5/13/25 Journal Club (via Zoom) - Seeing the Field: Applying Watson's Unitary Caring Science to Discern Racism
Webinar/Online
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 11:00am ET - 12:00pm ET
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Seeing the Field: Applying Watson's Unitary Caring Science to Discern Racism
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Dr. LaTonia Clark Chalmers is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, and Dr. Kaija Freborg is an associate professor at Sonoma State University, School of Nursing and Health Sciences. LaTonia and Kaija have built a transpersonal caring, interracial relationship that is rooted in their individual and collective pursuit to embody Human Caring Science. They met 5 years ago when LaTonia was a guest speaker in Kaija’s graduate antiracism nursing course. This-universe-brought-us-together meeting has blossomed into a partnership centered around a genuine human-to-human connection, relational accountability, and a commitment to advancing health equity, social justice, and wholeness for all. Soon, we found ourselves collaborating in scholarship, noting that through our respective racial identities, we are able to truly model an authentic, heart-centered nursing relationship, which benefits the facilitation of educational and reflective processes in antiracism work. Simply speaking, there are things LaTonia can say as a Black woman that Kaija cannot and there are things Kaija can say as a white woman that LaTonia cannot. This mutual, symbiotic relationship led to Human Caring Science-based professional development offerings and teaching strategies, which we disseminated at the International Association of Human Caring’s annual conference in 2021. After concluding our presentation, Dr. Zane Wolf encouraged us to publish highlighting the need for us to share how antiracism can be addressed via a caring consciousness.
Speakers
Dr. Kaija Freborg is an Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the BSN Prelicensure Program at Sonoma State University School of Nursing. As the Chair of the AntiRacism, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Nursing Committee, she has developed action plans, conducted a curricular review, and facilitated the development of a nurse civility policy. She has over a decade of experience in health equity nursing education, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She was a Fellow of AACN’s Diversity Leadership Institute and now serves as Secretary on the DEI Leadership Network’s Steering Committee. She is trained in the Truth, Racial Healing, & Transformation process and is currently a Racial Healing Circle Facilitator with the American Holistic Nursing Association. Her scholarly interests include building racial literacy and integrating health equity in nursing through health and wellness coaching, innovative curriculum design, program development, and research. When she’s not engaged in her professional life, she enjoys trail running, teaching dance, and doing her very best to keep her plants alive: Bianca (an orchid plant) and Jake (the snake plant).
Dr. LaTonia Clark Chalmers is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) School of Nursing. She is a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, advanced practice holistic nurse, and health and wellness nurse coach. Her scholarly interests include health equity; the application of nursing ethics and Human Caring Science to disrupt and address bias and the isms; equity in teaching; improving mental health literacy and support in faith communities; the Strong Black Woman Superwoman phenomenon; culturally tailoring caring-healing modalities; and the mindful self-care/self-compassion practices of nurses, nursing students, and community members. LaTonia earned Bachelor of Arts (history) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees from UNC-CH, a Master of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Transcultural Nursing Leadership from Augsburg University. She also completed a fellowship in Interprofessional Integrative Health and Healing Therapies with the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Healthcare System. In her free time, LaTonia loves spending time with her family and friends, taking photos, traveling, and exploring how to better embrace rest and play.