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Why caring is important in nursing
The importance of self-care for nursing professionals
Why caring is important in nursing
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The practice of nursing expands further than fixing medical problems in a patient’s life. While healing plays a large role in nursing some might say caring makes a greater impact. The act of caring is unique to nursing where “caring comes before curing” (Potter 2017). In nursing showing patient’s care is essential to their well-being. It becomes obvious when there is a lack of care and that may hinder healing. Aspects of caring in the scope of the nursing practice include but are not limited to, caring actions, patient advocacy and self-care.
Caring actions are behaviors that nurses complete such as touching, providing presence, and active listening that prove an advanced investment in their patients. Physical touching encompasses skin-to-skin
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Emotional touch can only be achieved when trust and understanding is reached during nursing care. The concept where a nurse’s patient becomes more than just a task that needs to be done, but becomes a person that needs to be cared for. Providing presence is another caring action that encompasses emotional touch. Potter and Perry describe that how providing presence includes more than “physical presence, it includes communication and understanding. Nursing presence is the connectedness between the nurse and the patient.” (Potter 2017). When a nurse cares for a patient whether it is administering medication, bathing, or assessing there should be a notion that the time being spent doing these actions is important to the nurse. A sense of rushing could indicate that the task at hand is not important and that nonverbal communication could have an adverse effect on the patient’s mood, understanding, and attitude toward the intervention. The consequences of those adverse effects could include lack of communication between the nurse and patient. The patient may not inform their nurse that they feel pain or need lotion to feel more comfortable because they do not believe their nurse has the time to care. Active listening is the act of listening to hear a patient rather than to respond. It …show more content…
As caring nurses quality time is spent assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating interventions to give patient’s the most functionality to their life. A nurse may not be able to intervene and give full range of motion in a patient’s broken leg, but that nurse can teach the patient how to use crutches to properly get to school. Listening to patients is the fundamental caring action that allows nurses to take their care a step further into advocacy. Creating a trusting relationship allows for deep understanding of how the patient wants to be cared for. The National Patient Safety Foundations defines a quality patient advocate to be “…someone you trust who is willing to act on your behalf…who can work well with other members of your health care team.” (NPSF) As a patient advocate there will be an intervention that the patient wants to better their life, whether that is starting treatment, modifying interventions, or ending treatment. A nurse’s job is to supply knowledge about patient’s individual case in order for them to make an educated choice. A caring nurse will give their patient’s all the information including any and all approaches to circumstances. If a topic is beyond the scope of nursing practice it is up to the nurse to find someone who can give their patient’s correct information and ensure that all questions were answered. A
Nurses’ ability to provide interpersonal and comforting touch could be impaired by the current fast-paced, high-acuity and understaffed hospital-centred setting (Connor & Howett, 2009). Nursing is one of the few roles in contemporary society in which physical contact, even with intimate parts of the body, is accepted (Green, 2013). The frequent touch nurses encounter in patient care, however, is not always deliberate and with the intention of enhancing care (Connor & Howett, 2009). A stressful environment hinders nurses from achieving a state of therapists’ inner balance to perform tactile touch in hospitals (Henricson et al. 2006). In the absence of a quiet, independent environment, the positive outcomes of tactile touch are unlikely to be achieved and may even contribute to nurses’ fatigue (Homayouni et al. 2012).
Caring is the “central theme and core of nursing caring tapestry” (Otterbein University, 2009, p. 2). When developing caring characteristics as a nurse and caring interventions, this in return helps
“Touch and personal interactions with patients are the hallmarks of our nursing practice” (Green 2013,p.253).
Since the institution of nursing was first established, care has remained the primary component. Being able to provide care to patients on an emotional level is another example of the distinctive power that nurses uphold. Generally, the nurse is the predominant choice of the patient when he/she must determine who best to confer with or share personal thoughts or concerns with, as well as who the patient trusts most with management of their own well-being. This form of day-to-day, intimate patient-nurse relationship is a powerful component of
A therapeutic nurse-patient relationship is outlined as a helping relationship grounded on shared respect, trust, the encouragement of having faith and hope in oneself and others, and emotional support (Pullen et al., 2010). In doing so, the nurse can establish complete satisfaction of the patients needs, whether it be physical, emotional or spiritual. This relationship produces when the patient and the nurse come together in harmony and peace (Pullen et al., 2010). Efficient verbal and nonverbal communication is an essential aspect of interaction between nurse and patient – in doing this, the patient feels on par with the nurse, as an equal, rather than having no indication of what procedures are taking place (Pullen et al., 2010).
