| Historically and currently the profession of nursing has been concerned with helping human beings achieve their health care needs. It is a profession of caring that strives to provide nurturance to others. Consumers of health care and nurses, however, have voiced their discontent with the dehumanizing aspects of nursing and nursing education. Although nursing has claimed to be a humanistic profession the voices of discontent indicate that there may be discrepancy between the theory and practice of nursing.;Humanistic education, its philosophical foundation, goals and methods are presented in general terms as well as how these concepts would apply to the preparation of professional helpers. The basic assumptions in humanistic nursing about human beings, health and nursing are the basis for the goals of humanistic nursing education. Classroom activities that facilitate the goals of humanistic nursing education are described in relation to students working in the area of parent and newborn nursing.;Since nursing education is accountable to a variety of groups, including consumers of health care and students, methods of learner and program evaluation are proposed. These evaluation approaches are based on humanistic principles and designed to promote growth of the learner and program.;In summary, humanistic nursing education is presented as a framework for the preparation of professional nurses that is consistent with the human goals of nursing. By providing students with learning experiences that value the uniqueness of each individual and promote growth from within, nurses will be able to develop positive views of self and of others. Upon this foundation the professional nurse will be able to provide humanistic nursing care to others.;The project, therefore, presents a framework for the education of professional nursing students based on the premises of humanistic psychology. Specifically, some of the current theories of nursing are described and how nursing has been influenced by the dominant psychological theories. |
