Nursing Theory The two nursing theories espoused by Jean Watson and Marilyn Ray have different points of focus, but both focus on the primary purpose of nursing as a caring profession. As such, nurses, carers, and leaders all need to integrate their efforts for the purpose of furthering the primary concern to create a caring and comfortable environment for clients, particualry in the acute care setting. Having considered Watson and Ray, it is concluded that Ray's theory is the optimal choice for further study, as she provides an integrated and practical nursing setting to help leaders create the environment in which employees can function to fulfill their caring mission to the best of their ability.

The basic premise of Watson's theory is that nursing is that it should function within a Caring Science orientation (Watson, 2008, p. 16). According to Watson, the fact that this has not been the focus of the nursing profession over time is the cause of many of the ailments from which not only the profession, but humanity in general, suffers. Watson therefore believes that the current nature of nursing needs to change to adhere more closely to her concept of the Caring Science. As such, there are a number of basic assumptions that promote nursing as a Caring Science. The first of these is that it is the essence of nursing and the core of the profession, encompassing the foundation and discipline of nursing.

Watson's theories have been validated in various subsequent dissertations and research, one of which is written by Keesler (2007) and focuses on the need to provide hospice referrals to terminal patients. According to Keesler (2007, p. 21),...

Hence, in this setting, providing timely hospice referrals is part of this caring process. Like Watson, Keesler appears to believe that there are somewhat severe shortcomings within the nursing profession, and in the acute care setting specifically. Hence the suggestion to apply Watson's theory to the assumption of the patient's right to die with dignity, and not to die while waiting for an endless bureaucratic process to complete the referral.
This is the main focus of difference between Watson's and Ray's theories; the assumption that fundamental change is necessary within the nursing profession. Marilyn Ray's assumption is that the fundamental change that needs to occur is not so much in the system itself as it is in the relationship of the system with the people working within it. According to Ray, the bureaucratic nursing system is necessary for the optimal functioning of hospital systems and patient care (Ray, Davidson, and Turkel, 2011).

Whereas Watson's theory is therefore somewhat idealistic and would take a great amount of time and effort to fully implement, Ray's theory is a little more realistic. It focuses on using the bureaucratic systems that are in existence at hospitals to create the best possible environment of caring for clients. Hence the aim is to optimize the human-environment relationship for the purpose of optimizing the relationship between care givers and clients, as well as those who manage these processes.

Ray's theories have also been used in the research, and specifically…