Vårdande i kärlek : kärleken går i strumpor

Abstract

Caring has been formed by its long history and tradition, which can be seen in the basic values and foundational ideas of caring. The overall aim of the study is to deepen the understanding of the inner essence and idea of caring through exposing how this is expressed in the beginning of education of nurses in Kaiserswerth Deaconess Institute in Germany during the first half of the 19th century. The overarching question is: How is the essence and the idea of caring expressed in the beginning of education of nurses during the first half of the 19th century in Kaiserswerth Deaconess Institute? Two underlying questions in relation to the overarching question are: What is the content and the foundation of the idea? What is the meaning of the words? The theoretical perspective of the study is caring science as it is outlined in the tradition of caring science that is developed in Department of Caring Science in Åbo Academy University in Finland and rests on the theory of caritative caring. The study is basic research and it orientates in the history of ideas and philology with a hermeneutical approach. The thesis is a monograph. The material has been collected in the archives of Kaiserswerth Deaconess Institute. The material consists of approximately 2000 pages of text. The texts have been analyzed with a focus on the ideas of caring and the content and foundation of these ideas, and they have been interpreted in accordance with the hermeneutical interpretation which aims at understanding. The ideas of the early caring and the inner order of these ideas have then been reflected against the thesis’s core of theory. This has led to six summarizing claims and a new overall understanding of the essence of caring. The result shows that caring can be described as an expression of love and compassion where the unselfish essence of love obligates and gives birth to responsibility. Caring as an ethical expression of love builds on the tradition of caring and gives caring its nobility and distinctive character and requires a deeper inner conviction and understanding of the ethos and spirit of caring. This deep understanding leads to inner formation and to the identity of a professional caring-person, of the caritative caregiver, and gives the caregiver strength to fulfill his task as a caregiver in its full potential. When the ethos of caring – spirit – leads, the soul obeys and the body serves in the caritative act, caring is realized in its deepest meaning and also fulfills its mission in the society to guard human value and humanity.