MY CONCEPT OF CARING

My Concept of Caring

MY CONCEPT OF CARING
Abstract

This paper contains different points of views about the definition of caring and its elements.

MY CONCEPT OF CARING
MY CONCEPT OF CARING

The concept of caring is considered by many to be central to the practice of nursing and, indeed, some consider caring and nursing to be almost synonymous. Indeed, it well may be the essence of nursing. Caring is something which may constitute at least a part of nursing but is also a concept which has currency outside the profession. Caring and nursing defy precise description and this undoubtedly contributes to the difficulties in defining the relationship between them. Regardless of the different approaches to the study of caring in nursing, there are some common themes. It is generally accepted that caring is not one single entity that can, in the strictest sense, be measured. For instance, Fealy (Fealy, 1995) states that caring is not simply a series of actions but rather is a way of acting both contextually dependent and value bound. It appears therefore that caring in nursing may span the instrumental and the existential and this is supported by Clifford (Clifford, 1995) who considers that two elements of caring in nursing have been identified as an instrumental and expressive elements. The instrumental element implies the physical component of caring in nursing, doing for, whilst the latter focuses on the affective aspect of giving care. James (James, 1992) similarly divided care into physical labour and emotional labour and added organization as a component of care. There is a considerable amount of research into caring in nursing and much of it is concerned with identifying the elements which constitute this process. A major question remains therefore about the most appropriate methods to employ in order to identify the elements of caring in nursing. Caring is the wholeness of a nurses ability to work with people in a respectful and therapeutic way; which is specific and relational to each nurse-client encounter. Caring involves

MY CONCEPT OF CARING

a mutual give and take that develops as nurse and client begin to know and care for another. The caring process is composed of elements that are difficult to completely define and comprehend as a group.

MY CONCEPT OF CARING
References
Clifford, C. (1995). Caring: Fitting the concept of Nursing Practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing , 37-41.

Fealy, G. (1995). Proffesional Caring: The Moral Dimension. Journal of Advanced Nursing , 1135-1140. James, N. (1992). Care=organisation+physical labour+emotional labour. Sociology of Health and Illness , 488-509. Potter, P. A., & Perry, A. G. (2009). Fundamentals of Nursing. Canada: Mosby, Inc.