A Nursing Research Review of the Application of the Phenomenological Caring Inquiry Methodology
Main Article Content
Abstract
This review explores the philosophy and science of meaning of phenomenology and artificial intelligence in the profession of nursing and the published study, “The Total Self for God and Others: A Theory of the Meaning of Self-Care for Nursing,” which employed Ray’s Phenomenological Caring Inquiry Methodology, a human scientific approach to the study of nursing. Rooted in the theological and spiritual fundamentals of nursing, the study illuminated self-care as a divine, holistic, and ethical imperative for nurses. As a foundation, this review highlights, first, an overview of phenomenology as a human science, second, its application in nursing research, and third, its exploration and use in the above-named study. Successively, this review highlights the methodological rigor of caring inquiry-phenomenology, spiritual depth, and transformative potential of the study, which redefines self-care not merely as a personal or professional act but as a spiritual vocation. By honoring the tripartite nature of human beings—body-mind, soul, and spirit—the study reframes self-care as an aesthetic, theological journey. This review affirms the theory’s significance in fostering resilience, purpose, and deeper, more caring relationships in the nursing profession, as well as its value in advancing spiritually grounded, ethically sound nursing practice.
Keywords:
Phenomenology, Caring Science, AI, Holistic Care, Nursing Theory, Ray’s Caring Inquiry, Self-Care, Spirituality in Nursing
Article Details
How to Cite
COYOCA, Gloria Shiela E.; RAY, Marilyn A..
A Nursing Research Review of the Application of the Phenomenological Caring Inquiry Methodology.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 13, n. 10, oct. 2025.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/6963>. Date accessed: 15 nov. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v13i10.6963.
Section
Review Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
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35. Ray, M. (1985). A philosophical method to study nursing phenomena. In M.. Leininger, Qualitative research methods in nursing. Grune & Straton, Inc.
36. Ray, M. (1997). Illuminating the meaning of caring: Unfolding the sacred art of divine love. In M. S. Roach (Ed.). Caring from the heart: The convergence of caring and spirituality (pp. 163-178). Paulist Press.
37. Ray, M. (2013). Caring inquiry: The esthetic process in the way of compassion. In M. C. Smith, M. C. Turkel, & Z. R. Wolf (Eds.), Caring in nursing classics: An essential resource (pp. 339-345). Springer Publishing Company.
38. Ray, M. (2019). Caring inquiry methodology: The aesthetic process in the way of compassion. In S. H.-D. W. Rosa, J. Watson, M. Ray, M. Smith, M. Turkel, D. Guillett & G. Hernandez-Kertland(Ed.), A handbook of caring science: Expanding the paradigm, (pp. 343-353). Springer Publishing Company.
39. Ray, M. (2021). Evolution of Ray’s theory of bureaucratic caring. International Journal for Human Caring, 25(3), 159-175. https://dx.doi.org/10.20467/HumanCaring-D-20-00043
40. Ray, M. & Locsin, R. (2023). Toward an adequate understanding of phenomenological and hermeneutic-phenomenological nursing research. Nursing and Health Sciences, 25, 3-8. DOI:10.111 1/nhs.13015
41. Reeder, F. (1983). Philosophical issues in the Rogerian science of unitary human beings. Advances in Nursing Science, 6(2), 14-23.
42. Ricoeur, P. (1992). Oneself as another (Trans. by Kathleen Blamey). The University of Chicago Press.
43. Roach, M. S. (1984). Caring: The human mode of being, Implications for nursing. Perspectives in Caring Monograph1, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.
44. Roach, M. S. ((2002). Caring, the human mode of being (2nd rev. ed). CHA Press.
45. Rogers, M. (1970). Introduction to the theoretical basis of nursing. F. A. Davis.
46. Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. Cambridge University Press.
47. Stapleton, T. (1983). Husserl and Heidegger: The question of a phenomenological beginning. State University of New York.
48. Stein, E. (1989). On the problem of empathy [in Phenomenology] (Trans. by Waltraut Stein, PhD). ICS Publications.
49. Steiner, G. (1989). Real presence. Faber and Faber.
50. Tanioka, T., Yasuhura, Y., Osaka, K. Ito, H. & Locsin R (2017). Nursing robots: Robotic technology and human caring for the elderly. Fukuro Shuppan Publishing.
