Watson's caritas processes, applied to a composite patient who keeps removing his BiPAP mask, rebuild the nurse's mask-fitting routine in this NU434 theory application paper for Unit 2. Searches like "nu 434 unit 2 assignment example", "nu434 unit 2 sample" and "nu434 unit 2 example" land here.
"Patient Refused" Three Nights Running: Applying Watson's Caring Theory to a COPD Patient Who Pulls Off His BiPAP Mask
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU434: Holistic Nursing
Unit 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Composite patient written as a model document. No real person is described.
The Clinical Problem
A composite 71-year-old retired electrician was admitted with a COPD exacerbation and high carbon dioxide on arrival. Noninvasive ventilation is recommended for acute hypercapnic respiratory failure in COPD (Rochwerg et al., 2017), and he was prescribed nightly BiPAP. Each night he removed the mask within minutes. The chart said "patient refused." That phrase is what this paper questions.
The Theory
Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring holds that caring is the core of nursing and that a caring moment, a real connection between nurse and patient, can support healing. Her original carative factors became ten caritas processes (Watson, 2008). Two are used here: developing a helping-trusting, caring relationship, and engaging in teaching and learning within that relationship. The other eight are acknowledged but not applied.
His Own Explanation
Before proposing anything, the night nurse asked him why he took the mask off. He said: "I nearly drowned when I was nineteen. When that mask goes on, I'm back under the water." The refusal was fear, and it had a history.
Caritas Process: A Helping-Trusting Relationship
Old routine: the respiratory therapist fits the mask, tightens the straps and leaves. New routine: the nurse stays in the room for the first ten minutes, sitting where he can see her. He and she agree on a hand signal, two taps on the bed rail, that means "pause," and she honors it every time.
Caritas Process: Teaching Within the Relationship
Old routine: teaching given once, on admission, about why BiPAP matters. New routine: before the straps go on, he holds the mask to his face himself, breathing with the machine for a minute, and decides when the straps are fastened. The nurse explains each sound the machine makes.
Outcome
The device records hours of use each night. The goal is at least four hours on the first night of the new routine, rising after that. On the first night he used it for three and a half hours; on the second, five.
Limitations
Watson's theory guided the change but does not supply a way to measure caring itself. The outcome measured here is mask use, which shows the routine worked but not whether a caring moment occurred. The chart phrase was changed too: the night nurse now documents "removed mask due to fear; paused routine used."
References
Rochwerg, B., Brochard, L., Elliott, M. W., Hess, D., Hill, N. S., Nava, S., Navalesi, P., Antonelli, M., Brozek, J., Conti, G., Ferrer, M., Guntupalli, K., Jaber, S., Keenan, S., Mancebo, J., Mehta, S., & Raoof, S. (2017). Official ERS/ATS clinical practice guidelines: Noninvasive ventilation for acute respiratory failure. European Respiratory Journal, 50(2), 1602426. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02426-2016
Watson, J. (2008). Nursing: The philosophy and science of caring (Rev. ed.). University Press of Colorado.
How this NU434 Unit 2 example is structured
Theory is kept to about one page so that application can take three. The introduction states the clinical problem first, a treatment the patient cannot tolerate, and names the chart phrase patient refused as the thing the paper questions. Theory comes second and is limited to what the application will use; the remaining caritas processes are acknowledged in a sentence rather than listed. His own explanation opens the case section: a fear of smothering that dates from a near-drowning at nineteen, recorded before any intervention is proposed. Application then proceeds process by process, and each ends with a behavior the next nurse could repeat. An outcome section names what would show the change worked, hours of mask use recorded by the device, and a limitations paragraph concedes what the theory does not supply, a way to measure caring itself.
Get an NU434 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Which caring theory does this unit ask for: Watson, Dossey or another framework your section introduced? Send that, the clinical situation you have in mind, and the rubric. The sample traces two or three concepts into behaviors a colleague could repeat, arrives in 24-48h, and costs nothing as a first request written to your instructions. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
NU434 Unit 2 questions, answered
Do I need to cover all ten caritas processes?
Rarely. Most prompts ask for application, and ten processes squeezed into five pages leaves each one thin. Pick two or three that fit the clinical problem, explain why, and name the others in a sentence so the reader knows you have read the full theory. Instructors generally credit depth of application over breadth of summary in this unit.
Can I use Dossey's Theory of Integral Nursing instead of Watson?
If the prompt leaves the choice open, yes. Dossey's theory organizes care through four quadrants drawn from Ken Wilber's integral model, the individual interior and exterior and the collective interior and exterior, which suits problems with a strong family or system element. The paper then applies quadrants rather than caritas processes, and the structure of the sample adapts easily.
What if the patient in my example never accepted the treatment?
That can still make a strong paper. Report what the theory-informed approach changed, what happened, and what you would try next, with the outcome stated honestly. A theory application does not need a success story; it needs the framework to have shaped the decision. Keep the patient composite or de-identified, and avoid presenting an unsuccessful case as the patient's failure.