The purpose of this Caritas Coach project is to help nurses diversified in their specialties to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of their caring connections despite their different work settings by spending time on each other’s units. The project is designed to foster discovery that nurse colleagues do share a common goal/bond of purpose and to build a more cohesive caring team.

1. Kaiser Permanente, Northern California
Caritas Consortium 2013
Building Trusting Caring Relationships:
Walking in the Shoes of Another
Caritas in Action
How Caring Science informs and inspires KP caregivers and affirms our commitment to provide our
patients and their families exceptional care

2. Building Trusting Caring Relationships:
Walking in the Shoes of Another
Intent to Contribute Statement:
Purpose: The purpose of this project is to help nurses diversified in their specialties to develop a deeper understanding
and appreciation of their caring connections despite their different work settings by spending time on each other’s
units. The project is designed to foster discovery that nurse colleagues do share a common goal/bond of purpose and
to build a more cohesive caring team. This, in turn, creates healing work environments through the practice of the ten
Caritas Processes™ as a universal mode of being, instead of being divided by their work with different patient
populations (Watson, 2008). Ultimately, valuing each nurse specialist’s diversity, and the creation of a caring working
team offers the best patient care by sharing collective wisdom and universal values of caring.
Project Description: After being introduced to the project, participants from the CEPI Department who volunteered
were paired with a colleague with similar credentials, but who worked with different patient populations to lessen
confusion with role delineation and function. Two CNS participants who worked in NICU and ICU were paired, as were
the two Educators who work in Med-Surg and PACU, and two Educators who work in NICU and ICU. Each participant
spent a minimum of six hours in the peer’s unit, open to experiencing each other’s environment. Participants were
encouraged to explore differences, but also to uncover their commonalities during their time together. Other CEPI
Department team members will be encouraged to schedule shared time together. The participants will meet together
to discuss the experience, how their perception of each other’s work environment and responsibilities has
changed, and what commonalities they each share as nurses.
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3. Building Trusting Caring Relationships:
Walking in the Shoes of Another
Con’t:
Project Outcome: The intended outcome is to build better trusting caring relationships among team members. It is
anticipated that members will discover through this experience what they share in common as Nurses instead of
focusing on their differences. Based on the first groups’ feedback, the experience increased their understanding of
each other’s nursing, along with discovering that being in an unfamiliar work environment creates discomfort of
fear and anxiety. One Educator stated, “The OR may be different from my area and does make me a little
nervous, but there are many things that are the same, such as the importance of effective communication, being
flexible, and caring about our patients and their safety.” After the experience, participants report a better
appreciation for the work of their colleagues that diminishes the focus on differences and increases the
understanding of their commonalities of caring as nurses.
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4. Building Trusting Caring Relationships:
Walking in the Shoes of Another
Inspired Contributor(s) 1 :
Deleta Moore – Caritas Coach

-----Service Area: East Bay
Medical Center: RCH
Affiliation: PCS
-----Year Shared: 2013
Venue: Caritas Consortium
Format: Poster
ID #: n/a
1
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Names as listed in Lotus Notes, otherwise personal e-mails indicated
Keyword TAGs:
Identifier
 Consortium2013-July, East
Bay, Richmond, Poster, Caritas
Coach, Patient Care Services
 Team
Descriptor
 Storytelling

5. Building Trusting Caring Relationships:
Walking in the Shoes of Another
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