How Ideas from Jean Watson’s Caring Science Can Be Used

How Ideas from Jean Watson’s Caring Science Can Be Used
Alligood (2017) says that Jean Watson’s notion of human caring is mostly about how nurses care for their patients and how they get along with each other. Watson says that disease can be treated, but illness will still be there. Since illness is still there, Watson says that health is not reached. The idea is based on a number of assumptions, such as the concept that people’s needs are met when the caring characteristics are used. Some ideas in this theory are the transpersonal caring connection, the caring event, nursing, society, the human being, the self, and so on. The goal of this work is to find two ideas in Jean Watson’s theory that can be used to improve the experience and pleasure of patients, come up with ways to measure those ideas, and make a connection between them.

Table of Contents

Choose an Outcome

One thing I’ve noticed that needs to be fixed is that patients had bad experiences during their stays in the emergency department (ED) where I used to work, which makes patients unhappy. From the study that was done at the hospital, it was clear that too many patients were not happy with the care they got and how they got along with the nurses. I work in the aesthetics sector as a Botox and filler injector, and I’ve learned that this is a field where the nurse and patient need to have a close relationship in order to accomplish the patient’s overall goals.

Karaca and Durna (2019) said that the way a nurse interacts with a patient while they are in the hospital has a big impact on how the patient feels overall. Patient satisfaction is typically characterized as how the patient feels about and values the nursing care they received while in the hospital. This includes the nurse-patient connection, communication, and addressing the patient’s needs for going to the hospital. One of the main things that was pointed out as needing improvement is the relationship between patients and nurses. This relationship has been changed by the introduction of new health technologies, like electronic health records, which have made nurses spend less time with patients and pay more attention to using these technologies. At the moment, the relationship between the nurse and the patient is getting worse since nurses spend less time with patients and don’t make connections that would help the patient open up and reach their health goals. There is a need to improve the relationship, communication, and interactions between nurses and patients in order to make patients happier and more satisfied.

The idea in Watson’s theory of caring that might represent or include the outcome

In nursing practice, it is important to improve the relationship between the patient and the nurse as well as the satisfaction of the patient, since this will affect the whole experience of the patient. Patient satisfaction is always a sign of good nursing care, and more attention should be paid to it because it will effect how the patient uses health care in the future. All hospitals need to come up with ways to measure how patients feel about their time in the hospital and come up with quality improvement plans that aim to make patients happy. (Fatima et al., 2018).

In this example of an area that needs to be improved, the result would be a shift in the relationship between the nurse and the patient, which would be made possible by building transpersonal caring interactions. The transpersonal caring relationship, which has been named as a key part of the theory, is the idea that has been found. A nurse’s intention and caring consciousness always affect a transpersonal relationship, especially when she or he goes into someone else’s life space or phenomenal field. This bond between the patient and the nurse goes beyond the ego and connects the two on a spiritual level. In transpersonal care, you have to be real and grow, which means being present to yourself and others in a reflective way. As shown by the Watsons Caring Science Institute, the job of the transpersonal nurse is to focus attention and intention on caring, healing, and completeness. (n.d).

Clark (2016) says that the caring moment happens when the nurse and the patient have a relationship that goes beyond the ego. During the caring moment, the nurse and the patient make different decisions and do different things. This gives them the chance to pick what to do with the moment or how to be in the connection. In this relationship, the nurse and the patient are both part of a phenomenal field. Having a wonderful field and connecting on a spiritual level can assist the nurse and the patient get along better since they affect and change each other’s behaviors and decisions. The transpersonal relationship means that two persons meet as one and have a close connection. Also, it’s important to emphasize that transpersonal loving connections tend to use non-normal states of awareness that go beyond the ego. But these states of consciousness can have an effect on the ability to recover. According to the WCSI (n.d.), all of the caring, healing, and loving awareness energy is contained in a single caring instant. The nurse’s awareness of caring, healing, and loving is passed on to the patient. This consciousness persists through and beyond time and space and can be stronger than the physical world. Calong and Soriano (2018) explained that a transpersonal nurse will be able to have a great relationship with the patient where caring and being cared for are connected. This will lead to a caring event that will improve the relationship between the patient and the nurse and the overall patient experience in the hospital.

