Nursing and Caring

The act of caring, according to caring theorist Jean Watson is found at the core of nursing. Looking back, I can see that I never quite saw how important caring is within the nursing profession. I used to think that science and the understanding of the human anatomy was the most important. But after going through my first semester in the nursing program, I can now truly say that caring comes first. The act of caring is not something that everyone can do, some people are better at it than others. Also caring is not a skill, but a way of relating and building a relationship with the person being cared for. As I had said before, caring is not something that everyone can do, so the act of caring can often be hard for some nurses to show. The lack of care or disconnection between nurses and their patients can sometimes have an effect on the health of the patient. This observation is what I plan to put into practice next semester when I go to clinical. I plan on making sure that I see my patients as people as opposed to objects and to treat them with utmost respect.

Department of Health and Social Security. (n.d.). A nurse attending to a patient [Cartoon]. Isle of Man Government: London. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://www.gov.im/dhss/health/nobles/patient/Aboutstaff.xml

Watson, J. (2006). Jean Watson’s theory of human caring. In M. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (2nd ed). Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.

The Ethical Dilemma

During my first semester in the nursing program at UOIT, I have become more aware of my personal beliefs and how they affect my judgment. However, I wonder if this self awareness will continue to persist or if my personal beliefs will ever over shadow my critical thinking skills. Lately, the choice between following religious beliefs and life has become more evident within the health care profession. Some patients are choosing death over saving their lives because of what their religion says. I know that I have to respect my patient’s wishes, but dealing with life and death situations is not one of my strongest traits. I begin to wonder what I would do if one of my patients ever tells me that they choose to follow their religious beliefs over saving their life. I know that the first question that would come to my mind would be “why?”. Although I try to separate work from my personal beliefs, sometimes it can be hard when dealing with a life and death situation. So my question to anyone who reads this post is, “what would you do if one of your patients chose to follow their religion over saving their life?”.

Elfstrom, J. (2006). A woman holding a candle [Picture]. Sweden. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/Article____15193.aspx