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Sister M. Simone Roach was brought up in a large, Roman Catholic family in a coal mining area of Cape Breton, NS, Canada. After high school she completed a nursing diploma program at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, Glace Bay, NS. Following a year of nursing practice, she entered the Sisters of St. Martha, Antigonish, NS, serving in a variety of clinical areas and teaching in Schools of Nursing. She completed a nursing undergraduate degree at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish and graduate study at University of Toronto, Boston University, and the Catholic University of America. There she completed a Doctoral program with a major in Philosophical Foundations of Education in 1970. She pursued two years of postdoctoral work, one year at Harvard Divinity School (Ethics), and one year as Reader at Regis College, Toronto, during which time she completed the second revised edition of her book on Caring. While Caring was always central as the core of nursing in her teaching, Sister Roach did not begin formal study of Caring until 1970 when she was Chair of the Department of Nursing, St. Francis Xavier University.
The following publications are foundational: 1984. Caring: The Human Mode of Being, Implications for Nursing, a Monograph. Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.

1987. The Human Act of Caring, A Blueprint for the Health Professions. Ottawa: Canadian
      Healthcare Association Press. 1997. Caring From the Heart: The Convergence of Caring and Spirituality. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press. (ISBN 0-8091-3717-8) [a compilation of chapters by 13 authors, each relating to a
      theme but with a unique focus] 2002. Caring, the Human Mode of Being: A Blueprint for the Health Professions (2nd rev. ed.). Ottawa: Canadian Healthcare Association Press (ISBN 1-896151-44-2)
      In her original research, Sister Roach was responding to the question, “What is a nurse doing when he or she is caring?” Because the list became too specific and unmanageable, data were identified within five categories that became known as the “Five C’s” (later “Six C’s”) ─ Compassion, Competence, Confidence, Conscience, Commitment, Comportment (added later.) Reflections on these C’s can be found in all her writings. While the Six C’s as attributes of caring have an important practical application, this
      aspect of Sister Roach’s research did not fully address a more fundamental ontological question, “What is Caring, in itself?” Reflection on this question led to the insight, “caring is the human mode of being.” We care, not because we are nurses, physicians, social workers, parents, etc; we care because we are human beings. We differ in how we care, not in that we care. Caring is not unique to nursing or even to the caring professions; it is a primary characteristic of being human. Further reflections in Caring from the Heart, noted above, examined the convergence of caring and spirituality. Sister Roach’s research, inspired by The
      Universe Story (Swimme, Berry, 1992) and other writings, pursued the more universal call of care as a “child of the universe.” This is an exciting, ever-expanding development moved by rapid developments in science and technology. Sister Roach has lectured internationally, with presentations in Australia, Bangkok, Finland, Cambridge (England), Russia, Sterling (Scotland), Canada and the US. She shares her work with the expectation that it will be helpful to students teachers and practitioners alike, and that application will continue to be made at all levels of health care. (M.S. Roach, 2007)