Self-care has a very different meaning for people. It varies from person to person and can be based on age, gender, religion, occupation, and their type of lifestyle that they live. For myself, my self-care has changed since starting nursing school and I now know have to look at it in terms of nursing. Although my self-care has not changed substantially I now have to realize that being a nurse, I will have more responsibility’s and will be taking care of others and I cannot take care of others until I take care of myself. Self-care is very important for many reasons; in my opinion a healthy person in mind, body and soul is a happy person. You cannot take care of others if you yourself are not healthy and happy.
Caring is the biggest aspect in the nursing field. Aspiring nurses choose to become nurses because they want to care for people in ways that most professions cannot do. Without caring nursing would not be the field it is today. The culture of caring involves intervening programs that help to build caring behaviors among nurses. As nurses become stressed and become down on their life it has shown that caring for oneself before others is key in caring for patients. Lastly, throughout the years many theorists have proven that caring has come from many concepts and ideas that relate directly to ICU nursing.
Nurses take a holistic approach to the delivery of patient- and family-centered care and, in doing so, the nurse plays several roles to address the different needs of the patient. Advocating for all the patient’s, as well as their caregivers’, needs to be met should always be incorporated into the provision of quality nursing care. (Walker et al., 2015). Applying the concept of advocacy to the delivery of nursing care is a key element of this author’s professional foundation. Consequently, this author will advocate for his patient’s rights to autonomy, privacy, and justice. Likewise, this author will continue to advocate for inclusion of the patient and his or her family in making decisions about the patient’s course of treatment.
The Theory of Nursing as Caring: A Model for Transforming Practice by Boykin & Schoenhofer recognizes the importance of identifying caring between the nurse and the one nursed as an applicable knowledge that the nurse must pursue. It is best stated that caring is not exclusive to nursing, yet it is uniquely lived in nursing (Alligood 2014).
The purpose of this paper is to present a personal belief about the metaparadigm of nursing and to incorporate it into that of Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring.
In Nursing, there will always be instances where the patient's nurse needs to advocate for their patient. There are numerous reasons why a nurse would advocate for their patient ranging from getting the doctor to change the patient’s orders, helping the patient’s treatment team understand what it is the patient is requiring for the day, to expressing the patient’s last wishes before death. In every situation, the nurse should do what is in the patient’s best interest. Tomajan (2012), “Advocacy skills are the ability to successfully support a cause or interest on one’s own behalf or that of another. Advocacy requires a set of skills that include problem solving, communication, influence, and collaboration”(p. 2). With those skills, the nursing staff will be able to work together to advocate for their patients. Along with those skills, nurses need to keep in mind the three core attributes that are: safeguarding patients’ autonomy; acting on behalf of patients; and championing social justice in the provision of health care. (Bu & Jezewski, 2006)
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
Caring is a very important component of nursing. Caring is important to nursing because it is a nurse 's job to care for the patient and make sure all is well. If a nurse was not caring, than the patient would not feel safe and not receive the best care possible. Nurses have to use all of the key characteristics mentioned in order to achieve excellent patient
3rd ed. of the book. St. Louis: Mosby & Co. McCance, T.V., McKenna, H. P., & Boore, J. R. P. (1999). Caring: Theoretical perspectives of relevance to nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30, 1388 – 1395.
Two concepts at the heart of nursing are comfort and caring. The Meriam Webster dictionary defines comfort as easing grief or trouble, as well as giving hope or strength. The definition of caring is showing or feeling concern for others. Theorists Jean Watson and Katharine Kolcaba seek to enhance nurses understanding of caring and comforting patients through their respective theories. This paper will discuss their theories using a stepwise approach.