in Hamilton, Canada, she holds a BSN and MS from the University of Colorado, School of Nursing. She has a MA in Cultural Anthropology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, a PhD in Transcultural Nursing from the University of Utah and certification as a transcultural nurse (CTN). Currently, she teaches in the doctoral program in nursing at Florida Atlantic University. She has been engaged in researching caring for over 25 years. Her publications reflect research and interests in human caring in organizational cultures, economics of caring, technological caring, ethics, transcultural nursing, advanced qualitative human science research methods, and complexity science. Dr. Ray may be contacted by email at mray@fau.edu
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