Education and Nursing Theory Paper

Type: Discussion Post

Subject: Nursing Theory 

Subject area: Nursing

Education Level: Undergraduate/College

Length: 2 pages

Referencing style: APA

Preferred English: US English

Spacing Option: Double

Title: Nurse Leader Interview

Instructions: Week Two Discussion 

One of the purposes of exploring education and learning theories is finding ones learning styles.  This knowledge can then be used to enhance your teaching.

To develop an awareness of one’s own learning style, use the literature to explain how you would assess your learning style. Also discuss compatibility of your learning style with your teaching style.  Give examples of how you would use this information in nursing education.

To answer the discussion question, use your text, my lectures and a minimum of two other references documented in APA style to support your Discussion response of about 1000 words.  Please post your response by Wednesday to allow your classmates to respond by the Saturday deadline.

Education and Nursing Theory Paper

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Number: Course Name

Instructor

Date Due

Abstract

The education and nursing theories that I would use to teach nursing students are the Humanistic learning theory and Jean Watson’s theory of human caring.  Humanistic learning theory is learner-centered because students are in control of their learning. The teacher acts as a facilitator to ensure learning goals are met. The teaching strategy engages students and makes learning exciting.  Additionally, humanistic learning theory does not focus on grades rather on student’s acquisition of knowledge and skills. In contrast, Jean Watson’s theory focuses on caring for the patient as a whole. It emphasizes the need to consider the patient’s spiritual, social, physical, and physiological well-being. Thus, the two theories will help my student understand the importance of providing patient-centered care and engaging in the learning process.

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Education Theory and Nursing Theory that I Would Use to Teach Nursing Students/Nurses

Effective nurse educators use appropriate teaching strategies to enhance their student learning.  Different education techniques and theories help nurse educators connect with their learners based on their abilities and learning styles.  According to Billings and Halstead (2016), student-centered teaching strategies enhance students’ learning and growth. The author attributes the claim that student-centered learning engages students in the learning activities to ensure they focus on and control their studies. The humanistic learning theory promotes student-centered learning. Thus, as a nurse educator, I will use humanistic learning theory and Jean Watson’s human caring theory to teach nursing students. The theories are effective in preparing students to provide patient-centered care in the healthcare setting.

The Humanistic Learning Theory

Humanism became influential in the 1970s because it criticized the wider application of behaviorism and the concentration on individuals’ skills development. Human psychologists focus on students’ motivation, growth, and self-actualization (Billings & Halstead, 2016). Thus, humanist education is a teaching practice that underscores the importance of individuals’ integrity, dignity, worth, and value. Humanism values learners’ feelings and enhances their development of humanist viewpoint toward others. Humanistic theory views learning as a process that develops a person’s potential to become self-actualized.

 The humanistic theory believes in the uniqueness of individuals and their desire to develop positively.  However, Bastable (2008) notes that societal expectations may damage individuals’ positive growth. For instance, societal values may emphasize that individuals from ethnic minority groups are inferior, females are more emotional than males, or caring for people is less important than making money. Regardless of these expectations and values, humanistic learning theory is founded on the importance of feelings and emotions, human creativity, and individuals’ right to make choices. The theory supports patient-centeredness and caring, which are important aspects of healthcare delivery.

The humanistic theory is primarily motivational. The theory maintains that individuals’ motivation to act depends on their desire to grow, feelings about themselves, and their personal needs. Transferring learning from the classroom to the nursing profession and remembering information are helped by promoting a positive self-concept, curiosity, and open situations where freedom of choice and individuality are respected (Bastable, 2008). These environments enhance creativity and flexibility in solving problems. 

Abraham Maslow is one of the recognized humanist theorists. He developed the hierarchy of needs to facilitate an individual’s understanding of human motivation. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the bottom comprises the psychological needs, including sleep, warmth, water, and food, followed by safety needs; the need for love and belonging; and self-esteem (Bastable, 2008).  Self-actualization is at the top of the hierarchy because it emphasizes maximizing an individual’s potential. The model of the hierarchy of needs assumes that people must meet the basic-level needs before self-actualization and learning. Therefore, students who are in pain, exhausted, or hungry are motivated to access these biological needs before  learning. However, the models lack consistency because some individuals participate in creative activities even if their basic needs are not met.

