August 2025
We wish to celebrate and honor our Caritas Colleagues and share their contribution and commitment to Caring Science. This month we are celebrating: Dr. Erica D. Anderson, DNP, RN, CNS, CNL, PHN, Caritas Coach®, Caritas Leader®, Kaiser Permanente NCAL Regional Program Director Caritas Coach Education Program
My Journey
Becoming a Caritas Coach® was a key turning point in my life. It was the spark that returned me back to the heart of caring and helped unwind me from the practice of doing, doing, doing.
Below describes some of what I gained from Caring Science that profoundly changed my life:
1. To be intentionally present with my own feelings and those for which I care
2. To shine my light in the world courageously
3. To simply be in the moment
4. Permission to care for myself first
5. A language to guide my nursing practice
6. Self-love
7. A new understanding of and value for honoring my own needs
8. Permission to practice nursing from the heart
9. Strengthened ability to practice compassion with self and others
10. Deeper connection to Source
Caring Science has given me a space to be myself with a supportive community that has become like family. Being with the Caritas community feels like home and has opened up many doors for me to be in deeper alignment with my life’s purpose. I have become a better person who is committed to embodying and sharing the principles of Caring Science. I am committed to not only talking the talk, but walking it as well. I have embraced the principles of loving kindness, authenticity, and compassion by lovingly tending to my own needs so I can better able tend to the needs of others. Through my Caring Science journey I have learned to prioritize caring for self and have noticed how this helps me be more present and compassionate with others. I am forever grateful that Caring Science has helped free me to shine my light and BE authentically me. I humbly give myself to serving others to do the same.
My consciousness and creativity have expanded exponentially, reminding me of my universal connection to all beings within me as described in my poem below:
That Place That Lives Deep Within
Remind my being-
Of that place that lives deep within...
Where heart to heart connections overflow
Into one cup
That unites all,
Where timelessness is the drum
Beating in the sacred Heart of Source,
Where there is no need to shine
As light is infinitely
Surrounding all in ecstasy,
Where spacelessness is profoundly
Wrapped in Universally loving systems
Full of ease and peace...
Pervading the soul-
Reminding us we are home.
"I am continuing to uphold and champion the Caritas values as a way of life both personally and professionally"
Contributions to Preserving and Promoting the legacy of Caring Science
I am continuing to uphold and champion the Caritas values as a way of life both personally and professionally. I am proudly serving as the first Kaiser Permanente NCAL Regional Program Director Caritas Coach Education Program. Part of my role is to help lead the spread of Caring Science and support the development of Caritas Coaches throughout our organization. I co-designed and co-teach a wellness course at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions for undergraduate nursing and health professions students grounded in the Theory of Human Caring where students learn the principles of Caring Science as a foundation for their healthcare career. I am also regularly supporting nurses to care for themselves through my healing and transformative work as founder of Heart Luminations and by volunteering on the Nursing Way as lead for the Nurse Yourself community.
Areas of Expertise
Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership, Population Health Nursing, Juvenile Delinquent Health, Caring Science, Holistic Health.
Location
San Leandro, CA USA
Publications
Hooper, E. D., & Horton-Deutsch, S. (2024). The role of reflection in guiding the evolution of care, compassion, and social change. In S. Horton-Deutsch & G. Sherwood (Eds.), Reflective practice: Reimagining ourselves, reimagining nursing (3rd ed., pp. 115-137). Sigma Theta Tau International.
Hooper, E. D., & Horton-Deutsch, S. (2023). Integrating self-compassion and Caring Science into health professions education. Creative Nursing, 29(1).
Hooper, E. D., & Horton-Deutsch, S. (2023). Integrating self-compassion and Caring Science into health professions education. Creative Nursing, 29(1).