The idea in Watson’s Theory of Caring that includes the Practice

In this context, one practice that could be helpful is keeping humanistic and altruistic values alive by practicing loving-kindness, compassion, and serenity with oneself and others. This is one of the ten aspects that make up Caritas. By using the Caritas elements, the nurse can be open to connecting with people, respect and listen to others, pay attention, treat patients with love and care, and show that each individual is unique in their own ways. Also, the nurse can show how to take care of oneself and others, and how to accept people as they are. (Tonin et al., 2017). When the nurse does these things, it will assist enhance the relationship between the nurse and the patient and also improve the care that the nurse gives to the patient. In the context of the caring consciousness process, practicing love, kindness, and serenity are thought to be relational, interrelated, and go beyond the physical. So, it goes beyond time, space, and physicality. By doing this, the nurses will be able to keep the humanistic and selfless principles that are important in the nurse-patient relationship and also improve the overall patient experience. (Pajnkihar et al., 2017).

Settecase and Whetsel (2018) say that all of the caring characteristics make the patient’s caring experience better and more helpful. Most people see them as interactions between the nurse and the patient that improve the care event itself. If the nurses use a caring, compassionate, and even-keeled attitude, it will be a good way to improve the patient’s interactions and overall experience, which will make this outcome better.

Getting a sense of the ideas and the operational definition

In this case, “transpersonal care” means that the nurse and the patient are able to build a deep relationship that goes beyond the ego and affects them both on a spiritual level. This relationship goes beyond time and place and opens up new ways to recover. The relationship should be seen as a pair in which each person is equal.The Caritas element of kindness, love, and calmness is characterized as displaying love, being kind, giving oneself, respecting others, caring about others, and helping people find a balance between their soul, mind, and body.

It is important to measure these two ideas in order to figure out the effects, change the way things are done, or come up with a new technique. To quantify these two ideas accurately, it will be necessary to come up with a questionnaire or a list of questions that the patient may answer to figure out if the nurse had a transpersonal caring relationship with them and if they were shown love, kindness, and equanimity. This will show if the ideas are working or if the nurses are putting them into practice effectively.

Also, the Watson Caritas patient score (WCPS) is a trustworthy way to quantify how caring practices are seen by patients. The tool has five important questions that analyze the real nurse’s actions, such giving care with love and kindness, which is the important idea here. These tools can be used to measure the two ideas successfully. (WCSI, n.d). The connection between the two is that having a transpersonal caring relationship makes it easier to practice loving-kindness, compassion, and serenity with ourselves and others.

References

Alligood, M. (2017). Nursing theorists and their work-e-book. Elsevier Health Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2018.1400848

Calong, K., & Soriano, G. (2018). Caring behavior and patient satisfaction: Merging for satisfaction. International Journal of Caring Sciences11(2), 697-703. http://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/9_soriano_original_10_2.pdf

Clark, C. (2016). Watson’s human caring theory: Pertinent transpersonal and humanities concepts for educators. Humanities5(2), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/h5020021

Fatima, T., Malik, S.A. and Shabbir, A. (2018), “Hospital healthcare service quality, patient satisfaction and loyalty: An investigation in context of private healthcare systems”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 1195-1214. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-02-2017-0031

Karaca, A., & Durna, Z. (2019). Patient satisfaction with the quality of nursing care. Nursing open6(2), 535-545. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.237

Pajnkihar, M., McKenna, H. P., Štiglic, G., & Vrbnjak, D. (2017). Fit for Practice: Analysis and Evaluation of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Nursing science quarterly30(3), 243–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318417708409

Settecase, C., & Whetsel, M. (2018). Caring in the Nurse-Patient Relationship through the Caritas Lens: An Integrative Review. Cultura del cuidado15(2), 34-66. https://doi.org/10.18041/1794-5232/cultrua.2018v15n2.5111

Tonin, L., Nascimento, J., Lacerda, M., Favero, L., Gomes, I., & Denipote, A. (2017). Guide to deliver the elements of the Clinical Caritas Process. Escola Anna Nery21(4). https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2177-9465-ean-2017-0034

Watsons Caring Science Institute (WCSI) (n.d). Caring science measurement tools. Retrieved from https://www.watsoncaringscience.org/jean-bio/caring-science-theory/research/watson-caritas-patient-score/

Watsons Caring Science Institute (WCSI) (n.d). Caring science & human caring theory. Retrieved from https://www.watsoncaringscience.org/jean-bio/caring-science-theory/#

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