caring

Definition
 Central to all helping professions, and enables persons to create meaning in their
lives.
 Means that people, relationships, and things matter
Nursing Theories of Caring
Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory (Leininger)
 Based on transcultural nursing model
 Transcultural nursing: a learned branch of nursing that focuses on the
comparative study & analysis of cultures as they apply to nursing and health-
illness practices, beliefs, and values
 Goal of Transcultural Nursing: to provide care that is congruent with cultural
values, beliefs, and practices
 Cultures exhibit both diversity and universality
 Diversity – perceiving, knowing, and practicing care in different ways
 Universality – commonalities of care
 Fundamental Theory Aspects – culture, care, cultural care, world view, folk
health or well-being systems
Theory of Bureaucratic Caring (Ray)
 Ray’s theory focuses on caring in organizations (e.g. hospital) as cultures. The
theory suggests that caring in nursing is contextual and is influenced by the
organizational structure.
 Example: ICU had a dominant value of technological caring (i.e., monitors,
ventilators, treatments), Oncology unit had a value of a more intimate, spiritual
caring (i.e., family focused, comforting, compassionate). Furthermore, the
meaning of caring was further influenced by the role and position a person held.
Staff nurses valued caring in terms of its relatedness to client, while administrator
valued caring as system related.
 caring

 Spiritual –ethical caring influences each of the aspects of the bureaucratic system
(political, legal, economic,, educational, physiologic, social-cultural, and
technological)
Caring, the Human Mode of Being (Roach)
 Caring is the human mode of being, proposes that all persons are caring, and
develop their caring abilities by being true to self.
 Develop the Six C’s of Caring in Nursing:

Six C’s of Caring in Nursing

Compassion
 Awareness of one’s relationship to others, sharing their joys, sorrows, pain, and

accomplishments. Participation in the experience of another

Competence
 Having the knowledge, judgment, skills, energy, experience, and motivation to

respond adequately to others within the demands of professional responsibilities.

Confidence
 The quality that fosters trusting relationships. Comfort with self, client, and

family.
Conscience
 Morals, ethics, and an informed sense of right and wrong. Awareness of personal

responsibility.
Commitment
 Convergence between one’s desires and obligations and the deliberate choice to

act in accordance with them.

Comportment
 Appropriate bearing, demeanor, dress, and language, that is in harmony with a

caring presence. Presenting oneself as someone who respects others and demands
respect.
Nursing as Caring (Boykin and Schoenhofer)
 Suggests that the purpose of the discipline and profession of nursing is to know
persons and nurture them as persons living in caring and growing in caring.
 Similar to Roach idea that all persons are caring.
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 Caring in nursing is “an altruistic, active expression of love, and is the intentional
and embodied recognition of value and connectedness”.
Theory of Human Care (Watson)
 Human caring in nursing is not just an emotion, concern, attitude, or benevolent
desire. Caring is a moral ideal of nursing whereby the end is protection,
enhancement, and preservation of human dignity.
Theory of Caring (Swanson)
 Caring involves 5 processes:
Process Definition Sub dimensions

 Avoiding assumptions
 Centering on the one
cared
 Assessing thoroughly
Striving to understand an event as it has  Seeing cues
Knowing meaning in life of the other  Engaging the self of both

 Being there
 Conveying ability
 Sharing feelings
Being With Being emotionally present to other  Not burdening

 Comforting
 Anticipating
 Performing
 Competently/skillful
Doing for the other as he/she would do  Protecting
Doing For for the self if it were at all possible  Preserving dignity

 Informing/explaining
Facilitating the other’s passage through  Supporting/allowing
Enabling life transitions and unfamiliar events  Focusing
 caring

 Generating
 Alternative/thinking it
through
 Validating/giving
feedback

 Believing in/ holding in

esteem
 Maintaining a hope-
filled attitude
Sustaining faith in the other’s capacity to  Offering realistic
Maintaining get through an event or transition and optimism
belief face a future meaning  “Going the distance”
The Primacy of Caring (Benner and Wrubel)
 Caring is central to the essence of nursing. Caring creates the possibilities for
coping and creates possibilities for connecting with and concern for others.
Caring for Self
Caring for self means taking the time to nurture oneself. This involves initiating and
maintaining behaviors that promote healthy living and well-being.

 A balanced diet
 Regular exercise
 Adequate rest and sleep
 Recreational Activities
 Meditation and prayer