The impetus for this paper came from our experiences as learner-teachers of re-considering the epistemological and ontological roots of our undergraduate-nursing curriculum. It began as an earnest dialogue regarding particular aspects of first year undergraduate-nursing theory content, specifically, caring and compassion, self-concept and nursing identity, spirituality and culture, a simple question—how could we better engage first year nursing students with what they frequently considered to be “abstract” and “soft” concepts? An organic need to be “good teachers” and introduce learners to fundamental concepts in nursing, and have them understand, in meaningful ways, the complexity of “caring and compassion” with respect to what it is that nurses do, think, and enact. To this end, we enlisted Relational Inquiry, as articulated by Gweneth Hartrick Doane and Colleen Varcoe, as a means of creating an epistemological and ontological foundation for our teaching practice in order to better support the development of critically reflective, community orientated, caring relational practitioners. Initially, we thought relational inquiry was an epistemological endeavor and found that it is an ontological undertaking. We discovered that practicing from a relational caring perspective shifted our focus from the content to the student as a developing practitioner and human being. Through the process of re-imagining our teaching practice, we have begun to re-consider the importance of “attending to the spirit” of nursing students.
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