Group Presentation on Nursing Theorist

Jean Watson Theory

Overview of the Theorist’s Background

Jean Watson is a theorist who specializes in sensitizing the need to incorporate, human caring, emotions and subjective feelings in the field of nursing. Her formulation of the theory of human care was aimed at ensuring that human caring becomes part and parcel of nursing. The core reason she engaged in human caring theory is her life experiences that included the loss of her husband (Watson, 2015). It is through these challenges that she realized the importance of care and love. Therefore, she made a personal goal of ensuring human care, a phenomenon highly assumed or lost in many professional models, did become an integral part of nursing.

Theorist’s View of the Four Basic Metaparadigms

The four basic metaparadigms are the people, health, nursing and environment (Parker & Smith, 2010). The caring theory highlights the importance of these metaparadigms. In terms of the people, the theory is keen on demonstrating the importance of integrating caring when it comes to dealing with care seekers. The theory is also conspicuously eloquent on the need for nurses to provide a healing environment to the patients. This demonstrates the appreciation of the importance of the patient’s environment for the healing process. Nursing entails actions taken in practice in providing services to the patient. In fact, the theory of human care demands to nurse to be a combination of both science and art (Watson, 2012).

Health refers to the medical status of the patients. To avail the needed help, the caring theory demands nurses to forge healthy relationships with their patients. This enables the patients’ and nurses’ relation in a manner that enhances their welfare, which is a phenomenon that was also upheld by the King’s Goal Attainment Theory.

Two Concepts Unique To the Theory

The main unique concept of the theory is the caring aspect. The theory demands that for any nursing actions, human caring should be the dominant variable. In addition, another unique concept of the theory concerns the spiritual aspect whereby it agitates nurses first to have personal peace to serve better their patients.

The Basic Theoretical Assertions or Propositions

The primary assertion is the fact that nursing with the human caring aspect in it is dehumanized and a robot-like engagement is not effective (Watson, 2012). It is also the assertion of the theory that human caring is not only vital in helping the nurses provide comprehensive, patient-centered service but also in restoring hope in the patients. The human caring aspect is also said to be a trait that makes nursing a unique profession guided by values geared towards maintaining core mandate and safeguarding humanity.

A Critique of the Model

The model/theory underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy autonomy from the patients that is vital when making hard decisions. When a nurse gets too involved emotionally with a patient, it becomes difficult to make hard decisions, most of which need sobriety and time consciousness. The theory argues that it is healthy to care and that to care enough is to allow one to be vulnerable. However, the vulnerability can indeed lead to clouding one’s ability to make professional decisions in the right manner and at the right time.

Theory of Human Caring by Jean Watson

Introduction

This is an article that discusses in detail the reason behind Watson’s intention to formulate the Human Caring Theory. The main intention was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the variables making up the theory. Along with that, it is also evident that Watson is keen on dissecting the theory to its basic components and provides an additional explanation of the relevance of the components to the nursing engagements.

Summary

Put forth by Watson, the article is based on the theory of caring and the intentional changes Watson has enacted with time to ensure it maintains its relevance and applicability in the field of nursing. The primary message lies in the comparison between the component of the original and emergent theory. Over and above, Watson is willing to illustrate the need to ensure that art and science are vital components in nursing. Art is vital in the caring component of the engagement while science provides the conventional knowledge needed (Watson, 2001). She agitates for values, human caring, and knowledge as the most essential components in nursing. According to Watson, there is a need to uphold “Caritas” in the field of nursing. This entails giving in a cherishing manner special attention to another person (Watson, 2001).

Conclusion

The insights brought out by the article support the need to ensure that nursing is guided by science but served in a humanistic manner. This is very relevant in the field of nursing and of interest in critical care nursing where conventional knowledge is not enough. The special care agitated for by the article is also a crucial component in every engagement. It is extra keenness and special attention that at times save lives. Watson’s demands to ensure ensuring that people enhance both the scientific and art components of nursing is thus very significant as this is the only way of ensuring that nursing is a discipline directed by knowledge but above all guided by the special care needed.

