Jean Watson’s theory focuses on caring. Caring is the center of this entire way of thinking, and by putting caring first our patients is made the priority.
Watson’s theory is founded on the transpersonal relationship. Transpersonal relationships are influenced by the caring consciousness and intentionality of the nurse as she or he enters the life space or phenomenal field of another person and is able to detect the other person’s condition (Watson caring science institute and international caring consortium, n.d., p. 1). It also tries to connect with and embrace the spirit or soul the patient through the processes of caring and healing and being in authentic relation, in the …show more content…
When I retired from the military my first nursing job was a hospice nurse case manager. I had a patient that became a part of my life. We would talk almost every day. We would not only talk about how she was feeling but about how her family was doing, how her church was doing and we became family. The caring moment involves an action and choice by both the nurse and the other (Watson caring science institute and international caring consortium, n.d., p. 1). This is our caring moment. This patient had end stage pancreatic cancer and was weak. The family had the hospital bed in the living room because she couldn’t make it to her bed room. After adjusting her medications and giving her a routine schedule for administering those medications, she started to improve. She continued to have monthly appointments with her primary doctor and he commented on how she was stable and seemed to maintaining a positive attitude about her diagnosis. In hospice nursing real talk is essential. Planning for the patient’s wishes initially helps when the time comes and the patient passes …show more content…
If more instructions and examples were given the family would have understood the process and not taken the patient to the hospital at the end. I was away on vacation when the patient finally passed away, and the family called the ambulance and had her taken in. Looking back, I think the family never had any intentions of her passing away at home, but they wanted her to be as comfortable as possible at home until her final days. If more of that information had been shared then a clear plan of her wishes could have been put in place and confusion avoided. The relationship with the family was very open, but information was still not fully disclosed. More family conferences could have helped all parties express themselves and clear up any confusion about the process.