Introduction
In the past few decades, the academic field of nursing science has evolved in terms of its philosophies, theories, and ethics. Especially, the latter decade has witnessed a specific focus on theory-guided practice models and caring relationships as the foundation of professional nursing.
Nurses normally have to weigh between many factors including “the calling that lured them to the profession and the human caring values, the technologically high speed task-oriented medical practices, organizational demands, heavy patient task, and archaic industrial practices” (Watson & Foster, 2003, p.364). Nurses who are unable to implement caring techniques are prone to get hardened, feeble, run down, and mechanical. In other words, they perform their chores without putting any passion in the work.
Conflicts between the nursing definition entailing the philosophies, theories, ethics, and knowledge that structure the profession as well as the disciplinary practices and how nurses actually deliver, has prevailed into the millennium. Thus, scientist believe that a value-based, theory-guided perspective to healthcare transformation and human caring is the only structure that currently promises to deliver the nursing profession from instability. This need has given rise to the development of professional model of caring-healing practice.
The professional model of caring-healing practice
The emerging caring-healing practice contexts are increasingly reliant on authentic connection, novice forms of communication mode, coordination, negotiation, partnership, and relationship. This new approach to nursing involves a change towards spiritualizing of healthcare, as opposed to the more conservative medical-clinical, techno-cure direction to health and sickness. These new approaches to health and healthcare has been inspired by the public, and the demand of the healthcare as well as nursing administrators to design creative solutions, which surpass the popular and unproductive fit-it models.
This philosophy pertains making precise human caring and relationship-based caring the ethical basis for healing practices; it regards the unity of the holistic human being, at the same time trying to create a healing environment. Caring-healing modalities and nursing practices are reintegrated as fundamentals to ensure focus on caring practices, subjective meaning, inner healing experiences, and quality of life, which determines patient results and system efficiency as well.
The caring-healing model places human-to-human-caring as core to professional nursing duties; the position and moral basis for the profession. Sustaining human dignity, integrity, and relationships via human caring are eventually the benchmarks by which patients assess their often cure oriented experiences.
Administrative Leadership
Nursing administrators and hospital directors and Chief administrative Officers play a crucial role in transforming the conformist health system that have been labeled in some classic study as unhealthy/toxic as opposed to life giving and life receiving for patient and providers alike (Halldorsdottir, 1991, p.96). The following paragraphs will examine how some organization implement the model of caring-healing practice in health care delivery.
National and international development accompanied by honest desire for authentic transformation, have motivated new projects depending on Caring Science Theory and Philosophy of Human Caring, which are currently in progress in various systems.
Watson Caring Science Institute and The International Caritas Consortium is one of the places where individuals and delegates of the system convene twice annually to reinforce and sustain a form of practice known as Caritas Nursing, which involves integrating caring and love as well as heart-centered human to human interaction back into private life and work place (Watson, 2008, p.59). Such consortiums are sponsored by varied clinical-educational systems through the caring theory as forum for changing education and performance from the inside out. Some healthcare systems have supported the International Caritas Consortium and the Watson Caring Institute previously and into the coming period, as the work develops and spreads.
Steps to disseminate caring science models
How the healthcare system that sponsors the expanding International Caritas Consortium implement the philosophy are captured using recognized activities and procedures indicating those transformative changes. Caring Theory in practice reveals transformative processes that are representative of actions ensuing in most of the systems within the Caritas Consortium and other systems instructed by Caring Science and Caring Theory as guide. Some examples of those caring-in-action markers include:
- Making caring integral to the health care organizational vision and culture, using novice and recording of care, including posters.
- Initiating and declaring new professional caring practice models, culminating into new procedures of care delivery, including 12-bed Hospital, Facilitator Role, Patient Care, and Attending Caring Nursing Project.
- Conscious, deliberate, and purposeful routines such as hand washing to not only control infections, but also as a meaningful routine self-caring, releasing last encounter, and being ready for the next situation.
- Chosen use of caring-healing modalities for self as well as patients such as arts, music, sound, and energetic modalities; calmative oil of essences, reflexology, massage.
- Diming of the lights and placing a designated ‘quite time’ for patients, staff, and families in order to loosen, slow down, and pacify the surrounding.
- Developing healing space for nurses, including sanctuaries for their personal time out, which may involve meditation or relaxation rooms, may contribute greatly in caring of the patient.
Conclusion
Nursing is an enduring process of caring and healing, attempting to appreciate and sustain the holistic human existence, and to provide compassionate, educated and informed human caring. This nursing’s timeless model restores love, kindness, caring and heart-based compassionate practice to humankind. The unifying intent and process is founded on relation with nature, self, other, and God.
Reference list
Halldorsdottir, S. (1991). Five basic modes of being with another. In D.A. Gaut & M. Leininger, (Eds). Caring: the compassionate healer. New York: National League for Nursing.
Watson, J. (2008). Nursing. The philosophy and science of caring (revised Ed.). Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
Watson, J. & Foster, (2003) The Attending Nurse Caring Model: integrating theory, Evidence and advanced caring-healing therapeutics for transforming professional practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 12, 360-365.