Comparing Leininger, Roach and Watson's Views of Caring

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Hi,

Interesting theories! Let's take a closer look through theory and research. I also attached supporting articles for further expansion.

RESPONSE:

1. In reference to the care theories: How does Leininger's, Roach's and Jean Watson's description of caring compare and contrast to each other?

Let's look at descriptions of the three theories, which makes it fairly easy to make the comparisons across theories.

According to Cara (n.d), "the changes in the health care delivery systems around the world have intensified nurses' responsibilities and workloads" (p. 1). Nurses must now deal with patients' increased acuity and complexity in regard to their health care situation. Despite such hardships, nurses must find ways to preserve their caring practice and caring theories such as those from Jean Watson, Madeleine Leininger, and Simone Roach are vital and can be seen as indispensable to this goal (Cara, n.d).

The purpose of this paper is to...

Now let's look at some of the dimensions that you can use to compare and contrast the three theories of care (theoretical assumptions, premises and values, etc.)

Watson's theory of Human Caring

"Nursing can expand its existing role, continuing to make contributions to health care within the
modern model by developing its foundational caring-healing and health strengths that have always been present on the margin" (Watson, 1999, p. 45). According to Watson (2001), for example, the major elements of her theory are (a) the carative factors, (b) the transpersonal caring relationship, and (c) the caring occasion/caring moment (Cara, n.d, see details on each factor starting on p. 3 of the attached article on Watson's caring theory)

The theory is based on the following premises and values and human life and the caring process:

? Deep respect for the wonders and mysteries of life.
? Acknowledgment of a spiritual dimension to life and internal power of the human care process, growth, and change.
? A high regard and reverence for a person and human life.
? Nonpaternalistic values that are related to human autonomy and freedom of choice.
? A high value on the subjective-internal world of the experiencing person and how the person (both patient and nurse) is perceiving and experiencing health-illness conditions.
? An emphasis is placed upon helping a person gain more self-knowledge, self-control, and readiness for self-healing, regardless of the external health condition.
? The nurse is viewed as a co-participant in the human care process.
? A high value is placed on the relationship between the nurse and the person. (Watson, 1988, pp. 34-35)

In Watson, (1999, p. 129):

? There is an expanded view of the person and what it means to be human?fully embodied, but more than body physical; an embodied spirit; a transpersonal, transcendent, evolving consciousness; unity of mindbodyspirit; person-nature-universe as oneness, connected.
? Acknowledgment of the human-environment energy field?life energy field and universal field of consciousness; universal mind (in Teilhard de Chardin and Bohm's sense of mind).
? Positing of consciousness as energy; caring-healing consciousness becomes primary for the caring-healing practitioner.

According to Watson (1999), caring potentates healing, wholeness. For example, Watson argues that:

? Caring-healing modalities (sacred feminine archetype of nursing) have been excluded from nursing and health systems; their development and reintroduction are essential for postmodern, transpersonal, caring-healing models, and transformation.
? Caring-healing processes and relationships are considered sacred.
? Unitary consciousness as the world view and cosmology, i.e., viewing the connectedness of all.
? Caring as a moral imperative to human and planetary survival.
? Caring as a converging global agenda for nursing and society alike.

The assumptions of Watson's (1999, pp. 102-103) caring theory is:

? Caring is based on an ontology and ethic of relationship and connectedness, and of relationship and consciousness.
? Caring consciousness, in-relation, becomes primary.
? Caring can be most effectively demonstrated and practiced interpersonally and transpersonally.
? Caring consists of "caritas" consciousness, values, and motives. It is guided by carative
components [carative factors].
? A caring relationship and a caring environment attend to "soul care": the spiritual growth of both the one-caring and the one-being-cared-for.
? A caring relationship and a caring environment preserve human dignity, wholeness, and integrity; they offer an authentic presencing and choice.
? Caring promotes self-growth, self-knowledge, self-control, and ...