Caring in Nursing Theory

Caring in Nursing Theory

The article by Zane & Nancey (2017) discusses caring as a core aspect of the nursing profession. With years of nurse-patient and family interactions, nurse professionals have developed theories that depict care as an ethical principle. The theorists emphasize the need for care to improve patients’ welfare. These theories include the “Theory of culture care: diversity and universality” (p.96). It states that care is expressed differently in different cultures. The theory of human caring supports caring as essential in nursing. The Theory of bureaucratic caring stresses that organizations should make caring a culture. Another one, the Theory of caritative caring is about caring for those who are suffering. The Theory of caring would sum up caring as a value for comforting, supporting, protecting and engaging patients. In general, all these theories are centered on care as an indispensable component of nursing.

Notably, there have been conceptual models used in the development of these theories. For instance, the nurse must know the patient’s needs, what to do to improve patient care and choose actions indented for better outcome among others. In addition, the 6 Cs for care include confidence, competence, conscience, commitment, confidence and comportment (p.100). The theorists used these concepts to develop their theories. There have also been discussions on how to measure care. These measurements include the outcome, nurse knowledge, healing interaction, and nurse responses. Additionally, different tools have been developed to assess care. These include the Caring Assessment Tool, Caring Ability Inventory, Caring Behaviors Inventory, among others. Caring in nursing, however, has been criticized with some stating that these words can be used interchangeably because they have been given a common definition. Moreover, caring has been much emphasized as if it is the Holy Grail in nursing.

Undeniably, caring plays an essential role in nursing. The patients need comfort, support, compassion, and hope that they will be better. Equally important, caring enables nurses to choose the most effective approaches to result in the best outcome. Thus, the two are inseparable. As for the theories, they have been developed to help nurses understand frameworks that guide their profession. With these theories, nurses can understand their role and how to incorporate caring to boost their work. The Caring Encounter in Nursing

In their article, Holopainen, Nystrom, & Kasen, (2019) discuss the caring ‘encounter’ between the patient and the nurse. Encounter is the harmonious interaction between both parties. Ideally, the nurse gets a patient’s encounter whenever he/she has a caregiving task. The article explores the concept and dimensions that enrich such an encounter. Utilizing the Rodgers’ evolutionary view method, the team gathered data from different peer-reviewed sources from databases such as EBSCO, PubMed and Springer Link among others. The articles were published “in the English language in the years 1990 and 2014” (p.10). It was meant to provide a depth of information over a lengthy duration of time.

The nurse’s way of being was noted to be the antecedents to a perfect caring encounter. A nurse with qualities such as confidence, professionalism, and courage provide a better encounter. Besides, the nurse must indicate the ability to communicate and empathy. Supporting dignity and showing respect were also considered as ways that foster a good encounter. The nurse must also demonstrate sensitivity and openness (p.10). Having garnered these qualities, a concept encounter is also enriched by the nurse being there to provide care, promote mutuality, and using a unique way to approach the patient. Since patients are different, handling them with humor, listening actively, and showing a gentle touch impacts the patient. With these attributes, the caring encounter becomes empowering to both the nurse and the patient.

With such information, it is indisputable that a caring encounter is essential to the nurse-patient relationship. A well-equipped nurse sets the pace of the encounter by having characteristics such as humility, dignity, and empathy, required to build the mutuality between him/her and the patient. Without understanding these attributes, an enabling encounter may not be possible.