51. Teilhard de Chardin, P. (1967). On love and happiness. The Great Library Collection by R. P. Pyrene. (Reprint, 2015).
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53. van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. The Althouse Press.
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58. Von, Hildebrand, D. (1965). The heart: An analysis of human and divine affectivity. St. Augustine’s Press.
2. Barron, R. (2007). The priority of Christ: Toward a postliberal Catholicism. Baker Academic.
3. Bay, B. R. Z., Chua, J. Y. X., & Shorey, S. (2025). Experiences of Nurses Regarding Self‐Care: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta‐Synthesis. Nursing and Health Sciences, 27(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.70044
4. Beck, C. (2021. Introduction to phenomenology: Focus on Methodology. Sage.
5. Benner, P. (1989). The primacy of caring. Stress and coping in health and illness. Addison-Wesley.
6. Bohm, D. (1980). Wholeness and the implicate order. Routledge.
7. Bostrum, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, dangers, strategies. Oxford University Press.
8. Carel, H. (2014). Nursing and medicine [in phenomenology]. In S. Luft & S. Overgaard (Eds.), The Routledge companion to phenomenology (pp. 623-632). Routledge.
9. Clarke, J. (2010).Body and soul in mental health care. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 13 (6), 649-657. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2010.488416
10. Coyoca, G.S.E., Tuppal, C.P., & Ray, M.A. (2025). Eliciting the theory of meaning on Self-Care for Nurses: Application of Ray’s Caring Inquiry. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Innovation, 37 (1), 2-23. https://doi.org/10.62071/apjsi.v37i1.760
11. Gadamer, H-G. (1990). Truth and method (2nd rev. ed.). Crossroad Publishing Corporation. (Original work published 1975).
12. D’Arcy, E. (1963). Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, The Emotions, Vol.19, Question, 26, Love (pp. 63-107). Eyre & Spottiswoode, and McGraw-Hill Book Company.
13. Egan, M. (2025, August 14). The ‘godfather of AI’ reveals the only way humanity can survive superintelligent AI. CNN Business. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/13/tech/ai-geoffrey-hinton
14. Geremias, R. L. (2025). Relating Workaholism to Job Stress: Serial Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction and Psychological Capital of Nurses in Angola. Nursing Reports, 15(2), 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15020043
15. Harrison, E.F. (1960). Baker's dictionary of theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House.
16. Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and time (Trans. by J. Macquarrie & e. Robinson). Harper & Row.
17. Heidegger, M. (1977). The question concerning technology. Harper Perennial.
18. Helming, M. A. B., Shields, D. A., Avino, K. M., & Rosa, W. E. (2020). Dossey & Keegan's holistic nursing: A handbook for practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
19. Huckins, G. (2025, August 15). Why GPT-4o’s sudden shutdown left people grieving. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/15/1121900/gpt4o-grief-ai-companion/
20. Husserl, E. (1931). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology. Macmillan.
21. Jaastad ,T.A. Ueland, V., & Koskinen, C. (2024). Nursing students’ movement toward becoming a professional caring nurse. Nursing Ethics, 32(1):125 -140. doi:10.1177/09697330241238343
22. Lee, K-F. (2018). AI superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the new world order. Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt.
23. Leininger, M. (1977). Caring: The essence and central focus of nursing. In the phenomenon of caring. Part V. Nursing Research Report, 12(1), 14.
24. Leininger, M. (1978). Transcultural nursing: concepts, theories and practices. John Wiley & Sons.
25. McDonald, L. (2017). Florence Nightingale: A Very Brief History. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
26. Merleau-Ponty (1963). Phenomenology of perception. (Trans. by C. Smith). Routledge and Kegan Paul.
27. Mickunas, A., & Pilotta, J. (2023). A Critical Understanding of Artificial Intelligence: A Phenomenological Foundation. https://doi.org/10.2174/97898151234011230101.
28. Munhall, P. (1994), Nursing philosophy and nursing research. In apposition or opposition? Nursing Research, 31(3), 176-177, 181.
