Critical Appraisal of Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring - Paper Example

Introduction

Nursing can be described as an art that is associated with the giving of care to an individual. Jean Watson is a theorist in nursing who came up with the theory of human caring and the Caritas processes, supporting this theory. Her nursing background came in handy in understanding the effect that the authentic caring of patients had on their overall health. The nurses are optimally put in a position to be a part of the healing of his/her patient. Through the type of care they offer patients, the nurse can optimize the recovery of their patients. To validate theories suggested by researchers, clinicians need to apply various scientific research findings to the circumstances that rise to an individual patient. That is always a part of the decision-making process. Therefore they must be able to look up literature relevant to the respective field. This paper seeks to appraise Jean Watson's theory of human caring critically.

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Effects of Nursing Care Based on Watson's Theory of Human Caring on Anxiety, Distress, And Coping, When Infertility Treatment Fails: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary

This article by Yeter Durgun Ozan and Hülya Okumus is an example of a study that has integrated the theory of care by Jean Watson. The covers how human suffering is always aggravated by the small disappointments that people experience each day. When infertility treatment fails, this leads to the depression of a person (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). That is because of the stress it brings at a societal, familial, and individual level. The study was carried out specifically to assess a nursing care program's effectiveness based on Watson's theory of human caring on the distress and anxiety that always grows when a treatment fails.

In Turkey, where the study was carried out, the rate of infertility is relatively average, with 10%-15% of couples facing infertility. The statistic further shows a worrying statistic that 9% of all the married women have never had a child, and about one million couples have been diagnosed with infertility (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). Infertility often affects someone deeply since they have to live with the reality that they may not have kids of their own. This adaptation to a life without children leads many into a depression since dealing with this reality always proves to be a problem.

To avoid these depressing moments of life, individuals often turn to different alternatives to treat their infertility problems. Most of the time, Assisted Reproductive technology always turns out to be an alternative for most people. Most couples often start this treatment with the thoughts of getting pregnant from the procedure. However, the disappointment comes when the couples cannot get pregnant. When the anxiety kicks in, the pregnancy rates are affected by the anxiety levels and the distress caused by infertility (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). The women who fail to have children tend to feel social pressure, and their lives may not go back to normal due to this. Watson's treatment theory seems to be centered on care, which is why it is applied in this study. The theory acknowledges that the healing of a person is a continual process. It will depend on the Caritas, caring-healing modalities, caring occasions and moments, and transpersonal caring.

Critique

The study was quantitative since it was experimenting seeking to find an answer to something. The research sought to understand the theory by Watson. The use of ladies in the hospital ensured that it had a relevant sample population to give accurate results. The sample selection was made well, but it had a downside in the exclusion criteria (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). The exclusion of women that were diagnosed with chronic diseases was not called for at all. If they were willing to participate, they should have been given a chance to study since they looked for children. That is the downside that is visible in the selection of the sample.

Design of Study

The research design for this study was quantitative. It was keen on collecting statistical information to answer the raised questions at the beginning of the study. The framework that was created to find answers to the research questions was quite good. The set's procedures and methods gave a clear representation of what the target was (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). The use of tools like the sociodemographic data form to gather sociodemographic characteristics, the spiel Berger's state-trait anxiety scale to help determine the anxiety scale of the people and infertility distress scale to help describe the emotions of the women was quite essential in the ensuring that the quantitative data collection to be used in concluding the study.

Quality of The Study

The study's materials and methods were well put, and the single-blind randomized controlled trial research method was quite effective. The consolidated standards of reporting trials gave a clear picture of the harvest of information from the sample. That was essential in ensuring that the patient flow throughout the study was well recorded. However, it could have included a few women who became pregnant after going through the process. That would have given a clear overview of if the anxiety levels decrease or rise throughout pregnancy even to those who successfully become pregnant (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). However, the samples are representative of the larger population that undergoes anxiety and depression due to the failure to get pregnant. This adequacy in the sample shows that the study can give trustworthy conclusions.

