Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring asserts that caring and love transcend distance, space, time, and physicality, and it’s true. Feelings of love, kinship, friendship, grief, and compassion across time and distance confirm our basic shared experience of caring, regardless of physical and temporal boundaries. The rise of the Internet invites us to examine how deeply we believe in this transcendence and challenges us to create new ways of caring in this increasingly digital world.

Understanding and explaining caring in the digital world—especially what it looks like, how to do it, and the day to day ordinary consistency of living it is key to supporting an ongoing intention to care whether we can (or ever will) see, touch, or hear the beings with whom we interact. My research, which is based in Watson’s Human Caring Science, has confirmed that there are specific things nurses can do to effectively care for others at a distance:

  1. Respond to communications within 12-24 hours.
  2. Use carefully worded kindness such as;
    • “I appreciate hearing from you…”
    • “If I can be of further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact me.”
    • “Your concerns are important to me.”
    • Your note brightened my day…”
  3. Employ simple courtesy that includes your name and the name of the person you are contacting;
    • Start the communication with the name of the person you are trying to reach, for example, “Hello Mr. Santeria…” or “Hi Abby.”
    • End the communication with your full name so that it is easy for the receiver to determine who sent the message.
  4. Refer to specific information that is unique to the individual you are contacting, for example;
    • “I am interested in learning more about your concerns regarding your recent medication change…”
    • “Thank-you for clarifying your needs related to scheduling…”
    • “I really appreciate your words of acknowledgement and support…”
  5. Spell and grammar check each message before sending. A well-constructed and grammatically correct message communicates to the receiver that you value the exchange.
See also
After 40 Years, Nurse of the Week Sylvana Rega is Hanging Up Her Stethoscope for Good (Or is She?)

Establishing a firm intent to care, and then crafting messages carefully and with mindful attention to kindness will transform an impersonal communication into a collaborative caring opportunity. Understanding how to care in digital settings is critical to preserving the basic fabric of nursing we physically interact less while we electronically interact more with both patients and colleagues. We must all work together to envision and discover caring possibilities in the course of this inevitable change so that caring remains a core value in nursing and beyond. For more examples and ideas related to digital caring in nursing, read: Watson’s Caring in the Digital World: A Guide for Caring when Interacting, Teaching, and Learning in Cyberspace by Kathleen Sitzman and Jean Watson (2017), Springer Publishing.

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Kathleen Sitzman, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF
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See also
Nurse of the Week Richard Onyait: “I Have a Profession I’ve Always Loved” (Part One)
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