Watson's Theory of Caring in Modern Healthcare Setting - Essay Example

? Watson’s Theory of Caring in Modern Healthcare Setting (College) Watson’s Theory of Caring in Modern Healthcare Setting Introduction Quality improvement programs, mainly associated with ‘culturally competitive care’, have intensified nurses’ workload and responsibilities in modern healthcare setting. Despite the challenging condition, which adversely affects their professional outlook, nurses are expected to comply with the values of caring practices. At this juncture, Jean Watson’s ‘Theory of Human Caring’ seems to be a vital tool for meeting the objectives of current day nursing practices. Jean Watson Jean Watson was born at West Virginia in United States. She got her graduation from the Lewis Gale School of Nursing in 1961 and earned a B.S. in 1964 from the University of Colorado. After two years of study, Watson acquired an M.S. in psychiatric and mental health nursing from the same university. In 1973, she earned a Ph.D. after completing a series of researches in the field of educational psychology and counseling. Watson focused her researches in the area of human caring and loss and published the theory “nursing: human science and human care” in 1988. An Overview of the Theory The theory of human caring proposes that caring is the ‘most valuable attribute’ that the nurses has to serve up the humanity (The core concepts of Jean Watson’s theory). In the opinion of the theorist, if patients do not get effective caring, disease may be cured but illness will remain. Watson strongly argues that caring is the essence of nursing without which patients’ health cannot be retained. The theory suggests that caring greatly helps a person to attain control, to become more knowledgeable, and thus enhance his/her health. Watson also suggests that higher emphasis must be given on patients’ autonomy and freedom of choice, which in turn would add to client self knowledge and self control. According to Blais, Hayes, Kozier, and Erb (2006, p.107), the transpersonal caring relationship, caring occasion, and ten carative factors constitute the elements of Jean Watson’s theory of human caring. Watson’s ‘The ten primary carative’ are; The formation of humanistic-altruistic system of values. The installation of faith-hope. The cultivation of sensitivity to one’s self and to others. The development of a helping-trust relationship. The promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative feelings. The systematic use of the scientific problem-solving method for decision making. The promotion of interpersonal teaching-learning. The provision for a supportive, protective and /or corrective mental, physical, socio-cultural and spiritual environment Assistance with the gratification of human needs. The allowance for existential-phenomenological forces. (Source: ‘Jean Watson’s Philosophy of Nursing’). The first three carative factors represent a well structured philosophical foundation for the science of caring. The remaining seven carative factors emerge from the foundation established by the first three factors. This theory has seven assumptions also. According to Watson (2006), the essence of these assumptions is that caring is the central element of nursing and it must be practiced interpersonally in order to acquire the desired results. The carative factors constitute the concept of caring and hence it meets the satisfaction of certain human needs. Watson says that the science of caring is complementary to the science of curing or caring is more healthogenic than is curing. In her theory, Watson has clearly classified various human needs according to its nature and importance. She believes that each human need must be equally considered in order to maintain a quality nursing care that promotes optimal health. Watson’s ordering of needs is of three types such as biophysical needs, psychophysical needs, and psychosocial needs. The biophysical needs (lower order needs) include need for food and fluid, elimination, and ventilation. At the same time, the need for activity-inactivity and sexuality constitutes psychophysical needs (lower order needs). According to Watson, humans’ psychosocial needs (higher order needs) are need for affiliation, achievement, and self-actualization. Analysis of the theory This theory proposes concepts related to person, health, nursing, and society/environment. The theory gives great emphasis on the concept of health and adds three additional elements to the WHO definition of health. The ‘Theory of Human Caring’ also says that a caring attitude is greatly related to the cultural notions of the society and its environment. Finally, she argues that the practice of caring in nursing is the focal point of a holistic health care. The theory of human caring presents love and caring as the base points of nurse-patient relation. Watson’s concept of transpersonal relationship comes true when the nurse goes far beyond her objective assessment and shows greater concern to the clients. A nurse’s interpersonal relationship with her client protects, enhances, and preserves his (client’s) dignity and humanity, inner harmony, and wholeness. One of Watson’s seven assumptions says that effective caring would promote health and individual growth. She also indicates that health condition of an individual is connected to his mental state to a large extent. Similarly, the caring environment has great significance in a health care system as it allows the person to choose the best course of action for himself or herself at a given time point. Watson’s concept is logical and the ten primary carative factors provide a supportive framework for the theory. This theory does not refer to other nursing concepts so that it is simple to understand and apply. One of the potential features of Watson’s theory is that it is proposed on the basis of phenomenological studies which usually ask questions rather than state hypotheses (Jean Watson’s Philosophy of Nursing). Various scholars opine that Watson’s work is of great help to guide and improve nursing practice. Moreover, her work is strongly “supported by the theoretical work of numerous humanists, philosophers, developmentalists and psychologists (Jean Watson’s Philosophy of Nursing)” Significance of the theory The theory of human caring gives further scope for researches in the field of nursing. ‘The Theory of Human Caring’ gives great importance to the client’s family, community, and culture. In addition, Watson connects many theories generally used in nursing education. The concept of transpersonal caring relationship is found to be the foundation of the work and this feature differentiates this theory from other contemporary nursing theories. Although, this theory has suggested caring as the most important element of nursing, it does not give a specific framework for meeting the caring standards. Nowadays, health care systems give great emphasis on Watson’s theory as they have realized that the effective caring would improve the quality of the health care services. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that Watson’s theory of human caring is of a great significance in the modern nursing sector. The theorist suggests ten primary carative factors that constitute its structure. In addition, the theory proposes seven assumptions that feature the necessity of caring in nursing. However, caring and transpersonal relationship are the essence of this theory. Watson also categorizes different human needs into lower order needs and higher order needs. Obviously, the theory of human caring contains potential concepts that connect person, health, nursing, and environment. My Medical Mission to Bolivia I, with my twenty of the co-researchers had a very different experience in the medical mission to Bolivia. I was privileged enough to be a part of this trip. We went over there to lend our helping hands to the poor and the needy. It was an eye-opening and spirit filled journey which I think is not just something what we choose to do but what we ought to do. After volunteering to this medical mission I got some new ideas of what really are the basics of nursing, as Jean Watson has explained in her theory. We had to adjust with the minimum working conditions, had to reuse the disposable items. We worked in a situation different from where we were trained, like examining the patients in the open air shelters, with limited equipments and supply of medicine. Besides all such problems we dedicated ourselves to the mission. We helped each other, did whatever we could in making the mission a fruitful one. Once in Bolivia we found many things eccentric to us, even the people were very different. We could not find any post cards there to send to our friends, sponsors, and relatives. We were also unable to find any T-shirts that suit us, as the Bolivians had a very small built body; they were not in need of bigger sizes. In the same way, going through the whole city, we found no department stores there. A big problem found in the economy of the Bolivia was corruption. The mismanagement of money along with corruption impedes the country’s economic development. Many people do not have the privilege of any schooling. However Bolivia is a beautiful country, and has a very beautiful traditional culture. The Bolivians have been holding on to their traditions and customs for so long time. The condition over there was like going back to the 19th century. However, I had a great time in mingling with their culture and studying their traditions and customs. We had to put our whole mind and body in the mission. The patients needed not only the medicines for their illness but also caring words for their mind. Only a proper caring can fully recover the patient form his/her illness. I had taken extra care in putting into practice what I learned before about the nursing theories in my class rooms. With our mission we could prove that love and caring was the ultimate point of nursing. We had special caring for some patients, who had been suffering for a long time. We were sure that our effective care and love for them would help them in improving their health and wholeness. From our experience we learned that human caring was the most important point in the nursing. For the recovery of a patient, at first he should have confidence in his mind about his ability to recover from his sickness. Only a nurse with an affection and caring mentality towards the patient can put a confidence in the mind of the patient. If the patient’s mind is recovered, his body can recover from the illness very soon. So in nursing a patient, the first step is to put courage and strength in the patient. For that we had to maintain a close relationship with each patient and his family. Knowing more about the family backgrounds of the patient and the community where he lived helped us in diagnosing his problems much better. The social and community life becomes often a significant part in everyone’s life. Every one in our mission team took special attention in understanding each patient personally. That helped us in giving extra care to those who were in need of. The need for the medicines came only as a second step to that. I was always keen to be supportive to the patients in their difficult situations. With dismay let me say the fact that only after reaching Bolivia I learned the practicality of the most important element of nursing theories – caring. Altogether it was a great experience for me to have worked in different cultural environment like Bolivia. References Blais, K. K., Hayes, J. S., Kozier, B and Erb, G. (2006). Professional nursing practice: Concept and perspectives. 5/E. India: Pearson Education. ‘The core concepts of Jean Watson’s theory of human caring science’. Watson Caring Science Institute. Retrieved from http://www.munsonhealthcare.org/munson/health_education/classes_programs/ictp-handouts/1a-CoreConcepts.pdf ‘Jean Watson’s Philosophy of Nursing’. Nursing Theories. Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Watson.html Watson, J. (2006). “Caring theory as an ethical guide to administrative and clinical practices”. Nurs Admin Q 30, (1). 48-55. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Read More