The Role of Caring in Nursing Profession

Caring is a feeling or showing concern for or kindness to others. We use caring today and many different aspects in life. Some examples of caring are parents taking care of their children, older siblings caring for their younger siblings and older adult children taking care of their elderly parents. In today’s healthcare, caring is one of our many aspects that is needed. It takes special people to know how to care for their client. Some of the caretakers that use a caring role in their practice are: CNA, MA, LPN, RN, Doctors, Nurse Practitioners and the list goes on. If you do not know how to use caring in your practice, then you are bound to have many mistakes in your care and may not get through to your patient, which will not allow them to express themselves and their needs. It is best for us to know the meaning and understanding of care, so that can perform our duties as nurses in the best possible way.

In nursing, we have five pillars that we must follow. Those five pillars are Caring, Communication, Critical Thinking, Professionalism and Holism. In caring, it is used for the nurse to show empathy to their patients. It helps us value the altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity and social justice. Also, helps us to be compassionate, and sensitive to our patients needs while being safe and giving high quality care. Caring in the nursing pillar allow us to connect with our patients. Once there is a strong connection, it helps them open and express their needs. IT is the start of building relationship on a care taking role and the first step in the interviewing process. Caring is described as a building block along with critical thinking. It clashes with all the pillars as if it is showing support to the other pillars of nursing. In professionalism you use caring because you want to express that you are concerned for your patient care. You want to remain as professional as you can so the patient can believe that you are going to do a good job as their caretaker. In Communication you need care because if you can communicate well with your patient then you know what their caring needs are and how to support them. Holism and caring intertwine with each other. Critical thinking is combined with caring because you are thinking of ways to provide your care in a way that is respectful for your patient.

Jean Watson published her first theory on caring in 1979. She has also written 20 books and 100 articles on caring. She founded the center for Human Caring and the Watson Caring Science Institute. Jean Watson argues that human contact and compassion are not the only vital sources to healing but are essentials towards caregiving. She believes that nurses that can not perform caring can become robot-like, worn down and hardened. You must be truly present, be aware that what matters to you in your heart, ‘says nursing Watson.’ You help the person to be with themselves in the right relationship. Holding their stories, their tears, may be the gift you can give them for healing. Watson’s definition of environment/society addresses the idea that nurses have existed in every society, and that a caring attitude is transmitted from generation to generation by the culture of the nursing profession as a unique way of coping with its environment. 

Jean Watson has also based her role in caring off seven assumptions. She states that caring can only be demonstrated and practice interpersonally; for it to be effect. She believes that caring promotes health and improves growth in both families and individuals. You know when you’re having caring responses, when you can accept how the patient is now and who they may become after. A science of caring is complementary to the science of curing and can be practiced in the center of nursing. 

There are also ten caritive factors that bases Jean Watson theory in the nursing practice. She believes that the first three are considered a “philosophical foundation” and the last seven derived from the foundation. The humanistic- altruistic begins at an early age that is shared by parents. It shows appreciation to our life experiences, learning experiences and exposure to our surrounds. Faith and hope are used to provide well-being care through the belief system of the client. As nurses, you should allow your patient to use their beliefs in their care. It will allow them to be appreciative when it comes for them to receive their care. Sensitivity is used as a factor because for you to give care you need to feel emotions and show sympathy in others and build that relationship with your patient or their family members. Helping and trust in nursing practice opens the patient to communicate with you. If they trust you, they will express more information when it is time to collect your data. Problem solving and decision making allows us to intervene when things don’t seem right and provide new ways to help care for your patient. It is used more importantly in a patient who may not be of the same culture or speak the same language. Decision making can be used when there is an order that you don’t seem that is right. You can refuse and express why you wouldn’t give this medication because of the knowledge you know and what may happen once the medication is giving. It is good to know when to use decision making because as a nurse you are the last person to care for the patient and whatever happens is pinned on you. Teaching and learning is used because it allows the patient to learn about their diagnosis and ways to care for the disease they may have. You also express learning and teaching when it comes to someone who may be from a different country or speak a different language, someone who doesn’t know how to read or write. You must know these things because they may read at a different grade level or may need to be taught by demonstrating their care. Supportive and protective is used in nursing practice by providing comfort, privacy and safety. Existential and phenomenological forces allow the patient to find strength and courage to accept life or death needs. 

In conclusion, Jean Watson’s theory of caring champions the traditional practices of caring and empathy and encourages a more emotional and open approach to the care of patients in a healthcare practice. Nursing can be difficult but showing caring needs in your performance can not only benefit you but benefit your patient as well. Caring is about the foundation and striving to do better so that your patient can get better. It builds your patient up to open and express their wellbeing and give them more positive outlooks. When you become a nurse, you should always be encouraged to interact with your patients and their family members. We should meet them at a spiritual level and make sure they have a positive experience in their healthcare, wellbeing and their environment. 

Works Cited

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