Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of making a promise, a mode of living health conceptualized from the perspective of Parse's human becoming theory. Parse's phenomenologic-hermeneutic research method was used to generate the structure of the lived experience. Through dialogical engagement with the researcher, nine women and one man described the experience in diverse contexts of their choosing. Through the process of extraction-synthesis, the researcher identified three core concepts common to all ten participants' descriptions. These were linked to form the structure of making a promise as engaging with the cherished in a solemn allegiance, while persisting with fidelity amid the assuredness-unassuredness of remorse. Through heuristic interpretation this structure was woven with the human becoming theory, thus adding to nursing knowledge about the human-universe-health process