Olympic College's integration of caring theory and technical nursing competence

Philosophy statement of the Olympic College Practical Nursing Program, according to the Olympic College's official website, is that this one-year program resolves to prepare graduates to provide safe, direct patient care as licensed practical nurses in a variety acute care, long-term care, home health, and ambulatory care settings. Olympic College stresses the importance of critical thinking as well as compassion in the development of the nurse as a medical practitioner.

The nursing theorist Jean Watson stated that she essentially believed that nursing was an "inter-subjective" human process and placed a high value on the caring relationship between the nurse and the recipient of care. (Souriel, 1996) In contrast, according to the Washington State Legislature, the nursing process is defined as a "systematic problem solving approach" to medical care that "has the goal of facilitating an optimal level of functioning and health for the client, recognizing diversity. Effective nursing, states the law, "consists of a series of phases," including "assessment and planning, intervention and evaluation with each phase building upon the preceding phases."

Thus, Olympic College attempts to mesh the informed and emotive caring of the Watson model of nursing with the need for safety and technical competence according to the laws of the state. This meshing of concerns can be seen in any class discussion at Olympic, where ethical concerns and technical competency both are reinforced. The vocation of nursing requires both an acknowledgement of a patient's medical needs, according to state and professional requirements, and the informed and responsive actions of the truly thinking and feeling caretaker.