 Apart from personal needs, humanists contend that self-esteem and self-concept are crucial in learning environments. Carl Rodgers believes that people desire the feeling of being loved without being expected to pay anything in return (Unconditional positive self-regard). In this context, judgmental, coercive, and threatening experiences undermine individuals’ enthusiasm and ability to learn (Bastable, 2008). Those in authority, including nurses, should not prejudice individuals because of their medical conditions or skin color. For instance, if nurses prejudice patients because they have mental illness or AIDs, little therapeutic relationship or healing will occur unless they respect the patient as a person. Therefore, individuals such as nurse leaders should not act as authority figures rather assume a facilitator’s role. They should listen to their clients because it is an important skill in meeting individuals’ needs.  

A person’s uniqueness forms the foundation of humanistic theory. In this context, learning occurs because of the direct relationship between the student and the teacher. The classroom instructions are customized to enhance the learners’ positive growth, self-esteem and meet their individual needs. Under the humanistic theory, students choose what they want to learn while educators act as resource individuals whose task is to help students make informed choices (Billings & Halstead, 2016). The theory’s primary focus is on the learner’s decision-making, desires, and perceptions. However, the humanistic model of learning does not put much emphasis on mastering facts and information. Instead, it encourages responsibility, initiative, enthusiasm, and curiosity. Although distributing pamphlets with crucial information or using videos to teach patients about various health conditions is important, the humanistic learning model argues that individuals should direct their efforts to develop a rapport with patients and their families. Additionally, healthcare workers should be emotionally attuned to their patients and relatives. Thus, the human model of learning focuses on the patient’s well-being and the interaction between patients and their care providers.

The humanistic theory maintains that emotions and feelings are vital to understanding, communication, and learning. However, individuals lose touch with their emotions because of various stressors in today’s society. The loss of touch contributes to learning difficulties and emotional problems. Thus, humanistic theory contents that a person’s feelings are more important than their thinking. In therapy sessions, humanists use the phrase” Tell me how you feel than “Tell me what you think” to understand their clients ( Bastable, 2008). Thus, humanistic perspectives inform palliative care, mental health, wellness programs, and self-help groups. They are also effective when working with young patients and children subjected to separation anxiety. Thus, through a humanistic perspective, healthcare workers grow and learn from their patient’s caring experiences.

 Despite humanist theory’s benefits in facilitating patient-centered and learner-centered experiences, it has various limitations. For instance, the theory is criticized for encouraging self-centered students who are unwilling to compromise or take criticism. Additionally, the learner-centered approach makes some educators and learners uncomfortable. Also, tedious work, practice, drill, memorization, facts, and information are sometimes necessary to master skills and knowledge .However, humanists limit and discourage these practices despite their importance in skill development, knowledge building, and learning (Aliakbari et al., 2015). In summary, humanistic theory’s principles of learning concentrate on the student’s desire for interpersonal relationships, life choices, self-concept, subjective feelings, and positive growth.  The educators’ role is to encourage and evaluate changes in their students’ feelings, self-concept, and needs.  Based on their evaluation, they should provide support and opportunity for creativity and spontaneity. 

The Rationale for Choosing Humanistic Learning Theory

I chose humanistic theory to teach nursing students because of its principles. For instance, humanist theory considers student liberty to be crucial. To promote this principle, I will ensure that learning is student-centered by encouraging learners to be in charge of their education. I will encourage students to focus on the subject area of interest to facilitate their learning. I will also utilize learning strategies that motivate and engage students in the learning process. Using humanistic theory, I will engage my students in the learning process and ensure they are self-motivated to study by encouraging them to identify subjects they are passionate about to make their learning exciting.  As a nurse educator, I will not use grades to gauge student’s performance.  On the contrary, I will use self-evaluation to evaluate my student’s progress because grading compels students to work for good grades. Therefore, I will provide my students with a safe learning environment to meet each student’s learning needs. 

Similarly, I will help my students develop their learning goals at the commencement of the semester. I will also help them create pathways to realizing those goals. I will also design engaging and exciting learning opportunities for my students. For instance, to help students learn about caring for terminally ill patients, I will create a healthcare setting in the classroom so that students practice caring for palliative care patients based on the concepts learned in class. I will also use journaling to assist my students focus on their feelings and self-evaluation as an aspect of learning. I will also use prompt questions to determine student’s progress and feeling about my course.