Rationale

Conducting this research was necessary because the number of people having problems with childbearing is quite high globally. Besides, people are always affected by other problems such as accidents or even diseases like cancer, leaving them in despair. The positive results from this experiment prove that Watson's theory is necessary to give care to the people who are receiving care in the hospital. Caregivers in hospitals can use this research to actualize it in their hospitals as a means of therapy to help patients of long-term ailments to accept themselves (Alharbi & Baker, 2020). Patients undergoing chemotherapy are always optimistic that after some time, cancer will disappear completely. However, depression always sets in after several sessions, and there seem to be no changes. Such patients require a nurse to follow up on them even after treatment.

The evidence from this study can justify and implement caregivers who will follow up on the patient's development from when they receive the first diagnosis all through to their treatment until they settle back home. Persons who lose their ability to do something through an accident or stroke could also undergo Watson's theory of care. Such people always have a hard time assimilating into society again because they always feel useless since they were once productive members of society (SENTÜRK et al., 2017). Nevertheless, they are currently temporarily or permanently disabled. The success of this study will enable the theory of care to be used even by others. That is mostly because the implementation of healthcare products is always dependent on evidence; hence, this study will be a good source of credible information.

Implications for Practice

Clinicians can use this research to employ it on other patients to ensure that there is follow up on people suffering from other ailments. The data can be used to justify the effectiveness of Watson's theory of care. Based on the study results, more researchers should attempt to use the theory on a larger controlled group to ensure a larger number of infertile ladies and males. That would bring close to accurate results since a larger sample always leads to more informed findings; hence, concluding can always be easier. Caretaker nurses can apply this to their patients that they take care of at the hospitals (Bayuo, 2017).

Further Research

Some limitations were evident in this study that should be reviewed in other studies. The study was mostly focused on ladies. Couples seeking children through assistance should seek the doctor together to assess the problem in both of them. The males were not included in the study because they do not always continue with the treatment. Future studies should seek ways to ensure that men are also included in the treatment's follow-up (Ozan & Okumus, 2017). The study is targeted to examine the effects of caring on women over a long time whom caring was done continually long after treatment. It has set a record that childless women's anxiety reduces if they are followed later after the procedure's failure. Despite having the sorrowful period, the nurses who were followed by the nurses after the sessions were over-improved over time.

Conclusion

The theory of human caring by jean Watson applies to nurse from all perspectives, especially in-hospital care. The needs of patients in the hospital always vary, although most of them are the same. The caretaker nurse needs to establish a bond with the patient since they need to empathize with them. This bond created by a nurse is what, at times, gives the patient the reason to fight and be strong. It gives the patient a sense of belonging, improving their moods, and eventually, it helps them get better faster. The nurses need to develop a customized care plan for a patient to ensure that they meet the individual sensory needs. Nurses need to apply the ten Caritas in the application of jean Watson's theory to ensure that a patient receives the care that they deserve.

References

Alharbi, M. K. N., & Baker, D. O. G. (2020). Jean Watson’s Middle Range Theory of Human Caring: A Critique. International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Scientific Research (IJAMSR) ISSN: 2581-4281, 3 (1), 1-14.https://www.ijamsr.com/issues/6_Volume%203_Issue%201/20200202_114310_3011.pdf

Bayuo, J. (2017). A case study in the caring application of Watson's theory of human caring to end of life care in the burns intensive care unit: A case report. International Journal of Human Caring, 21(3), 142-144.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan_Bayuo2/publication

GÖNEN SENTÜRK, S., KÜüÜKGÜüLÜ, Ö., & WATSON, J. (2017). Caring For Caregivers of Individuals With Dementia: From the Perspective of Watson's Theory of Human Caring. Journal of Hacettepe University Faculty of Nursing, 4(1).https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seher_Goenen_Sentuerk/publication

Ozan, Y. D., & Okumus, H. (2017). Effects of nursing care based on Watson's theory of human caring on anxiety, distress, and coping, when infertility treatment fails: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of caring sciences, 6(2), 95.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5488674/