Professional caring: the moral dimension

The concept of caring, its intentions, actions and its achievements, as it relates to nursing is a concept on which many nurses' minds have been focused. The concern and at times a major preoccupation with the need to explore and explain caring among the nursing body is a concern which is rooted in socio-political and cultural phenomena related to the evolution of nursing. The need to explore and explain caring through philosophical discourse is a necessary and an ongoing part of this evolutionary process. This paper represents an attempt to partake in such discourse. More precisely, the paper undertakes an analysis of the concept of caring as it happens in both nonprofessional and in professional caring contexts and represents an attempt to characterize professional caring. In an effort to do this the author considers the moral-ethical dimension of caring in the light of important theoretical positions on social morality. When considered against these theories of social morality and against the professionally derived imperatives which guide caring actions, professional caring may be construed as a distinct mode of caring.