Most nurses would agree that they are facing ever increasing workloads and levels of responsibility. In spite of this, we must find ways to maintain a caring practice and Jean Watson’s caring theory can help us accomplish this goal.
Watson’s caring theory can help us to get back to our professional roots and values; it presents the picture of an ideal nurse. This can be off putting to some nurses, because most would agree that we will never fully attain to this ideal image, but even with this concession, it does not mean that we should give up trying to do so. Caring helps transform nursing from being “just a job,” to being a profession comprised of meaningful work. Watson’s caring theory not only helps nurses to provide the best care to …show more content…
Watson (1999) insists that the caregiver needs to be aware of his/her own consciousness and authentic presence of being in a caring moment with his/her patient. The patient and the nurse can be influenced by the caring moment through the choices and actions agreed upon as a part of the relationship. The caring occasion becomes “transpersonal” when “it allows for the presence of the spirit of both—then the event of the moment expands the limits of openness and has the ability to expand human capabilities” (Watson, 1999, pp. 116-117).
Watson (1988) defines the person as a being-in-the-world who holds three spheres of being—mind, body, and spirit—that are influenced by the concept of self and who is unique and free to make choices. This means that I should not consider a patient without his/her context or environment, because the patient and the environment are always connected. This is why Watson claims that it is very important to make the patient’s room a soothing and healing place. In other words, a disorganized and unsanitary room can negatively affect the patient’s …show more content…
Part of my job responsibilities are to go to the pre-operative area and look through the patient’s chart to make sure that all of the necessary paperwork has been filled out correctly. It would be easy for me to simply scan through the documents looking for basic information and signatures, but this would most likely lead me to see the patient as only another case/procedure to come through the operating room. To put Watson’s caring theory into practice, I would need to take enough time in looking through her chart to not only get an understanding of why this patient is having surgery, but what her view of the surgery is likely to be, what lifestyle choices may have lead to the need for surgery, and what knowledge deficit may exist in regards to the procedure, and even if there are any real or imagined fears that she may be dealing with, including the cost of the procedure if she is uninsured or underinsured. In my data collection, I need to inquire about her family, friends, resources within the community, and other ways in which she relates with her environment. All of this background information can be obtained by caring enough about this individual patient to spend time looking through her medical history, demographic information, baseline assessment and by asking other
Watson’s caring theory can help us to get back to our professional roots and values; it presents the picture of an ideal nurse. This can be off putting to some nurses, because most would agree that we will never fully attain to this ideal image, but even with this concession, it does not mean that we should give up trying to do so. Caring helps transform nursing from being “just a job,” to being a profession comprised of meaningful work. Watson’s caring theory not only helps nurses to provide the best care to …show more content…
Watson (1999) insists that the caregiver needs to be aware of his/her own consciousness and authentic presence of being in a caring moment with his/her patient. The patient and the nurse can be influenced by the caring moment through the choices and actions agreed upon as a part of the relationship. The caring occasion becomes “transpersonal” when “it allows for the presence of the spirit of both—then the event of the moment expands the limits of openness and has the ability to expand human capabilities” (Watson, 1999, pp. 116-117).
Watson (1988) defines the person as a being-in-the-world who holds three spheres of being—mind, body, and spirit—that are influenced by the concept of self and who is unique and free to make choices. This means that I should not consider a patient without his/her context or environment, because the patient and the environment are always connected. This is why Watson claims that it is very important to make the patient’s room a soothing and healing place. In other words, a disorganized and unsanitary room can negatively affect the patient’s …show more content…
Part of my job responsibilities are to go to the pre-operative area and look through the patient’s chart to make sure that all of the necessary paperwork has been filled out correctly. It would be easy for me to simply scan through the documents looking for basic information and signatures, but this would most likely lead me to see the patient as only another case/procedure to come through the operating room. To put Watson’s caring theory into practice, I would need to take enough time in looking through her chart to not only get an understanding of why this patient is having surgery, but what her view of the surgery is likely to be, what lifestyle choices may have lead to the need for surgery, and what knowledge deficit may exist in regards to the procedure, and even if there are any real or imagined fears that she may be dealing with, including the cost of the procedure if she is uninsured or underinsured. In my data collection, I need to inquire about her family, friends, resources within the community, and other ways in which she relates with her environment. All of this background information can be obtained by caring enough about this individual patient to spend time looking through her medical history, demographic information, baseline assessment and by asking other