Caring as an imperative for nursing education

Caring is a universal need that is an important component in the delivery of nursing care. Nurse educators face the challenge of teaching the value of caring as a necessary part of nursing. Watson's theoretical framework, which focuses on interpersonal and transpersonal processes in human care, presents an effective model in understanding the concept of caring (1). Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia's model of affective domain provides a taxonomy of affective competencies that guides the process of value development (2). Both models enhance our understanding of caring and provide the theoretical foundation for integrating caring into nursing education. This article describes an associate degree program's effort to thread the concept of caring across its curriculum. It includes an overview of the steps used for integrating caring in individual clinical courses and emphasizes teaching/learning and assessment strategies used in the educational process.