Reply 1

Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring, focuses on the promotion of health, prevention of disease, taking care of patients, and getting them back to their baseline (No author, 2020). To accomplish this, Watson believed in the importance of holistic caring, where the focus is on the whole of the patient. There are seven assumptions that the theory of caring focuses on;

1. Caring is done through interpersonal relationships.
2. Caring is meeting the needs of the patients.
3. Caring helps enhance the health of the patient and their family members.
4. Caring is looking at who the patient is and who the patient is to be.
5. Caring involves an environment where the patient can thrive and make choices for themselves.
6. Caring goes hand in hand with curing the patient.
7. Caring is the focus of the field of nursing (PSYCH-MENTAL HEALTH NP, 2020).

This theory allows the nurses to create and work within an environment focused on the patient. By allowing this to take place, patients begin to trust the provider and become more accepting of the care provided to them. This trust leads to the healing of the patient in a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual context.

References:

No author. (2020, July 21). Watson’s philosophy and science of caring. Nursing Theory. Retrieved from https://nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/watson-philosophy-and-science-of-caring.php.

PSYCH-MENTAL HEALTH NP. (2020, July 21). Watson’s philosophy and science of caring. Nursing Theory. Retrieved from https://nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/watson-philosophy-and-science-of-caring.php.

Reply 2

By definition, a middle-range theory of nursing is more specific than Grand Nursing Theories and is often used to expose the more abstract grand nursing theories.  Because it is more easily tested. It is often used to explain and predict particular phenomenon in clinical practice.  Peterson defined a phenomenon as a reality designation (Peterson & Bredow, 2017, pg 1).

One theory that I believe is particularly applicable to research is Katherine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort. Peterson defined comfort as the experience of gaining strength through having one physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental needs met through relief, ease, and transcendence (Peterson & Bredow, 2017, pg 196). Kolcaba explained that ease is a state of calm or contentment; relief as the meeting of specific comfort needs; and transcendence as when one rises above problems or pain (Peterson & Bredow, 2017, pg 197).

Coelho, Parola, Escobar-Bravo, and Apóstolo (2016) used Kolcaba’s theory of comfort to analyze the impact of comfort in palliative care. First, the authors looked at the factors that affect a patient’s comfort experience, which included physical and psychological comfort.  It was explained in the article that the psychological aspects of comfort are often overlooked and not fully delivered to patients. Next, the authors analyzed how patients experienced comfort in a palliative setting from the patient’s perspective.   The study intended to understand what prevents the patients from receiving comfort to create and execute comfort interventions.

Reference

Coelho, A., Parola, V., Escobar-Bravo, M., & Apóstolo, J. (2016). Comfort experience in palliative care: a phenomenological study. BMC palliative care, 15, 71. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-016-0145-0

Peterson, S. J., & Bredow, T.S. (2017). Middle range theories: Application to nursing research (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer