Modern Nursing and Nursing Model Analysis

Nursing Model Analysis – Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring
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January 11, 2020
Abstract
Modern Nursing is said to be brought by the advancement, not only in the theoretical and clinical aspects of healthcare but also in the improvement of humanitarian considerations through the years. The importance of this third aspect has always been emphasized in several studies that show a positive relationship between the efficacy of treatments and the level of care given by the nurse themselves. Accordingly, the author of this article has evaluated the correlation between sincere and genuine ‘care’ and the improvement in both the patients’ and the nurses’ lives, which is the main principle under Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring of Human Care Theory (HCT). By analyzing the origins, tenets, and focuses on this paradigm, the author was able to understand the crucial role of genuine affection in improving the healthcare system. He discovered that similar to the provisions of Watson’s HCT Model, the actions of nurses and their capacity to exhibit genuine care play an indispensable role in the improvement of the healthcare system.
Just like any other medical field, the field of Nursing presents various challenges especially due to the complex sets of skills that a nurse should have. On the one hand, the nurse must be able to have a deep comprehension of both the theoretical and clinical knowledge needed in order to deliver effective care relative to the patient’s illness. On the other hand, she must also be able to integrate sincere interpersonal skills that allow her to deliver the best kind of care tailored to the patient’s wants, preferences, and needs. In line with this two-fold need, this article would discuss Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring or the Human Care Theory (HCT). Her passion for taking care of those who were sick have developed as early as when she was only 10 years old CITATION Nam10 \l 1033 (Nameth, 2010). Further in her career, she developed the Watson Caring Science Institute in order to promote this type of nursing model. Jean Watson, was chosen by the author himself since her paradigm serves as one of the foremost principles in understanding the causal effects of caring and the efficacy of medical treatments. Specifically, Watson’s theory believed that the provision of a real and sincere type of ‘care’ on the part of the nurses benefits both the healthcare professional and the patient as they become able to provide better care and improve their interpersonal experiences with one another CITATION Paj17 \l 1033 (Pajnkihar, McKenna, Štiglic, & Vrbnjak, 2017).
Personally, the author of this article believes that the capacity to develop a sincere and genuine type of care towards one’s patients benefits the nurse as he becomes able to promote self-actualization and deal with the inherent stresses involved in the field of medical care. Additionally, he chose Watson as the main theorist behind this belief because Watson’s framework provides an objective and in-depth analysis of how caring affects both the patients and the nurses.
Analysis
Despite the efficacy of Watson’s Model, its philosophical and theoretical frameworks have originated from several other frameworks that also highlight the importance of genuine care as an effective tool for the provision of care. In an article written by Liu and Wang (2018), the authors conducted a study about the origins and the similarity in frameworks of Watson’s theory with those which came before and after it. Based on their analysis of the ontological frameworks of Watson’s work, the authors have concluded that the “theory has the same origin as the holistic nursing and it is an extension of the holistic nursing (HN)”. It must be noted that the framework of holistic nursing was created by Florence Nightingale, who is also dubbed as the “founder of modern nursing”. In fact, there is no doubt that Watson’s theory was heavily influenced by Nightingale’s beliefs as Watson herself said in one of her speeches that “[nurses] stand on the shoulders of Florence Nightingale, who created the blueprint for modern nursing” CITATION Mil20 \l 1033 (Miller School of Medicine, 2020).
Holistic Nursing (HN) Framework as Origins
As stated earlier, the main similarity between the HCT And HN frameworks is their emphasis on the need to develop genuine care towards one’s patients. Both of these scholars have always believed in the world view that the field of nursing is one that is devoted to helping and healing others, before any monetary, personal, or institutional reasons. Based on Nightingale’s personal experiences, this importance given towards helping and healing others can be seen in how she devoted her life to creating an organized system for helping wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. This method would later be described as “a method that heals the whole person”, which means that the provision of care must be based on careful consideration of the patient’s physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual characteristics, among others CITATION Nor19 \l 1033 (North Eastern State University, 2019).
HCT’s Unique Focus
Despite the significant similarity between HN and HCT, Watson’s theory specifically focuses on how the concept of care could benefit both the nurses and the patients and how it can help in the overall improvement in the atmosphere within the workplace. Even though the focus on holistic consideration was less expounded as compared to the discussion in the HN framework, Watson has always believed that exerting a sincere effort for others to be healed would already guide the professional towards the consideration of the preferences of the patient himself.
Additionally, this focus on the interactions that are happening between the patient and the nurse is the reason why the HCT framework is categorized under the ‘personal practice knowledge’, or the kind of knowledge that “person-specific, acquired in a moment of interaction with each patient and developed via the dialectical relationship that is created between each patient and nurse” CITATION Dah15 \l 1033 (Dahnke & Dreher, 2015). Going back to the previous discussions about this theory, this ‘dialectical relationship’ could easily be seen in terms of three aspects of the HCT framework, namely; (1) its effects, (2) its scope, and (3) and its methods.
First, HCT’s framework emphasizes that the effects of caring for others affect both the nurse and the patients themselves. Specifically, the framework provides that the dialectical relationship that happens through the constant interaction between patients and nurses lead to the improvement of the delivery of services as well as the generation of a positive atmosphere within the workplace. In turn, it is believed that this further compounds the efficacy of the treatment leading to a series of improvements in the healthcare system. Thus, based on the two-fold benefits of the HCT, it could be seen that such guideline falls under the category of personal practice knowledge.
Second, HCT’s scope is neit...