NURSING AS CARING

Boykin and Schoenhofer (1993) states that when we have gone outside the discipline [of nursing] to extend possibilities for understanding, we have made an effort to go beyond application, to think through the nursing relevance of ideas that seemed, on the surface to be useful MAYEROFFS NURSING INGREDIENTS Knowing- Explicitly and implicitly, knowing that and knowing how, knowing directly and knowing indirectly. Alternating rhythm- moving back and forth between a narrower and wider framework, between action and reflection. Patience- not a passive waiting but participating with fhe other, giving fully of ourselves Honesty- positive concept that implies openness, genuineness, and seeing truly. Trust- trusting the other to grow in his or her own time and own way. Humility-ready and willing to learn more about other and sekf and what caring involves. Hope- an expressive of the plenitude of the present, alive with a sense of possible Courage- taking risks, going into the unknown, trusting.

Boykin and Schoenhofer present two major perspectives for the theory of Nursing as Caring: a perception of persons as caring and a conception of nursing as discipline and profession.

PERCEPTION OF PERSONS AS CARING

The perception of Nursing as Caring is that all persons are caring.

Seven major assumptions

Persons are caring by virtue of their humanness Persons arebcaring, moment to moment Persons are whole or complete in the moment Personhood is a process of living grounded in caring Personhood is enhanced through participating in nurturing relationships with caring others Nursing is both a discipline and a profession Persons are viewed as already complete and continuously growing in completeness, fully caring and unfolding caring possibilities moment-to-moment

Fundamental assumptions Person-as-person, person-as-whole, person-as-caring. CONCEPTION OF NURSING AS A DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSION The theory of Nursing as Caring is derived from a belief that nursing is both a discipline and a profession. As a discipline, nursing is a unity of science, art, and ethic. The profession of nursing is based on understanding the social need from which the call for nursing originates and the body of knowledge that is used in creating the response known as nursing. The relationship between the nurse and the nursed as a social contract that involves knowledge and skill required to meet that need.

General theory of nursing and caring

focus of nursing- nurturing persons living caring and growing in caring Nursing- is the response to the unique human need to be recognized as, and supported in being, caring person. The nurse must know the person as caring person and take those nursing actions that seek to nurture the person in living and growing in caring.

The call for nursing is a call for acknowledgment and affirmation of the person living caring in specific ways in this immediate situation The dance of caring persons Nursing situation- a shared lived experience in which the caring between nurse and nursed enhances personhood - is the context in which context exists - it is the intention with which the situation is approached and caring is expressed that creates the nursing situation and demonstrates nursing as caring.

THE THEORY OF NURSING AS CARING AND THE FOUR MAJOR CONCEPTS 1. Human Beings- are persons who are caring from moment to moment and are whole and complete in the moment. 2. Nursing- involves the nurse knowing self as caring person and coming to know the other as caring. - includes creating caring responses that nurture personhood and exists when the nurse actualizes personal and professional commitment to the belief that all persons are caring.

3. Environment 4. Health

THE THEORY OF NURSING AS CARING AND THE NURSING PROCESS The nursing process as a problem- solving approach or mechanism is incompatible with the theory of Nursing as Caring. The problem-solving focus seeks to find something to correct, which Boykin and Schoenhofer believe distracts nurses from their primary mission of caring and leads to the loss of the context of nursing. Nursing is described as processual rather than a process. COKER (1998)- reports on a pilot in a supportive residential care unit that resulted in the development of a guide to facilitate gathering and documenting information about personhood