The Journey to Integrate Watson’s Caring Theory with Clinical Practice by Linda A. Ryan

Introduction

This is an article by Ryan who analyzes the journey of integrating nursing theory in the line of nursing engagement, which is a phenomenon discovered in 2003. The article articulates the forces behind integrating nursing theory to nursing practices and the benefits attained as a result of successful integration.

Summary

In 2003, there arose the need to ensure that nursing engagement works hand in hand with the nursing theory to guarantee that nursing becomes a unique engagement as it is expected (Ryan, 2005). The rationale behind the integration of nursing theory is to bring forth a better understanding of the nurses on what is expected of them. In addition, the author of the article had an intention to utilize a nursing theory in the formulation of unified nursing practice. The guide theory was Watson’s, which brought forth the usefulness of caring in nursing. The argument from Watson’s theory was without the theory in nursing; the human soul is destroyed by rapid technology utilizing robot-like treatments that are dehumanized (Ryan, 2005). On the other hand, the care theory argues that nursing should be based on cherishing humanity and the provision of care.

After integrating Watson’s theory, it was evident that nurses were better placed to handle patients more diligently. Along with that, it was clearer to the nurses what was expected of them as nurses. According to a nurse with 20 years of experience, it was only after integrating the care theory that she said the definition of nursing and the practice had never been clearer (Ryan, 2005).

Conclusion

The primary intention of the article was to illustrate the usefulness of nursing theory in the field of nursing. The experienced nurse saying that even with 20 years of experience, the definition of nursing and nursing practices had never been as clear as after the adoption of the theory is clear evidence. Nursing theory not only provides in-depth insights on the best course of action but also provides a platform, under which differentiated nursing engagement can be clearly understood. This can be demonstrated by the nurses who were engaged in the pilot program saying that they better served their patients (Ryan, 2005). This was after incorporating Watson’s caring insights into the best way to deal with a patient after utilizing Watson’s ‘creative’ factors.

Applying Watson’s Nursing Theory to Assess Patient Perceptions of Being Cared for in a Multicultural Environment (Suliman et.al)

Introduction

This is a research-based on Jean Watson’s theory of human caring and conducted with the intention to identify the patient line of thought in terms of being cared for under a diversified cultural environment. The study was done with the participation of Saudi patients, and the researchers aimed at identifying what the patients perceived as caring behaviors and the behaviors that were being manifested by the nurses.

Summary

Through a sample of 393 patients drawn from three different hospitals located in different Saudi Arabia regions, 92.7% of the patients did view caring behavior as important (Suliman et.al, 2009). However, from the study, only 72% of them experienced it from the nurses (Suliman et.al, 2009). The major take from the results was the fact that patients representing three different cultures did value Jean Watson’s demands of showing care to the patients. Despite the expectation from the patients, it was evident that the nursing staff underscored in this aspect. The reason behind the unmet caring expectations was traced back to the language and cultural barrier that exists between the patients and nurses across Saudi Arabia. To fill the gap, the call was for the nurses to base their actions as if they were to meet the demands from patients across cultural divides (Suliman et.al, 2009).

The goal of the article is to sensitize on the importance of appreciating cultural differences between the patients and the nurses. It is the facts provided in the article that paved the way to the formulation of Watson’s theory. A theory that agitates for the provision of health care in a transpersonal manner based on a caring relationship between the caregiver and receiver.

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Conclusion

It was evident that despite the fact that the study was done in Saudi Arabia, a country in the East, and the guiding Watson’s theory was formulated in the western country, the theory components were still applicable. From the research, it was evident that all patients valued caring behaviors, but not one of them was met due to the cultural barriers. Therefore, it was the call for the nurses to ensure they base their action on nursing theory and in this case Watson’s. The findings encourage consolidating the call by Watson’s theory of ensuring that nursing is based on a caring, interpersonal relation and the need to uphold humanity.