Caring: A Key Element in Nursing for Patient Well-Being - Research Paper

Introduction

Caring refers to the exhibition and feeling of empathy and concern for others. It reflects when one has or shows compassion for another. Nursing and caring are intertwined, considering the implicit demand for nurses to respect human dimensions and honor the subjective experiences of patients (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Proper nursing involves the development and sustenance of caring relationships that are authentic and characterized by openness to help and built on mutual trust. The nurse is required always to be present and supportive of the patient. For such a caring and trusting relationship to exist, the nurse must be self-aware of judgmental feelings which are likely to influence their intimate interactions with the client. Ethics of care is derived from this intimate relationship and stems from the understanding that caring exists in a continuum. The level of emotional involvement in a caring relationship differs with the closeness between the individuals.

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There are five elements which convey ethics of care (Truog et al., 2015). First, the nurse must show compassion to the person that depends on their care. Secondly, there must be a high level of competition in the nursing practice by way of proper reasoning ability, the motivation, experience, and skills which ensure excellent practice. Thirdly, the relationship between the patient and the nurse must be built on trust. This element ensures mutual respect, truthfulness, and honesty, which provide an intimate relationship and the understanding of the needs of the patient. Fourthly, there must be an element of responsibility on the part of the nurse, the feeling of being entrusted with the welfare of the person requiring care. Lastly, there is the element of attention, which requires that the nurse derives their motivation from the intrinsic rewards that they get out of the practice.

Clinical and Professional Applications of Ethics of Caring into Practice

There is an inherent moral connection between people such that in practice, before engaging in nursing practice, one is required to consider how their practice enables them to fulfill their responsibility (Johnstone & Hutchinson, 2015). Clinical and professional application of ethics of caring in practice considers phases of care. On top of these are four elements of care, which are regarded as fundamentals that are necessary for caring to exist. The four stages of caring desired of nurses when taking care of patients fuse the action, emotional, and cognitive strategies and are; caregiving, taking care of, caring about, and "care receiving." In caring about, the nurse recognizes the need for patient relief from both physical and emotional pain.

As regards taking care of, the nurse must take responsibility and respond to the pain level experienced by a patient under their care. Caregiving involves the tracking of patient progress and determining when changes in medication are needed. It consists of the nurse being reactive to the patient's needs. In the care-receiving phase, the nurse has the responsibility to assess the success of the intervention approach used to address the needs of the patient. The application of ethical care in clinical and professional practice involves a problem-solving approach (Weiss, Malone, Merighi& Benner, 2016). Caring in the context of nursing practice is analogous to curing in the context of medicine. The caregiver, or nurse, addresses a patient's vulnerability, mainly because the needs of the patient are bound to lead to a dependency in the nurse.

In addition to the four phases are the four elements of caring that characterize the ethics of caring in nursing and professional practice. They are nurse responsibility, the responsiveness of the patient, attentiveness, and competence. These four elements influence the skills and attitudes of the nurse. This is because professional nursing practice combines specific knowledge, attitudes, activities, and context (Butts, & Rich, 2015). Past interaction between a nurse and a patient, for instance, determines the level of intimacy in their relationship, and understanding of patient needs. The nurse must avoid developing a judgmental attitude toward the patient. Each of the four elements has a unique aspect that it adds to the professional outlook that is desired of the nurse as is required of their professional practice.

The element of attentiveness enables the nurse to determine the needs of the patient and their family adequately. It is a vital element because any failure on the part of the nurse to recognize the needs of the patient and their family would automatically imply that the patient does not receive the desired care. Attentiveness helps the nurse to move from their position to that of the patient. This progression ensures that their actions are guided by the proper understanding of the real situation of the patient (Weiss et al., 2016). Some nursing environments incorporate physical notifications such as lighting and nurse call systems that are designed to ensure that nurses respond speedily to patient needs. The second element, responsibility, is achieved by eliminating all ambiguity around what amounts to nursing care. Nurses need to be aware of their responsibility to care for their assigned patients. Such responsibility must be fostered by the proper relationship, which enables for intimate interactions and the understanding of patient needs.

As regards competence as a third element, the nurse is expected to show consistency in their professional conduct. Effective pain management approaches indicate this professionalism throughout their interactions with the patient, and consistency in terms of setting up proper organizational protocols which allow for professional practice to continue (Johnstone & Hutchinson, 2015). The fourth element of caring, the responsiveness of the patient to care takes into consideration the fact that the patient becomes vulnerable to the care given by the nurse and that the resulting environment must indicate some reciprocity. The patient provides the nurse with the opportunity to show their professionalism. The nurse must, in return appreciate this offer by providing the best care. Evaluating the progress of the patient helps to determine the development of such practice.

Example of Ethics of Care in Healthcare Practice

Mr. Baker is a 57-year-old patient. He is an in-patient admitted after complaints of pain in the abdominal area and vomiting. The patient has a known history of alcoholism, and his diabetes has remained unmanaged for a long time. He has had his left leg amputated below the knee. He attributes the lack of to the death of his wife of forty years about five months ago. Based on the end-of-shift report, the patient demands more pain medication compared to the rest of the patient. Based on the relationship between Mr. Baker and the caring nurse, the nurse is aware of his need for high levels of analgesia. The nurse thus responsively requests the physician to change their dose. However, the physician is hesitant due to their limited understanding of the patient. In a patient-first approach, the nurse engages a conflict resolution approach to advocate for Mr. Baker. As a result of this approach, the patient gets additional morphine for their pain relief.

References

Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. (2015). Nursing ethics. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers International.

Johnstone, M. J., & Hutchinson, A. (2015). 'Moral distress'-time to abandon a flawed nursing construct? Nursing Ethics, 22(1), 5-14. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0969733013505312

Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Piiku_Pakkanen/publication/271139792_Professional_ethics_in_nursing_An_integrative_review/links/5ac73e320f7e9bcd51933978/Professional-ethics-in-nursing-An-integrative-review.pdf

Truog, R. D., Brown, S. D., Browning, D., Hundert, E. M., Rider, E. A., Bell, S. K., & Meyer, E. C. (2015). Microethics: the ethics of everyday clinical practice. Hastings Center Report, 45(1), 11-17. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/download/40219962/Microethics_The_Ethics_of_Everyday_Clini20151120-10270-1e9zrqz.pdf

Weiss, S. M., Malone, R. E., Merighi, J. R., & Benner, P. (2016). Economism, efficiency, and the moral ecology of good nursing practice. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research Archive, 34(2). Retrieved from http://cjnr.archive.mcgill.ca/article/download/1767/1764