This innovative text, built on the foundations of Watson's Caring Science, demonstrates how nursing professionals can develop virtual relationships that encompass caring and understanding in professional, teaching/learning, and everyday cyber communications. It describes how caring and love can transcend distance, space, and time in our increasingly virtual world to preserve the basic fabric of humanity as we physically interact less and electronically interact more. Straightforward and concise, the text offers specific practices for teachers, students, and professionals to support caring in a digital world, along with practical examples that enable readers to envision ways to create their own caring online presence.

The text provides examples of initiatives aimed at establishing ongoing intent to care on levels ranging from personal to global. Included are a variety of educational activities that rely on digital resources to facilitate interaction, collaboration, learning, and connection. Learning objectives and knowledge-check questions in each chapter reinforce information, and a corresponding MOOC and other free professional online trainings are available to readers to augment study.

Key Features:

• Built on Watson's Caring Science and expanded through Sitzman's research
• Contains specific information and practical examples for faculty, students, and professionals who interact online
• Provides examples of online caring initiatives from personal to global
• Validated by seven research studies and extensive online experience of the authors

Kathleen Sitzman, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, Distinguished Watson Caring Science Scholar, is a professor of undergraduate nursing science at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina. Previous to her current position, she held dual appointments at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, as the director of the Bachelor of Integrated Studies Program and faculty in the School of Nursing. She was inducted into the Academy of Nursing Education in 2015 and into the American Academy of Nursing in 2016. Dr. Sitzman has been a nurse since 1983 and has used her extensive experience to produce scholarly work that contributes to the nursing profession and body of knowledge on international, national, state, community, and local levels. She has been principal or co-investigator on 10 research projects, several of which focused on nursing students' perception of caring online. She has received numerous awards for her scholarship, mentorship, and teaching, including the Jean Watson Award for outstanding scholarship in caring science from the International Association for Human Caring (2007-2008). Dr. Sitzman has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and has coauthored four books: Understanding the Work of Nurse Theorists: A Creative Beginning, second edition (2011), A History of American Nursing: Trends and Eras, second edition (2014), Caring Science, Mindful Practice, first edition (Springer Publishing, 2014), and Watson's Caring in the Digital World (Springer Publishing, 2017). She is a member of the American Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, and the International Association for Human Caring. Dr. Sitzman has been generous with her skills and expertise by serving on a wide variety of health-related service projects.

Contents

Preface

PART I

Overview of Jean Watson';s & Human Caring Theory; With Digital World Applications

1 Watson's Caring Science as Context for Digital World Caring

2 Caring Science Foundations

3 Caritas Processes 1 Through 5

4 Caritas Processes 6 Through 10

PART II

Conveying Caring When Engaged in Teaching, Learning, and Interacting in the Digital World

5 Conveying and Sustaining Caring in Digital Learning Environments

6 Expressing Caring in Digital Communications

PART III

Expanding and Continuing Digital World Caring

7 Expressing Global Intent to Care: Free and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Trainings

8 Caring Continuing

PART IV

Teaching Materials

9 Course Resources

Index