Jean Watson: Theory of Human Caring

Nursing considers caring as its important element because it emphasizes caring about and caring for clients.  Caring for patients entails using professional expertise and knowledge while considering their spiritual and psychological well-being (Pajnkihar, Štiglic, & Vrbnjak, 2017). Watson’s theory of human caring forms the foundation of this nursing practice because it insists that nurses should have scientific expertise and knowledge to provide holistic care to their patient’s population. Nurse educators play a significant role in student’s advancement and acquisition of Jean Watson’s theory caring attributes. Nurses’ caring behaviors determine patient’s well-being and satisfaction. For instance, when nurses treat their patient’s like an object, they become dissatisfied with the quality of care provided. Thus, lack of care by nurses threatens patient’s access to quality and safe care.

Overview of Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring

Watson’s human caring theory concentrates on the nursing paradigm and human. The theory argues that healing cannot occur if a human being is treated as an object. Instead, the person should be viewed as part of their larger universe, nature, environment, and self (Ozan, Okumus, &Lash, 2015). The theory defines the environmental concept as peaceful, comfortable, and beautiful. Additionally, the theory maintains that caring should consider the engagement of the mind-body-soul. The theory views nursing as a humanitarian science and a profession that engages in aesthetical, ethical, scientific, and personal practice (Ozan, Okumus, &Lash, 2015). The nursing concept focuses on promoting health, prevent illness, restore health, and care for the sick. Therefore, the theory’s primary objective is to balance a person’s illness and health experiences.

 Seven assumptions define Jean Watson’s theory of human caring. The first assumption is that nurses and allied healthcare providers can effectively demonstrate and practice care interpersonally. The second assumption is that caring is defined by various carative factors that lead to the satisfaction of various human needs. The third assumption is that effective caring enhances individual growth and health. The fourth assumption maintains that caring responses accept the patient the way they are and how they may become. Assumption five notes that a caring environment enhances the patient’s development potential because it allows them to make informed decisions (“Nursing theory, n.d”). The sixth assumption is that the science of curing and the science of caring harmonize each other. The seventh assumption is that the caring practice is significant to nursing. The seven assumptions emphasize the importance of caring and the focus on the patient in healthcare delivery.

Jean Watson’s Theory Major Concepts

Jean Watson’s science and philosophy of caring is defined by four key concepts: nursing, society/environment, health, and human being. The society aspect provides values that influence individuals’ behaviors and the goals they should achieve. The human being is the person that is cared for, assisted, understood, nurtured, and respected (Nursing theory, n.d). Health refers to the harmony and unity between the mind, body, and soul. The level of congruence between these three determines the health of a person. The unity between the mind, body, and soul enhances the patient’s social, mental, and physical functioning (Nursing theory, n.d). The nursing concept is the human science of human health-illness and person experiences facilitated by ethical human care, esthetic, scientific, personal and professional transactions.

Jean Watson’s Theory Carative Factors

Jean Watson maintained that caring is the foundation of nursing and focuses on protecting, enhancing, and preserving human dignity.  Accordingly, the theory maintains that respectful and trustful relationships are vital for safeguarding human dignity (Pajnkihar, Štiglic,  & Vrbnjak, 2017). Watson identifies ten carative factors that symbolize the core of caring. These factors promote and support patients’ caring experience.  Pajnkihar, Štiglic, and Vrbnjak(2017) note that the carative factors are the patient-nurse modalities and interactions that improve the patient’s experience during the caring process. The ten curative factors include:

1.  Forming a humanistic-altruistic values system  by practicing equanimity and loving-kindness within caring consciousness context
2. Faith-hope installation: According to the carative factor, sometimes contemporary science lacks something to offer to the patient. In this situation, nurses should use faith-hope to enhance patient’s well-being. The nurse should use the patient’s belief system to facilitate a healing environment.
3.  Nurturing sensitivity to others and oneself: The carative factor explores nurses’ need to feel emotional.  Nurses should develop their feelings to interact and remain sensitive to the patient’s needs.  The nurse becomes authentic by being sensitive. The practice promotes self-actualization and self-growth in both the patients and nurses. Through the carative factor, nurses facilitate higher-level functioning and promote health. However, this is true when the patient and the nurse develop a person-to-person relationship.
4.  The creation of a helping-trust relationship: The relationship is defined by warmth, empathy, and unity.  Effective communication between the nurse and patient helps develop a helping-trust relationship. Through excellent communication skills, nurses develop a rapport with their clients. Communication includes both nonverbal and verbal communication and listening to boost empathetic understanding.
5.  The acceptance and promotion of negative and positive feelings:  Negative and positive feelings should be allowed and considered in caring relationships because such feelings influence behaviors and thoughts. Similarly, awareness of positive and negative feelings help patients and nurses comprehend the behavior it triggers
6. The scientific method’s systematic utilization for decision-making and problem-solving: The scientific method allows self-correction while allowing for prediction and control. Therefore, the carative factor maintains that the science of caring should not be necessarily objective and neutral.
7. The advancement of interpersonal teaching-learning:  The carative factor maintains that teachers should focus on both the teaching and learning process. Therefore, comprehending a person’s understanding of a situation enables nurses to design a cognitive plan.
8.  The provision of a corrective, protective, and/or supportive spiritual, socio-cultural, physical, and mental environment. Watson divides these environments into interdependent external and internal variables that the nurse manipulates to offer protection and support to the patient’s physical and mental health. The nurse offers safety, privacy, and comfort as an aspect of the carative factor
9. Helping with meeting human needs based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: The curative factor considers each need in Maslow’s hierarchy to be important in health promotion and nursing care quality. The nurse and the patient should value and attend to all human needs
10.  The permission for existential-phenomenological forces: Allowing these forces enable nurses to mediate and reconcile the inconsistency of viewing the patient as a whole while at the same time meeting their Maslow’s hierarchical needs.  Through this curative factor, nurses help patients identify their strengths and gain courage as they confront death or life.  

