Parse's Human Becoming applied to a hospice case
Actualize is a doing word. The nurse in this case does almost nothing — and describing what that nothing consists of, in Parse's terms, is the assignment.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 15, 2026
Actualize is a doing word
Notice what the nurse in the case actually does, because it is the answer to the first question. He senses that something significant is unfolding and he moves closer without interrupting it. He does not reorient Ben, correct him about the shooting star, or document a symptom. In Parse's terms that is true presence — being with rather than doing to — and it is the practice methodology the theory rests on. Build your answer from the three principles. Meaning: Ben and Ann are structuring the significance of this moment for themselves, and the falling stars mean what they have decided they mean. Rhythmicity: the case moves in paired opposites, the connecting and separating of a family, the revealing and concealing in Ben's broken speech. Cotranscendence: they are moving beyond this moment with what they value, which is exactly what the theory says health is.
The transcendence question follows from that. Parse's understanding would guide the nurse not to reframe Ben's experience but to stay with him as he moves beyond the loss he is living, which for Ben means Ann joining Jessie and Abe rather than Ann dying. A nurse working from a different framework might assess for confusion or hallucination, and saying why that would be a mistake here is worth doing explicitly. Then the plan of care asks for both theories with reasons, so pair Parse with something that covers the ground it deliberately does not — Watson's human caring for the caritas processes, or a comfort or symptom framework for the pain management the case opens with. Be honest about the tension: Parse rejects the nurse-as-expert stance that a problem-solving framework assumes, so the plan has to say when each theory leads. That honesty is the strongest move available in a 1,250-word paper needing two outside references and the book.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Identify true presence as an intervention rather than as an absence of intervention.
- 02Apply Parse's three principles to a specific narrative rather than defining them.
- 03Evaluate the strengths and limits of a theory that declines to prescribe actions.
- 04Combine two theories in one plan of care while naming the tension between them.
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Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01An account of how the nurse actualizes Human Becoming in this case.
- 02The characteristics of a human becoming nurse.
- 03Strengths and weaknesses of the approach.
- 04An application of transcendence to Ben's experience.
- 05A plan of care incorporating two theories, with reasons.
- 06A 1,250-word APA paper with two outside references plus the textbook.
The theory, the case, then the plan of care
True presence in this case
Describe what the nurse does and why it counts as actualizing the theory.
The three principles applied
Work meaning, rhythmicity and cotranscendence through the case's specifics.
Characteristics, strengths and weaknesses
Say what a human becoming nurse is like and where the approach falls short.
Transcendence and Ben
Explain how Parse would guide the nurse as Ann's death becomes real to Ben.
A two-theory plan of care
Combine Parse with a second theory and specify when each one leads.
Finding applied accounts of Human Becoming
Recommended databases
- CINAHL
- PubMed Central
- Nursology theory repository
- Your nursing theory textbook
Search sequence
- 1.Read a case-study application of Human Becoming before writing — the theory is much clearer applied than defined.
- 2.Look for a critique of Parse as well as an application, since strengths and weaknesses are both required.
- 3.Choose the second theory by what Parse omits, then find one source applying it in end-of-life care.
- 4.Check the word count as you draft; 1,250 words across five requirements is tight.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Applying Parse's Theory in Caring for a Depressed Patient Following Hysterectomy
Cancer Reports · 2025
A published case-study application of Parse's theory, which is the closest available model for what this paper has to do.
- 02
Applying Parse's Human Becoming Theory for Caring of an Elderly
Journal of Caring Sciences · 2024
A second applied case, useful for showing how true presence is documented in practice.
- 03
Comparing the Concept of Caring in Islamic Perspective with Watson and Parse's Nursing Theories
Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research · 2017
Compares Parse with Watson's caring, which is directly useful when pairing two theories in one plan of care.
- 04
Nursing Theories & Models
Nursology · 2025
Parse's own statement of the three principles, so the applied section uses her terms accurately.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Defining Parse's principles without applying them to Ann and Ben.
- Treating the nurse's restraint as passivity rather than as the intervention.
- Assessing Ben's experience of Jessie as confusion, which the theory specifically warns against.
- Naming a second theory but never saying when it leads instead of Parse.
- Listing strengths and weaknesses generically rather than for this case.
Submission checklist
- Have you used the case's own details — the star, Jessie, the hands?
- Are all three principles applied rather than defined?
- Does the transcendence answer address Ben rather than Ann?
- Does your plan of care say when each theory leads?
- Two outside references plus the textbook, in APA?
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Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.
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Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.