Concepts of Caring
Thomas Jones
Stanbridge College
Concepts of Caring
Practicing as a nurse is more than just understanding procedures and utilizing nursing skills. There is something even greater that must be considered in order to be an effective provider and that is understanding the power of caring. One person that understood this essential aspect of nursing was Dr. Jean Watson. Her theory of “Human Caring” focuses on the human aspect of care and the relationship between illness and human behavior. The major concepts of Watson’s theory focus on the roots of caring, such as the transpersonal relationship of caring, caring moments and the caritas process. “Caring has been considered to be the ontological and epistemological foundation of nursing and the essence and central focus for nursing” (Sargent, 2012, p. 135). By applying Watson’s theory in practice, nurses can provide meaningful care and connect on a more personal level with patients, creating a healing environment.
Transpersonal Caring Relationships
Establishing a “Transpersonal Caring Relationship” is an essential part of the caring process. This means as nurses we must focus on understanding the relationship between health, illness and behavior. Nurses must not only perform an objective assessment of their patients, but must also assess the patients subjective concerns about their health and wellness. This can assist the nurse with developing a more transpersonal relationship of caring and connecting on a more spiritual level. The goal of the transpersonal caring relationship is to preserve the patient’s dignity and humanity throughout their health care experience.
Caring Occasion
Another important concept in Watson’s theory is the “Caring Occas...
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...s I could feel her pain and suffering as she continued to share her story. Slowly she became less tearful, her arms and legs became less restless and the pain became more manageable. By giving myself to her it allowed her to release her emotional pain, which eased her physical pain enough for her to relax and sleep through the night. It was a sacred encounter I will never forget and a constant reminder of how important the human aspect of caring is to our patients wellness.
Conclusion
Providing quality care for patients is more than just possessing a set of clinical skills. Nurses my also sharpen their ability to convey authentic caring by studying and understanding theories such as Watson’s. Utilizing carative factors will lead to more opportunities for caring occasions and spiritual connections with patient, and ultimately result in better patient outcomes.
Both theories use communication as the backbone to their theories and in developing an environment conducive to promote healing. Although communication is the framework for both theories, types of communication is looked at different in each theory. In Watson’s theory, she that communication is a spiritual occurrence. The focus is on nonverbal as well as verbal expressions. She also involves personal experiences and growth, art, religious practices. Watson uses the concept of care as the center of nursing care. The goal of the Human Care Theory is for the patient and nurse to gain a higher degree of harmony within themselves, cultivating a wholeness of mind/body/spirit (Watson Caring Science Institute, 2010, p.
Watson, J. (2001). Jean Watson: Theory of human caring. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (pp. 343-354). Philadelphia: Davis.
Watson, J. (2008). Nursing. The Philosophy and Science of Caring. Revised & Updated Edition. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
My philosophy of nursing focuses on making sure that nurses provide patient-centered care and to make patients feel like they are genuinely being cared for. Nurses must be guided by altruism. Nursing health care policies are rooted in the principle of altruism and nurses who take the initiative to take patients concerns seriously and show interest in their well-being, will only continue to grow and have satisfactory results. Watson viewed the individual as mind-body-soul and also, that there should be an internal balance between health and harmony (Zerwekh & Zerwekh Garneau, 2015). This is similar to how me and Watson see an individual because if a patient is not good in health, he or she will not be in harmony with oneself or others. There will not be an equilibrium with mind, body and soul, causing illness, depression and
She proposed that caring and love are universal and mysterious (Wagner, 2010). Watson believes that health professionals make moral, social, and scientific contributions to humanity and that a nurses' caring ideal can affect human development (Wagner, 2010). Watson believes that it is imperative in today's society to maintain a caring ideology in practice (Wagner, 2010). Caring is a concept that focuses on having a respectful, non-judgmental, supportive attitude that contributes to the healing process. Watson's theory, in relationship to the metaparadigm of nursing, focuses on the relationship between the nurse and the patient (Wagner, 2010). According to Watson's theory, the nurse and patient form a caring relationship where both the patient and the nurse promote healing (Wagner, 2010). In general, the theory of caring reminds us that a nurse can have a great impact on the life of a patient. If I were to add a new conceptual metaparadigm, it would be the concept of caring since I firmly believe that without caring it will be almost impossible to have wellness at all. If I were to choose one metaparadigm concept to eliminate, I would opt to remove the concept of health since I think that in the concepts of caring and nursing the individual's health should be fully
In the field of Nursing, the role of caring is an important, if not the most critical, aspect involved to ensure that the patient is provided with the most proficient healthcare plan possible. Jean Watson developed a series of theories involved with transpersonal relationships and their importance, along with caring, in the restorative process of the patient and healing in general. Although all of Watson 's caritas processes are crucial to the role of nurses and patient care, the fourth process is incredibly essential as it outlines the importance of the caring nurse-patient relationship. This paper serves to identify Watson 's fourth caritas process, how it can be integrated in nursing care and how it can be developed by current nursing
In conclusion, Jean Watson’s theory of caring, a middle-range theory, provides essential framework and guidelines in nursing shortage problem. Nurses who exposed to caring theory have moral and ethical obligations to care for others during challenging situations. Patients, families and other professionals depend on nursing profession, their expertise and knowledge for best patient
Watson conceived her Theory of Human Caring while she was teaching at the University of Colorado in 1975 to 1979 (Conway et al, 2011). It evolved from her personal views on nursing and merged with her learning and experience from her doctoral studies in education, clinical and social psychology. With the publication of her first book, Jean Watson developed the initial ideas of her theory and came up with 10 “carative” factors. Her actual theory was published in 1985, after which she further developed the corresponding nursing curriculum. In those years, Watson also extensively traveled in Asia and Australia while practiced. The prevailing influences in the nursing field at the time were those of Carl Rogers, Florence Nightingale and Leininger. Main psy...
