Public Health Nursing Practice Exam

According to Leininger and Watson, what is the moral ideal of nursing?

1. Caring

2. Advocacy

3. Responsibility

4. Accountability

The correct answer is: Caring

Caring is recognized as the moral ideal of nursing by theorists such as Leininger and Watson. This concept emphasizes the importance of compassion, empathy, and the therapeutic relationship between nurse and patient. Caring is viewed not just as an action, but as a fundamental essence of nursing practice that involves understanding and responding to the needs of patients holistically. Leininger highlighted the cultural aspects of caring, suggesting that it is vital for effective nursing care to consider the cultural background of patients and to provide care that aligns with their values and beliefs. Watson expanded this further by defining caring as a moral ideal that promotes healing, harmony, and wholeness, underscoring the transformative and therapeutic nature of the nurse-patient relationship. This focus on caring as the moral ideal reflects the ethical and humanistic dimensions of nursing, which serve as a foundation for professional practice. The other choices—advocacy, responsibility, and accountability—while important components of nursing practice, can be viewed as subsets or outcomes of a caring approach, rather than the central moral ideal itself.