Peer Respond Discussion Board
Instructions to writer: this is a peer respond, please respond to Jeannette and Watsherline with a minimum of 150 words to each peer and at least 1 academic resource to each peer.
This was the topic to discuss: Discuss the concept of personhood as used in the nursing as caring theory.
Please respond individually to each peer. Must meet the following:
| You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts.
All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.
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I need this in APA Style. Thank you!
This’s Jeannette Discussion Post ↓ The concept of personhood as used in the nursing as caring theory.
The concepts of person and personhood play pivotal roles in Western medical care and clinical ethics. Advances in life-saving technology are increasing the number of individuals who exist with little to no responsiveness, and their existence troubles our notions of consciousness, responsiveness and personhood, as well as their ethical implications (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Personhood is “a standing or status that is bestowed upon one human being, by others, in the context of relationship and social being” (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Personhood arises from relationships between two human beings and thus is entirely dependent on their interpersonal interactions as well as the attitudes that both individuals bring towards each other in their relationship (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Personhood to another individual leads to entitlements and obligations within the human community/community of human beings. Situations in which the medical assessment of an unresponsive patient’s level of consciousness have not aligned with the family’s understanding of that patient’s personhood have led to public disputes about treatment decisions (Blain-Moraes, 2018). The dissociation between personhood and consciousness becomes increasingly problematic in healthcare settings, healthcare professionals must assume a leadership role in guiding society’s understanding and attitudes of the relationship between these two concepts (Blain-Moraes, 2018). The approach that physicians and nurses take toward personhood in an unresponsive patient can/could influence the prognosis and experiences of these individuals and may affect end-of-life decisions (Blain-Moraes, 2018).
Recommendation of recognizing personhood does not undermine the ability for an individual to make their own treatment and care decisions (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Recommendation is instead related to the caring and just attitude that healthcare providers should adopt when there is uncertainty. Important to make clear that our call to assume personhood in unresponsive individuals in healthcare settings does not extend to those who are dead (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Once death has been determined, by neurological or cardiovascular criteria, it is crucial that healthcare providers communicate that the ultimate loss of personhood has occurred (Blain-Moraes, 2018). Health care professionals play a pivotal role in shaping society’s understanding of and response to the complex relationship between consciousness and what it means to be a person (Blain-Moraes, 2018). The assumption of personhood is consistent with the principle of respect for persons. There is also emerging evidence that behavior consistent with this assumption may in fact facilitate the recovery of consciousness in those without it, supporting the attribution of personhood as a preferred therapeutic approach to care (Blain-Moraes, 2018). The attribution of personhood must be consistently re-evaluated in light of emerging medical and scientific data, such that when new evidence is presented, an individual’s status of personhood can be adjusted accordingly (Blain-Moraes, 2018).
This’s Watsherline Discussion Post ↓
Nursing as a caring theory plays a vital role in general nursing practices. Nursing focuses on preventing illness, improving health, restoring health, and caring for sick people. With this, it becomes a caring unit by default. The fundamental assumption of nursing as caring theory is that all individuals are watching, and to be called a person, they must display their caring nature (Purnell, 2017). Therefore, Personhood, as applied in this theory, refers to the assumption that persons are caring through their human nature. It, therefore, becomes the process of a person living a life of caring and growing more in caring. Personhood is a major concept that builds the nursing as caring theory, and the assumptions therein are crucial in nursing toward providing the best and quality care for patients.
According to Purnell (2017), Personhood, as used in nursing, suggests living a caring life. It is a living process grounded in caring. That implies being authentic, where one demonstrates a balance between behaviors and beliefs and having a life full of value. Personhood recognizes the perspective of unfolding caring possibility moment after the other. With this drive, nursing practices can fully provide people with the notion of living caring. The existence of the personhood notion creates a mentality within nursing that help their practices in caring for people and remaining positive towards new prospects for caring. When “living a caring life” is the baseline of the Nursing as caring theory, it illuminates the focus on caring between the caregivers (nurses) and those getting nursed (Purnell, 2017). It is all about how care should be the keyword in nursing or within people by humanity.
The mentality that individuals are caring because of their humanity sets the level for nursing as caring. Being a person entails living to care, and when this gets applied in nursing, nurses live caring towards those they nurse. Through experiencing the conceptualization of others, the essence of humanness becomes fully understood. In the Personhood concept, Nursing as Caring aims at celebrating and valuing human wholeness and having close engagement with others. The theory suggests that caring is a lifelong process that continues to unfold from moment to moment (Nursology, 2019). With time and through life experiences, people constantly develop expressions of being caring. As proficiency in caring grows through life, people learn the meaning of being caring, living to care, and nurturing others towards caring. This self-consciousness as a caring person builds a nurse towards valuing caring and makes one a moral imperative toward Personhood. Based on the Nursing as Caring perspective, Personhood becomes a global human call. It suggests that the amplitude of a person being human is demonstrated in living caring exclusively daily and improves through engagement in caring relationships.
Nursology (2019) stated that Personhood improves through participation and engagement in nurturing relationships that involve caring for others. Transformation of the nature of any relationship is through caring. Nursing only becomes authentic if Personhood is natured where persons (nurses) live caring and build relationships with those receiving care. Nursing focuses on providing care to patients and is naturally a caring unit. Therefore, Nursing as Caring focuses on nailing the assumption that “to be human is being cared for” and nurturing people towards living to care and advancing in caring.
Overall, Personhood from the Nursing as Caring perspective suggests that persons care by their humanity and that caring is a lifelong process. The nursing profession gets subjected to being caring as the nature of the profession call for that.