Watson first published her theory of caring in 1979 in a book titled, Nursing: Human Science and Caring. Watson and other researchers have built upon this theory and caring theory should continually be evolving as the delivery of patient care evolves. This theory focuses on care between the nurse and the patient. This interaction is defined as setting mutual tasks, how a spiritual force may help the interaction and when caring in the moment of true healing may occur. When the nurse and patient are on the same level spiritually self-awareness and self-discovery occur. There are ten themes identified in this article essential to caring in
Jean Watson is a well-respected American nursing theorist who created the Theory on Human Caring. Watson’s concept on caring for a human being is simple, yet has much depth and meaning, and holds strong for nurses to work with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring. The Theory on Human Caring is necessary for every nurse, as it is our job to care for others in a genuine and sensitive way. The theory is extensive; its core foundation is based on nine concepts all interrelated and primarily focused on a nurse giving a patient care with compassion, wisdom, love, and caring (Watson, J., 1999). The nine essential aspects consist of: values, faith-hope, sensitivity, trust, feelings, decision-making, teaching-learning, environment, and human needs. Watson also created the Caritas Process consists of ten different ways of giving care:
One must have the full desire to help and care for people in order to have an enjoyable career as a nurse. Nurses are known for the care and compassion shown to the patients and this is comforting for both patients and their families. Caring for a patient can raise their spirits and can inspire a better outlook on their situation. As a nurse, I want to care for all my patients with the hope of improving their health and outlook on their life. I chose Jean Watson because she understands that caring is the core of nursing and believes caring promotes a better health than only performing medical care. She was the first grand theorist that focused on the aspect of caring for the patient while also caring for yourself as the nurse. Watson’s theory
What is caring? In any healthcare profession caring is an important concept, but what does it really mean to care? Opinions on the meaning of caring vary depending on the person and the situation. It seems that most people think of caring differently than nurses do, and nurses think of caring differently than other healthcare workers. Which arises another question, is caring in nursing different than other healthcare disciplines? What does it mean to care as a nurse? Why is caring important in nursing? After speaking to friends and family I have heard many different thoughts on what caring is believed to be defined as.
The purpose of this paper is an overview of Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring. This theory can be taken into account as one of the most philosophicaly complicated of existent nursing theories. The Theory of Human Caring, which also has been reffered to as the Theory of Transpersonal Caring, is middle – range explanatory theory. (Fawccett, 2000) The central point of which is on the human component of caring and actual encounter between the client and the caregiver. Jean Watson has stated that her work was motivated by her search of a new meaning to the world of nursing and patient care. “ I felt a dissonnance between nursing’s (meta) paradigm of caring-healing and health, and medicines’s (meta) paradigm of diagnosis and treatment, and concentration on disease and pathology”. (Watson, 1997,p.49)
When I became a nurse, in my heart, I knew that I was a caring person; however, I did not have a caring theory driving my practice. After studying Watson’s Human Caring Science Theory, the theory is consistent with my values, which emphasizes a holistic approach with mind, body, and spirit through a caring nurse patient relationship in an environment that promotes healing, comfort, and dignity. Human Caring Science gives the privilege of viewing human life with wonder, respect, and appreciates small and large miracles, which allows the inner world of the patient and nurse to come together in a unique human relationship, in the here and now moment (Watson, 2012, p. 24).
Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring is considered a philosophy; therefore, it is very broad and general in scope. Included in the theory are ten caritas the nurse should practice promoting a meaningful nurse-patient relationship (Sitzman & Wright Eichelberger, 2017).