Katherine Kolcaba Comfort Theory

Nursing should not be looked upon or practiced as a mere physical approach to healing. Nursing should encompass the aspect of restoring each individual patient to his/her maximum physical and emotional state of being. In order to achieve such a goal, a patient must be able to bond with her caregiver on a personal level (Blais & Hayes, 2011). Jean Watson’s caritas factors sets an environment where the patient can obtain optimum health benefits (Blais & Hayes, 2011). The goal of this paper is to state my philosophy of nursing, the important dynamics and values that led me to adopting this philosophy, and the reason why I choose nursing as a profession. I will further explain how Jean Watson’s principles of philosophy is

Human caring is what sets nursing apart from other professions. As Watson (1998) stated, “care and love are the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of cosmic forces: they comprise the primal universal psychic energy. Caring is the essence of nursing and the most central and unifying focus for nursing practice” (p. 32-33). It is important to establish a good nurse-patient relationship in order to create a healing environment that would meet patient’s needs on all levels including physical, mental/emotional and spiritual, promote recovery, maintain health, and create positive outcomes. Jean Watson emphasized the importance of human

Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring has six explicit assumptions. The first assumption is, ontological assumptions emphasizing on the oneness or the connectedness of the human beings. The nurse’s experiences and values are key points to the first assumption. The second is an epistemological assumption which states that there are many ways of knowing. This includes topics as oneself and patients to abstract topics and concepts in nursing. The third assumption mentions that there are diverse methods of knowing and that the collection of information is in various forms. This includes learning about cultures, talking to patients etc. The fourth assumption makes the diverse perspectives explicit in the caring model.

Cara, C. (2003). A Pragmatic View of Jean Watson’s Caring Theory. Retrieved February 22, 2015, www.humancaring.org

Conceptual analysis is integral in understanding nursing theory. According to Walker and Avant (1995), concept analysis allows nursing scholars to examine the attributes or characteristics of a concept. It can be used to evaluate a nursing theory and allows for examination of concepts for relevance and fit within the theory. The phenomena of pain will be discussed in this paper and how it relates to the comfort theory.

As a nurse, an important part of the job is to be caring and helpful for the physical and mental aspects of the patient. The ideas of Jean Watson 's Caritas Processes help define how a nurse can show caring in themselves to their patients. Watson names the eight processes; then define they mean which is key to understanding how a nurse should act to their patients. The book as We Are Now by May Sarton helps show some examples of how these processes work in action and helps to form ideas of how one can improve as a nurse in the future.

Within the context of theory illustrates a demanding yet creative shaping of plans, structured requirements, and prediction of a provisional, determined, and systematic sight of phenomena (Chinn, 2011). Nursing theory is a crucial function within the nursing practice. Theories afford nurses with the distinctive facets that are in encompassed within patient care and the nursing profession. Clarification of practice governance, and expectations are also integrated within contextual framework of nursing theory. It bestows various manners to acquire

When asked to develop a personal nursing philosophy caring was found to be the main component. Jean Watson’s Caring Science as Sacred Science reflects this philosophy in which caring is the predominate component needed in nursing. This paper will provided basic information on the Caring Science as Sacred Science Theory. The paper will further provide a personal example of a patient experience in which this theory shaped the care and healing of the patient. The personal experience to be shown in this paper involves a patient with complex chronic illness. The patient had been hospitalized for over a month. Patients with chronic illness and in the hospital often experience feeling powerless, scared, distant, and confined (Kay Hogan & Cleary, 2013). When these feelings persist they overcome the patient and do not allow the patient to concentrate on healing or being an active member of the healthcare team. Patients in this situation need caring and psychosocial support before moving on with medical care. However, this can often be hard for the healthcare team. When a patient has complex complications often treating these issues is all the team has time for due to patient load and institutional demands. Jean Watson (2009) recognizes this in her work Caring Science and Human Caring Theory: Transforming Personal and Professional Practices of Nursing and Health Care. Watson (2009) recognizes nurses are often torn between values of human caring

According to Fawcett and DeSanto-Madeya (2013), Watson’s Theory of Human Caring can be categorized as a middle- range theory due to its focus on the relation between use of the clinical caritas processes and the building of a transpersonal caring relationship within the context of caring occasion and caring consciousness. Theory of Human Caring honors the unity of the whole human being, while also attending to creating a healing environment (Watson, 2006). Caring is acknowledged as transpersonal, in that it goes beyond the ego-oriented human; it involves the one caring as well as the care receiver, and is mutual, intersubjective, and reciprocal (Watson, 2006). The integrity and usefulness of the theory will be evaluated based on Fawcett’s (2005) criteria. Why it can be argued that the Theory of Human Caring meet the Fawcett’s evaluation criteria, there is evidence of confusion and lack of simplicity.

There are four general levels of hospice care: routine home care, continuous home care, general inpatient care, and inpatient respite care. The facility where I currently

In the Comfort Theory, proposed by Catharine Kolcaba, the tradition of nursing discipline - deriving theory from former disciplines is examined, and the notion of former healthcare disciplines deriving nursing theory has been recommended. A short literature review of plagiarized theory sets the position to examine the modification of the theory. She describes convenience as one of the mechanisms for the full rehabilitation of the patient, and the personal desire of the patient to recovery across the permanency of the diseases. Holistic comfort has been described as the instant experience of being powered through having the requirements for relief, transcendence, and ease met in the four bases of experience (physical, environmental, psycho-spiritual, and social). Providing comfort is necessary for the care of a patient in the hospital background (March, 2009). Nowadays, comfort is being regarded as the last outcome for the terminally sick patient, and it is not seen as a standard hospital practice, when they prophylactically or for protocol, try to develop the patient’s health status. Theorist Katherine Kolcaba was among the first nurse researchers to advance a theory of comfort to develop patient’s outcomes and satisfaction, and to improve institutional integrity. This paper aims at describing the Comfort Theory, as well as its weaknesses and strengths as a middle-rank theory. It also defines its applications beyond the healthcare background, bases for further

Jean Watson also developed a theory on the science of caring in which she indicates that there are 10 carative factors that are the basis of the science of caring as a nurse. Watson feels that ``the development of a helping-trust relationship between the nurse and patient is crucial for transpersonal caring`` (Neil &Tomey, 2006). Her fourth carative factor includes ``developing and sustaining a helping-trusting, authentic caring relationship``(Jackson, 2011)

The purpose of this paper is an overview of Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring. This theory can be taken into account as one of the most philosophicaly complicated of existent nursing theories. The Theory of Human Caring, which also has been reffered to as the Theory of Transpersonal Caring, is middle – range explanatory theory. (Fawccett, 2000) The central point of which is on the human component of caring

In this paper on Watson’s theory of human caring it will briefly describe the theories background and concepts. In discussion of an actual nurse patient event I have had in Obstetrics it will analyze major theory assumptions related to person, health, nursing and environment in the context of this caring moment, along with a personal reflection of this caring moment.

This paper will explore Jean Watson’s theory of transpersonal human caring as well as a description of the major concepts of Watson’s theory. I will apply Watson’s theory to two nurse/ patient relationships and describe the caring moments that occurred. I will discuss Watson’s major assumptions and relate this to person, health, and nursing in the health care environment. I will also describe how Watson’s carative factors were utilized in a transpersonal relationship with the application of four carative factors. Lastly I will conclude with a reflection