Benner and Wrubel on caring in nursing

Area of Science:

• Nursing Theory
• Philosophy of Care

Background:

• Intentional care is a common concept in nursing literature.
• Ontological care, as discussed by Benner and Wrubel, is often misunderstood as intentional care.
• This paper aims to resolve this common misinterpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate between intentional care and ontological care.
• To distinguish between deep care and identity-constituting care within ontological care.
• To demonstrate the relevance of identity-constituting care to nursing theory and practice.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of care theories.
• Literature review focusing on nursing and philosophy of care.
• Examination of Benner and Wrubel's work on caring.

Main Results:

• Identifies distinct characteristics of intentional care versus ontological care.
• Defines deep care and identity-constituting care as sub-categories of ontological care.
• Establishes the significance of identity-constituting care for nursing.

Conclusions:

• Both intentional and ontological care are crucial for nursing.
• Understanding the distinctions between these care types is essential.
• Ontological care, particularly identity-constituting care, has significant implications for nursing practice and theory.