The Rationale for Choosing the Theory and How I Might Use it to Teach Nursing Students

I chose Jean Watson’s theory of human caring because people view nursing as a profession rather than a calling to care and help the sick. Therefore, using the theory, nursing students will become compassionate when caring for patients. They will understand the importance of meeting the patient’s needs during care delivery. Additionally, using Jean Watson’s theory of human caring, nurses will understand their role in caring for the patient, and designing care plans that restore health, prevent illness, and promote wellness and health.

In the contemporary healthcare environment, healthcare professionals are concerned with integrating technology in service delivery to enhance patient’s experience and promote health outcomes. However, there is less focus on patient’s needs concerning technology adoption. Therefore, machine and technology can cure the disease but the patient will remain ill if he/she does not access appropriate caring. Patient’s become healthy if they access effective caring. Caring is the foundation of nurses, and it enhances the interaction between the patient and the nurse. Through caring, the patient gains control, engages in healthy behaviors, and becomes knowledgeable.

How I will Apply Jean Watson Theory in Teaching Nursing Students

I will introduce freshman nursing students to the theory of caring in their first semester. Afterward, I will integrate the theory into nursing education to facilitate nursing students’ competence in caring for their patient’s population once they transition from school to the nursing profession.  Students will learn the theory by practicing what they have learned. For instance, they will demonstrate caring for the patients’ well-being, including their spiritual state, emotional health, and physical health. Through demonstration practices, my students will learn the loving-kindness promoted by the theory.  Students will demonstrate the theory’s attributes using anatomical human models. The students will practice with these models as though they were caring for real patients.  The students will practice interacting with the model and comforting it.  Nursing students will also be taught to care for themselves. In hospice care settings, nurses deal with grief, dying, and death.  Therefore, I will teach nurses the importance of recovering and healing themselves before caring for others. 

Conclusion

Both the humanistic theory of learning and Jean Watson’s theory of human caring promote patient-centered care. The humanistic theory of learning promotes student-centered learning because it recognizes and values individual worth and freedom. Additionally, the theory enhances self-development by conducting self-evaluations and helping students design their learning goals. Jean Watson’s theory emphasizes the provision of holistic care. The theory encourages nurses to care for others and themselves to promote a healing environment. Additionally, they should consider providing patients with spiritual, social, corrective, protective, and supportive environments. Therefore, using the two theories will ensure that my students acquire the required skills and knowledge in delivering quality and safe care.

References

Aliakbari, F., Parvin, N., Heidari, M., & Haghani, F. (2015). Learning theories application in nursing education. Journal Of Education And Health Promotion, 4(2), 1-16. https:/doi.org/ 10.4103/2277-9531.151867

 Bastable, S. B. (2008). Nurse as educator: Principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. Vancouver, B.C: Langara College.

Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2016). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5eds). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier

“Nursing theory: Watson’s philosophy and science of caring.(n.d). https://nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/watson-philosophy-and-science-of-caring.php

Pajnkihar, M., Štiglic, G., & Vrbnjak, D. (2017). The concept of Watson’s carative factors in nursing and their (dis) harmony with patient satisfaction. Peer Journal, 5(2940), 1-16. https:/doi.org/ 10.7717/peerj.2940

Yeter Durgun Ozan PhD, B. S. N. (2015). Implementation of Watson's theory of human caring: A case study. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8(1), 25-35.