Website Name Change Alert –
Saving Nurses is now Making Caring Real
The Question –
As I talk with people and present on Caring Language and Caring Literacy, the question comes up,
What are the words that I should use in these conversations with nurses about their caring experiences?
What are the words that reflect caring literacy?
What are caring language words?
My Response –
My response has been: They are any words that feel authentic when talking about authentic caring moments. There is no formula, no script. These are organic conversations, based on your thoughts at the time.
The truth is … We each have our own Caring Language.
As a review:
- Caring literacy = the capacity to obtain, communicate, process and understand the basic information about caring.
- Caring Literacy — For more information about caring basics — including its definitions, mechanisms and sources.
List of Caring Literate Words:
What are those caring literate words that can trigger thoughts, feelings, actions around caring— its meaning and purpose?
- Humanity
- Alignment with humanistic values
- Humanity – the subjective
- Sense of meaning and purpose
- Recognizing vulnerabilities in others
- Genuine concern for others
- Connectedness
- Human connections
- Authenticity
- Authentic presence
- Authentic connections
- Authentic voice
- Full expression of feelings, thoughts, emotions
- Reflection and openness regarding negative feelings – fear, judgment, loss, trauma,
- Reflection of feelings, thoughts, emotions, experiences
- Accepts and helps others deal with negative feelings
- Self-care – physical health and cultivation of inner resources
- Self-awareness
- Self-acceptance
- Respect for uniqueness
- Respect for self and others
- Active Listening
- Positive gestures
- Kindness
- Pays attention
- Human dignity
- Nonjudgmental
- Responding to what is meaningful to the patient / to others
- Helping others understand what they are thinking about their illness/health—
- Asking others what they know within
- Helping others develop questions
- Silence / pause / reflection
- Intentionality
- Forgiveness, offering gratitude, surrendering, overcoming fear & pride
- Patient/family journey
- Life’s work
- Engage others
- Honoring beliefs
- Collaboration
- Understand it
- Interdependence
- Ethical caring
- Learning is nonlinear
- Invite learning through conversation
- Invite learning through story and discovery
- Nursing is a caring, holistic process of recognizing, partnering and reflecting
- Develop ways for pattern seeing, pattern recognizing and pattern transformation
- Embrace new ways for problem-solving in transformative exchanges
How to Use This List of Caring Literate Words
Choose from this list the words and phrases and concepts that resonate within your own sense of caring, your own body of knowledge about caring practices …
and continue to grow your caring language.