Evaluating Changes in Caring Behaviors of Caritas Coaches Pre and Post the Caritas Coach Education Program

Mindful self-compassion program based on Watson's theory of human caring in nursing students: A randomized controlled study

AIMS AND BACKGROUND

This study investigated the impact of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program, based on Watson's Theory of Human Caring Model, on the physical and mental health of nursing students. The essence of nursing is care and compassion. While there are studies on compassion in nursing care, nurses' self-compassion is an underrecognized concept in the literature.

METHODS

The study employed a randomized controlled design and involved 80 seconds-grade nursing students from a university in Turkey between December 2021 and June 2022. The intervention group received an online program consisting of six weekly sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were collected using the Promotive and Protective Health Behaviors Scale, Watson Caritas Self-Rating Score, Brief Resilience Scale, and Self-Compassion Scale before, at the end of, and 5 months after the program.

RESULTS

In both the post-test and follow-up test, the intervention group exhibited an increase in health-promoting and protective behaviors, self-care perception, psychological resilience, and self-compassion compared to the control group.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, it is recommended to use the program to improve the physical and mental health of individuals in nursing practice areas. Additionally, it would be beneficial to include the program in the nursing education curriculum. Our findings provide evidence supporting the use of the program for nursing students and nurses.

Zen Den: A Novel Approach to Promote Well-Being in the Workplace

Purpose: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, holistic nurses at an academic level 1 trauma center in Hawaii utilized a novel holistic approach to combat stress and anxiety symptoms while promoting nurse's well-being. This assessment aimed to determine whether a brief session incorporating Reiki and meditation could decrease nurses' perceived stress and anxiety while increasing perceived happiness and coping ability. Methods: Two Reiki-certified holistic nurses developed a mobile 10-minute individual well-being session called "Zen Den." In each session, the holistic nurse provided hands-on Reiki concurrent with a meditation streamed by a free online application. Pre and post-self-assessments were measured using a Likert scale. Findings: Participants (N = 92) showed an average decrease in perceived stress by 46% and anxiety by 45%, and an increase in feelings of happiness by 17% and perceived coping ability by 18%. Conclusion: This novel approach to promote well-being in the workplace can be achieved using existing resources such as Reiki-trained staff, a quiet space, and a 10-minute well-being session with guided meditation using a free online application.

Nurses' Perceptions of Caring at Work: Mixed-Methods Study, Quantitative Report

OBJECTIVES

Study objectives were to explore nurses' perceptions of self-care, co-worker, and leader caring within healthcare work environments and assess reliability of 3 Watson Caritas Scores.

BACKGROUND

Assessing caring in an organization where Watson's Theory of Human Caring guides nursing practice offers insight into the professional practice environment.

METHOD

This study reports quantitative data from mixed-methods descriptive, cross-sectional survey of 1307 RNs at a large healthcare system.

RESULTS

Mean scores were self = 5.46, co-worker = 5.39, and leader score = 5.53, and median scores were >5.6 (range, 1-7). All scales had a positive and significant correlation to likelihood to recommend the organization, with the largest being feeling cared for by leaders. Internal reliability of the 3 scales was ≥0.9.

CONCLUSION

Nurse perceptions of caring may influence the organization's reputation. Assessing the perception of caring among nursing staff after the introduction and enculturation of this framework is needed. Results support psychometric value for 3 Watson Caritas Scores.

Developing Nurses and Interdisciplinary Teams in Caring Science

This program evaluation assessed a caring science program's impact on nurse and interdisciplinary professionals' self-reported caring, compassion satisfaction, and intent to leave at an academic-affiliated community hospital. A 3-session program resulted in self-caring and intent to leave significant increases at 60 days post intervention. Findings demonstrated caring science interventions alone are insufficient to impact staff engagement and intent to leave. Further actions for organizational culture changes are discussed.

A concept analysis of Watson's nursing Caritas process

AIM

The main objective of this analysis is to give an understanding of Watson's nursing Caritas as a concept.

DESIGN

Watson's nursing Caritas is an abstract concept, and difficult to define and operationalize because of its philosophical nature. Watson's nursing Caritas develops a clear relationship between care, caring factors, and the processes of human life.

METHODS

We used Walker and Avant's method. PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, EBSCO, Science Direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ProQuest were searched. "Caritas process" and "Watson's caring theory" were searched. In the primary search, 883 articles were found, but eventually, 25 articles were included in the study.

RESULTS

We define Watson's nursing Caritas as the process based on caring consciousness, engaging in reliable human caring relationships for healing support, integrity, and development of humanity that alters the concept of caring into a higher ethical commitment inspired by responsibility for others, and different meanings, including kindness, compassion, joyfulness, and peacefulness and leads to the establishment of caring behavior in clinical Watson's nursing Caritas, thus leading to improving performance.

CONCLUSION

Clinical nursing Caritas enables nurses to develop an effective human being relationship between nurse-client-family, and ultimately achieve a common experience and perception of caring.

Using the Profile of Caring: Measuring Nurses' Caring for Self and Caring by Their Unit Manager

The Caring Factor Survey - Caring for Self and the Caring Factor Survey - Caring of the Manager are 10-item instruments used to assess nurses' self-report of caring for self and nurses' perception of caring as demonstrated by their unit or department manager, respectively. Each 10-item survey assesses the 10 processes of caring described within Watson's Theory of Transpersonal Caring. Structural equation modeling was used to assess for item mis-specification (for items that did not belong among the 10 items) among the responses from 1,650 nursing staff from six countries. Three types of invariance testing were then used to assess whether the same items were equally relevant across all participating countries. Results revealed that each survey had six items specified to measure that type of caring relationship (i.e., caring for self and caring by the manager), including five items that were the same in both surveys and one unique item in each. Final items were found to be equally relevant across all participating countries. In a global model, both caring relationships were found to relate to nurses' clarity about their role and about the system in which they work, as well as their job satisfaction. Implications for a global study of caring and for impacts on work environments are discussed.