Can Someone Be a Nurse Without Jean Watson??

[Q.]

Ok now, as I delve back INTO nursing philosophy and theories, I come across, again, the theories of Jean Watson that have been hailed as the greatest thing since polyurethane IV bags - The Caring Theory of Nursing.

Personally, I have never been a fan of Watson, only because I feel that she OVERemphasized the caring aspect, and, in my opinion, dumbified nursing - hence, the ad campaign in the late 80's "If Caring Were Enough, Anyone Could Be a Nurse." Watson threw a fit when she saw this.

As nursing evolves to a more technically challenging field, requiring more acute assessment skills, and as the

"How Women Know" movement which has shaped nursing education for the last decade or so has become archaic, wondering what your thoughts are on if someone can be a nurse and NOT subscribe to the caring theory. Can one be a competent nurse and NOT care about her patients any more deeply than simply getting the job done?

Watson's theory goes a bit deeper than simply "caring" - more so than "caring" about any other job. But "caring" as far as honestly caring about the patient as you would your mom or dad.

Do you think someone CAN be an effective nurse WITHOUT having so much an emphasis on loving her patients?

[ceecel.dee, MSN, RN]

Glad2behere-

Count me in! A very small price to pay......IF they focused in their change-agent agenda.

[abrenrn]

Goodness, I did not not there was a statute of limitations on brilliance. People still talk about gravity - that was how many centuries ago? OK, Einstein proved Newton wrong - but only at extremes of distance, speed, etc. In the less extreme world we see around us, Newton works just fine.

So, I think FN was absolutely brilliant in her definitin of nursing and theories re how it should be practiced - read notes on nursing, focus on her reasoning. Watson's cool, perhaps she adds to FN, but as far as I can tell, nobody has done it better yet.

[rncountry]

I personally like Lavina Dock. She not only contributed a great deal to nursing, she chained herself to the White House in the attempt to get the vote for Women. She was, of course, arrested. Not that one time but a couple times. She was very outspoken in women's rights, as well as nursing. My kind of gal!

[ohbet]

Caring is synonymous with love,and without caring/love,the individual will burnout,and it will lead to burn out for the following reason:

Duty without love breeds weariness;

duty with love breeds constancy.

[Q.]

Now I argue that caring/love LEADS to burnout.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Originally posted by Susy K

Now I argue that caring/love LEADS to burnout.

Caring and/or love CAN lead to burnout if you don't take care of yourself. Caring for someone (whether it is in a personal or professional capacity) can be emotionally taxing ... and it can leave us vulnerable to being hurt.

However, caring certainly beats the alternative, doesn't it? Do you really want to go through your life (professional or personal) without caring? Wouldn't that be worse?

llg -- back from vacation

[Glad2behere]

There obviously has to be some caring. No one has suggested that you can be a nurse without it. What has been said is that nursing has no patent on the empathetic qualities found in mankind, but because we nurses have generally been exploited in that regard, we call attention to it. But to base our whole discipline on caring is horse puckey. Love and caring are energy period. The focal point is that nursing has been so caught up in how much caring they do that they have forgotten that it is energy expended, until burnout, and then the high mortality rates of nursing careers. Maybe caring ain't so cool, particularly if it allows it to deplete the numbers of nurses exploited from all directions, and is probably the single most important factor that has an effect on attrition, because we are still having to fight for adequate staffing. Why do we have to fight for it? Because we have got on a megaphone and told the whole world how much we freaking care, and letting limits of emotional tolerance being set elsewhere. So, it's our own fault really. The question has evolved not from whether we care or not to very simply "How Much Do We Care?" That can be translated to affect pay, ratios, responsibilities, and emotional wear and tear. All caring has done as a basis for nursing is create one giant sinkhole and we are all trying to climb the sides.

[semstr]

I think it is quite possible "to care professionally".

[Q.]

Originally posted by semstr

I think it is quite possible "to care professionally".

Assuming we're a "profession."

[semstr]

YES, we are

[Ted]

Only skimmed through it. Read the first post regarding Jean Watson and her theory regarding carding. Didn't read in depth all of the debates/arguments of this post.

My 2 cents worth:

Just as there are differing levels of love, there can be differing levels of caring. I couldn't care for my patients like I would "Care" for my wife or my parents. However, I do provide a level of caring which, hopefully, meets the needs of my patients. This caring is manifested as follows: I listen; I go for the "smile" and the "giggle" when appropriate; I teach them so that they may have an opportunity to care for themselves; and I provide the medical care appropriate for their diagnosis(es); I view the patient more than their diagnosis but as a human being; I give them the best 9 hours (I work a nine hour shift and get paid for 10 hours! Nice benefit! ) of my professional time.

However, I don't take my work home. I don't think about the patients (most of the time) the moment I leave the hospital! I even forget their names! (I got a bad memory anyway!) It's this kind of detatchment that helps me keep from getting burn-out; it helps keep me sane; it helps me stay in this nursing "profession". Professional detachment is a good thing. And yes, I believe one can be caring and professionally detached at the same time.

With regards to caring for the "child molester". Again, I give that person the medical treatment appropriate for their diagnosis. I listen. I teach. I don't feel obligated to like them. But I don't totally ignore them either. Simply, I don't condone their actions, but I don't judge either. . . at least not there and now.

I studied Jean Watson towards the BSN but only briefly. Haven't read her theory in great depth. Don't know how far the "caring road" she takes her theory. However, I am a caring person. It's part of my nature; it's part of my upbringing! It's a part of nursing I love.

Most importanly, though, one has to care for one's self in order to have the "emotional and spiritual" fuel to care for others. A dry well does not provide water for thursty mouths.

Cheers! :)

Ted

P. S. Good topic, Susy!

[gpip]

how ironic I folow the same nursing theory as Zoe. I remember theory a little from school. Then I forgot it because truely it does not matter. You try to treat everyone the same reguardless of race, creed, color, religion , or sexual orientation. They all basically say basically same thing using different words. Iknow I am like the rest of youand when my patient is not doing well I think hmmmm, which nursing theory would beappropriate to best help my patient, NOT!!!!!!!!