Examining Swanson's Theory of Caring Essay

Regrettably, the existence of nursing depends on the medical inadequacy of others. Unfortunately, nursing exists because people get hurt, cannot care for themselves, or need assistance with daily activities. Carol Taylor (2011), author of Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care, writes, “Nursing care involves any number of activities, from carrying out complicated technical procedures to something as seemingly as holding a hand” (p. 5). Taylor explains it is the duty of a nurse not only to learn the pertinent skills but also to bond with and comfort others. Nurses have to do and become many things: They must be stern when necessary, compassionate when needed, open minded

Including the client as an expert member of the team creates an enhanced quality of care (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). In pediatrics, parents are often at the center of the child’s care. When asked to define what made the client care experience positive, parents stated that sensitivity, empathy and honesty were key factors (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). Working in healthcare, nurses can become desensitized to difficult experiences because they deal with them daily. Integrating the client and family as part of the healthcare team, allows the nurse to see the patient and family as a people first. By avoiding using illness as context, and instead using person as context, care will be more holistic (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). A family-focused approach helps to ensure that the whole family feels a part of the experience and is valued. In the case of bereavement, family centered care is particularly important. If the family is not included in the care from the start, it can provide barriers for grieving and impact how the family deals with loss (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Nurses have an opportunity to help support the family through the grief process (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Families have a significant impact on how the client heals, so by caring for the family’s needs, the nurse is indirectly caring for the patient. It is in the client’s best interest for the care to be holistic for the patient as well as the family (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). All

Nursing is as much science as it is a study in the human condition. Combining caring and the notion of human flourishing allows the nurse sharpen her understanding of patients’ needs by observing and understanding herself (Husted & Husted, 2008). A nurse is able to better anticipate the needs of her patients by noting similarities and differences between the two of them. With caring in the nursing corner, even under less-than-ideal conditions, one can still create havens of hope, nourishment, and the possibility for flourishing (MacCulloh, 2011).

Human caring is what sets nursing apart from other professions. As Watson (1998) stated, “care and love are the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of cosmic forces: they comprise the primal universal psychic energy. Caring is the essence of nursing and the most central and unifying focus for nursing practice” (p. 32-33). It is important to establish a good nurse-patient relationship in order to create a healing environment that would meet patient’s needs on all levels including physical, mental/emotional and spiritual, promote recovery, maintain health, and create positive outcomes. Jean Watson emphasized the importance of human

Emotional Support and encouraging involvement of family and friends- Listening to patient with undivided attention .Providing clear, timely and meaningful information regarding the illness. Providing enough information regarding the patient’s illness. Respecting and acknowledging the family and friends’ support in patient care and providing supportive environment.

My personal definition of nursing is taking care of my patient as a whole; using my knowledge, being compassionate and caring, respectful and honest. Taking care of the; spiritual, physical and emotional aspect of the patient, and taking into consideration their family and environment. Learning about the different theorists I associate myself the most with Hildegard Peplau. Peplau believed that the relationship between the patient and the nurse was focus of attention, rather than the patient only as the unit of attention. (Chitty & Black p.314-315). Using Peplau’s theory my relationship begins with my patients as strangers and I try to

The art of human caring is one of the most essential parts of the nursing profession. Caring is not something that you learn to do, but something that is within you. In nursing, it is important to know what kind of nurse you want to be as well as the care you intend to provide to your patients. The patient is the center of nursing, and it is your responsibility to make sure they are receiving the best care that they can receive. One of the most important things is to be able to set aside personal beliefs and morals in order to provide patient centered care. The way that you approach and care for a patient is either going to make or break the effect of the care you will be implementing to the patient.

A nursing theory that has influenced my professional nursing practice is Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. In this theory she addresses how nurses care for their patients. Caring is the essence of the nursing profession and is a relationship formed between the nurse and the patient. In Watson’s theory she believed that caring could assist the patient to gain control in their own health care, become educated, and in the end find health. Watson focused on the patient’s mind, body, and soul and this is the aspect of her theory that I try to use in my professional practice. As a new nurse straight out of nursing school I focused more on protocols and procedures to make sure I was doing everything right. My patients had good outcomes but I was amazed when I started thinking about the patient as a whole and not just thinking about the illness they had and how to treat it. Many times just treating the patient’s

dignity of the patient are essential components of caring. Caring in nursing is there to meet the

Kristen M. Swanson’s Caring Theory is the solution in bridging the gap between nursing practice and theory. It offers an explanation of the links between patient well-being and the caring process (Tonges & Ray, 2011). Swanson explained that nurses should be able to demonstrate that they care about their patients, and that caring about their wellbeing is as important as their patients’ current medical problem (Tonges & Ray, 2011).

Caring is a term that can be tossed around freely amongst those in the nursing practice. However, in order for one to have a true understanding of what compassion is they first have to exam what the definition of caring is. Caring is defined as “Displaying kindness and concern for others; the work or practice of looking after those unable to care for themselves (Google, 2016)”. However, is caring necessarily a quality in which all nurses must possess in order to provide care to patient, families, and the healthcare environment? Jean Watson, RN, Ph.D. took on this challenge and explored the relationship between the nurse and others with the outlook of caring for rather than curing for the patient. Watson utilized the transpersonal caring theory to set a standard of nursing practice of how incorporating caring moments, relationships, and carative factors can improve the nurse client and/or family relationship

This paper will discuss the functions of caring within the nursing practice, as well as my own personal views regarding caring. I will review the Benner model of Clinical Nursing and the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition in relationship to my own personal skills. I will identify my competencies within each domain of the Benner Model. I will reflect upon my own personal nursing practice in terms of my strengths and weaknesses. Also included will be a discussion of my own professional goals, areas of improvement needed within my practice and solutions for how I can improve in order to help me achieve these personal goals.

The caregiver must attend to his or her own physical and emotional needs in order to be present and available to provide quality patient care (Thomas, 2008).

The nursing theory is essentially a set of beliefs, ideas, thought, and hypotheses that are influenced from former nursing representations that have a structured view of the purposes of nursing attempting to explain the correlation of each concept with predictability. (personal experience with nursing theory). This paper will address the core elements of Dr. Jean Watson’s theory of caring science. We will scrutinize the essential key concepts of the theory and its relationship with the other elements, emphasize its effects in a clinical situation, and how it views the nursing policies with definite personal examples.

Swanson’s theory of caring (1993) built on the foundational work of Jean Watson, which exemplified an approach that promoted a practical application of caring theory. Swanson’s middle range theory defined caring as, “A nurturing way of relating to a valued other and toward whom one has a personal sense of commitment and responsibility” (Swanson, 1993). Each section of Swanson’s caring process went into depth about why each individual part was essential for the nursing process. Swanson’s theory differentiated five processes or sections that he called ‘spheres of caring’, which included: knowing, being with, doing for, enabling/empowering, and maintaining belief (Swanson, 1993). First, there is Knowing, meaning to have the ability to understand and appreciate an event of another as if it were one in your own life. For example, understanding the struggle of a patient infected with a debilitating disease, as if it were you yourself. Swanson’s second section, Being with, meaning to be genially and authentically present to illustrate to others that their experiences are meaningful to you (Swanson, 1993). An example of ‘being with,’ would be to be