We also are indebted to students and colleagues whose questions, stories, and expressions of nursing fostered clarity in our understanding of the ontology of nursing. A special thank you goes to the following colleagues whose stories are re-presented in this book: Gayle Maxwell, Daniel Little, Sheila Carr, Patricia Kronk, Lorraine Wheeler, and Michele Stobie. To the many scholars in the discipline whose works reflect a commitment to the development of nursing knowledge related to caring in nursing, and especially to the members of the International Association of Human Caring, we thank you. We extend a special thanks to Marilyn Parker and Terri Touhy for their unending devotion and commitment to nursing and for the blessing of their friendship. We acknowledge Shawn Pennell who designed the image of the dance of caring persons described in this book. Sally Barhydt of the National League for Nursing offered understanding and thoughtful input in the early stages of this process and we thank her for her invaluable support. Thanks also to Allan Graubard of the League for his recognition of the meaning of our work, and for his careful attention in seeing this manuscript through to publication. We would like to recognize all persons we have been privileged to nurse. Through the experience and study of these nursing situations, the knowledge of the discipline unfolds. Last, we extend gratitude to our families for living caring with us and supporting our many professional endeavors. [Illustration: Button] CHAPTER I -- FOUNDATIONS OF NURSING AS CARING In this chapter we present the fundamental ideas related to person as caring and nursing as a discipline and profession that serves as the perspectival grounding for the theory Nursing as Caring. We intend to offer our perspective of these ideas as influenced by the works of various scholars so that the grounding for Nursing as Caring will be understood. We do not intend to offer a novel perspective of the notion of person, or a new generic understanding of caring or of discipline and profession, but to communicate some of the ideas basic to Nursing as Caring. Major assumptions underlying Nursing as Caring include: * persons are caring by virtue of their humanness * persons are caring, moment to moment * persons are whole or complete in the moment * personhood is a process of living grounded in caring * personhood is enhanced through participating in nurturing relationships with caring others * nursing is both a discipline and a profession PERSPECTIVE OF PERSONS AS CARING