September 2024
We wish to celebrate and honor our Caritas Colleagues and share their contribution and commitment to Caring Science. This month we are celebrating: Lacey LeFere, DNP, RN, AHN-BC, HeartMath® Certified Trainer & Caritas Coach®
A bit about me...
Just as I was transitioning from bedside nursing practice into my first role in nursing education and leadership, the hospital I was working at was filled with energy and excitement for an upcoming visit from Dr. Jean Watson. It was 2014, and, honestly, I really did not understand what all the hype was about! Little did I know though, even in that moment, a beautiful foundation for my nursing career was being laid out by beautiful pioneers and visionaries for the art and science of nursing practice. By 2015, I had attended my first International Caritas Consortium, become board certified in Advanced Holistic Nursing Practice, and began my journey to becoming a Caritas Coach.
Over the last 10 years since then, I have had the honor of serving the nursing community as a bedside nurse, nursing educator, Clinical Nurse Specialist, nursing manager and nursing director. I have practiced at the hospital level, as well as at the regional and national corporate systems levels. My clinical background is in Women’s Health, while my leadership experience has been in nursing practice transformation, Behavioral Health, Magnet/nursing excellence, as well as in in-home healthcare case/care management. Along with becoming board certified in Advanced Holistic Nursing Practice and graduating from the Caritas Coach Education Program® as a Caritas Coach, I have also had the opportunity to become a HeartMath Certified Trainer. And, in 2023, I graduated from Loyola University of Chicago’s Marciella Neihoff School of Nursing’s Doctorate in Nursing Practice program with a concentration in Healthcare Systems Leadership. I used the theory of Caring Science to support and guide my scholarly work that focused on reducing stress to build resilience in nursing leaders.
All my life, I have been called a “feeler”…told that I am emotional…that I care too much. While I have not completely disagreed with these traits, I have struggled to accept them as the burden, or even as the fault, that their connotation holds. Becoming a nurse aligned to these traits, but also fueled my inner struggle and desire to better understand caring, emotions, and feelings. Not only has Caring Science helped me to understand these things, but it has also given me a language and framework to support others in their caring journeys – whether as nurses or parents, family or friends…both personally and professionally.
I currently serve as a faculty mentor for the Watson Caring Science Institute’s Caritas Coach Education Program. Anytime I begin to feel despair or frustration in humanity, I am instantly encouraged and hopeful after spending time with our Coaches in training. I frequently use Caritas Process #7 to guide my support of the student Coaches in the program. “Engaging in transpersonal teaching and learning within the context of caring relationship; staying within other’s frame of reference; shift toward coaching model for expanded health/wellness.” By seeing the world and others through this lens, we hold space for all that each individual person and experience have to show us. We begin to see the possibilities of expanded consciousness in both self and others. And, at the end of the day, I see Caring Science as a tool and framework that provides me with the support that I need to sustain a successful career in nursing for years to come. Without it, I think the weight of being a “feeler, emotional, and caring too much” would be just that…too much.
One of my favorite lifetime memories was in 2018 when Dr. Watson joined for dinner the group of nurses that I had brought to the Magnet conference. Seeing Caring Science quite literally come to life for them as Dr. Watson shared a few words, engaged in personal conversations with many of the nurses, and took time for photos with everyone was so, so special. Another special moment that night was when Dr. Watson held (and did HeartMath with!) my 3-month-old son for a few minutes. (In photo.)
I see Caring Science as a tool and framework that provides me with the support that I need to sustain a successful career in nursing for years to come.
Contributions to the legacy of Caring Science
My answer to this question would have technically been very different just one year ago than it is today. Due to unforeseen events of earlier this year, I am currently in a season of transition…transitioning into a caregiver for my ill mother and transitioning to frontline bedside nursing from work-from-home nursing leadership while I prepare to enter academia as a nursing professor. Regardless of where I am at, though, I believe that one of the simplest and most powerful ways to preserve and promote Caring Science is by showing it through example. In a world where many are quick to judge, to be caught up in ego, and to put others down for their own advantage, remaining consistent in loving-kindness, trusting-caring relationships, transpersonal presence, authentic listening, openness, environmental awareness, respect, and the possibility of more…of miracle, is so powerful in creating space for Caring Science in every corner of life. Using the language, teaching the concepts, and defaulting to its framework as a nursing leader and educator are also ways that I feel Caring Science active in my professional life. I know that this will continue to unfold for me as I continue to transition into whatever is next.
Areas of Expertise
Nursing/Nursing Leadership
Women’s Health Nursing
Holistic Nursing Practice
Nursing Excellence/Magnet
HeartMath Resilience Advantage
Family/Mother
Fertility/Pregnancy Loss
Photography
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Publications
Publication – Chapter Author: Caritas Coaching: A Journey Toward Transpersonal Caring for Informed Moral Action in Healthcare: 9781945157295: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com
Announcement – DNP Graduate: Doctor of Nursing Practice | School of Nursing: Loyola University Chicago (luc.edu)
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