Watson's Theory of Human Caring

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RESPONSE:

1. Identify role for nursing in alleviating the health consequences faced by Muslim Americans in terms of Watson's Theory of Human Caring.

The role for nursing is to provide care to every Muslim American attention to the patient, the family and community health (depending, in part, on the job description of the nurse and title e.g. community nurse versus nurse educator) by applying the 10 clinical curative factors to the situation using the factors differentially, depending on the health intervention and the context. Relationship building is imperative between the nurse and the patient, according to Watson, with a focus on applying the 10 curative factors based on the healing situation, as well as building relations though entering the world of the client and getting the client's perspective on her or his health problems, which also links the professional and patient at the spiritual level of meaning.

Many Arab Americans have come out of an atmosphere of oppression (of which most are Muslim) before immigration. Together with the discrimination against them that is widespread throughout the American press and popular culture, there are many healthier related consequences that result in the need for nursing interventions. In one study, many Arab Americans are extremely reluctant to participate in surveys seeking personal information. Of the nearly 5,000survey questionnaires distributed in this current effort, only about 20% of the questionnaires were returned for inclusion in the current study (Mustafa, 2001) (see attached study, for convenience).

Watson essentially believes that nursing is an intersubjective human process and places a high value on the caring relationship between the nurse and the recipient of care. To apply, and in this case to the health consequences of Muslim Americans (see attached study), the following are Watson's (2001) translation of the carative factors into clinical caritas processes:

1. Practice of loving kindness and equanimity within context of caring consciousness.
2. Being authentically present, and enabling and sustaining the deep belief system and subjective life world of self and the one-being-cared-for.
3. Cultivation of one's own spiritual practices and transpersonal self, going beyond ego self, opening to others with sensitivity and compassion.
4. Developing and sustaining a helping-trusting, authentic caring relationship.
5. Being present to, and supportive of, the expression of positive and negative feelings as a connection with deeper spirit of self and the one-being-cared-for.
6. Creative use of self and all ways of knowing as part of the caring process; to engage in artistry of caring-healing practices.
7. Engaging in genuine teaching-learning experience that attends to unity of being and meaning, attempting to stay within others?frames of reference.
8. Creating healing environment at all levels (physical as well as non-physical), subtle environment of energy and ...