29. Nightingale, F. (1860). Notes on Nursing: What it is, and what it is not. J. B. Lippincott and Company.
30. Paterson, J. & Zderad, L. (1976) Humanistic nursing. John Wiley & Sons.
31. Parse, R. (1981). Man-living-health: A theory of nursing. John Wiley & Sons.
32. Peat, F. D. (2002). From certainty to uncertainty: The story of science and ideas in the twentieth century. Joseph Henry Press.
33. Posluns, K., & Gall, T. L. (2020). Dear Mental Health Practitioners, Take Care of Yourselves: a Literature Review on Self-Care. IntJ Adv Couns, 42(1), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-019-09382-w
34. Ray, M. (1981). A philosophical analysis of caring within nursing. In M. Leininger (Ed. & Author). Caring: An essential human need (pp. 25-36). Charles B. Slack, Inc.
35. Ray, M. (1985). A philosophical method to study nursing phenomena. In M.. Leininger, Qualitative research methods in nursing. Grune & Straton, Inc.
36. Ray, M. (1997). Illuminating the meaning of caring: Unfolding the sacred art of divine love. In M. S. Roach (Ed.). Caring from the heart: The convergence of caring and spirituality (pp. 163-178). Paulist Press.
37. Ray, M. (2013). Caring inquiry: The esthetic process in the way of compassion. In M. C. Smith, M. C. Turkel, & Z. R. Wolf (Eds.), Caring in nursing classics: An essential resource (pp. 339-345). Springer Publishing Company.
38. Ray, M. (2019). Caring inquiry methodology: The aesthetic process in the way of compassion. In S. H.-D. W. Rosa, J. Watson, M. Ray, M. Smith, M. Turkel, D. Guillett & G. Hernandez-Kertland(Ed.), A handbook of caring science: Expanding the paradigm, (pp. 343-353). Springer Publishing Company.
39. Ray, M. (2021). Evolution of Ray’s theory of bureaucratic caring. International Journal for Human Caring, 25(3), 159-175. https://dx.doi.org/10.20467/HumanCaring-D-20-00043
40. Ray, M. & Locsin, R. (2023). Toward an adequate understanding of phenomenological and hermeneutic-phenomenological nursing research. Nursing and Health Sciences, 25, 3-8. DOI:10.111 1/nhs.13015
41. Reeder, F. (1983). Philosophical issues in the Rogerian science of unitary human beings. Advances in Nursing Science, 6(2), 14-23.
42. Ricoeur, P. (1992). Oneself as another (Trans. by Kathleen Blamey). The University of Chicago Press.
43. Roach, M. S. (1984). Caring: The human mode of being, Implications for nursing. Perspectives in Caring Monograph1, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.
44. Roach, M. S. ((2002). Caring, the human mode of being (2nd rev. ed). CHA Press.
45. Rogers, M. (1970). Introduction to the theoretical basis of nursing. F. A. Davis.
46. Sokolowski, R. (2000). Introduction to phenomenology. Cambridge University Press.
47. Stapleton, T. (1983). Husserl and Heidegger: The question of a phenomenological beginning. State University of New York.
48. Stein, E. (1989). On the problem of empathy [in Phenomenology] (Trans. by Waltraut Stein, PhD). ICS Publications.
49. Steiner, G. (1989). Real presence. Faber and Faber.
50. Tanioka, T., Yasuhura, Y., Osaka, K. Ito, H. & Locsin R (2017). Nursing robots: Robotic technology and human caring for the elderly. Fukuro Shuppan Publishing.
51. Teilhard de Chardin, P. (1967). On love and happiness. The Great Library Collection by R. P. Pyrene. (Reprint, 2015).
52. Tuppal, C. P., Vega, P. D., & Tuppal, S. M. P. (2022). Towards a theory of communion‐in‐caring. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 36(2), 524-535.
53. van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. The Althouse Press.
54 van Manen, M. (2014). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Left Coast Press.
55. Watson, J. (1979). The philosophy and science of caring. Appleton-Century-Crofts.
56. Watson, J. (2008). Nursing: The philosophy and science of caring (Revised Edition). University Press of Colorado. (Original Publication, 1979).
57. Watson, J. (2025). Metaphysic of Watson unitary caring science: A cosmology of love. Springer Publishing.
58. Von, Hildebrand, D. (1965). The heart: An analysis of human and divine affectivity. St. Augustine’s Press.