Nursing Theorist Jean Watson
Jean Watson is best known for her development of Watson’s Philosophy and Science of Caring which provides nurses with a framework for providing care that treats the mind, body, and spirit. The purpose of this paper is to describe Watson’s credentials, her theory-focus, influences, major concepts, assumptions of her model and how practicing nurses can use her theory in practice. I will also explore how the implementation of this caring theory guides the practicing professional to treat the patient in a holistic caring method.
Credentials and Background
Born in 1940 in West Virginia (Nursing Theory, n.d.), Watson is a 1961 graduate of the Lewis-Gale School of Nursing and earned her bachelor’s degree in 1964 from
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In the Theory of Human Caring, Watson (n.d.) defines these components as a person being an embodied spirit, a unity of being, and environment is a caring consciousness of energy within the human environment field of a caring moment. She describes health as unbroken wholeness and connectedness of all and nursing as caring-healing consciousness to intentionally care and promote healing (Watson, n.d.). The ten carative factors and caritas processes are as follows:
1. The formation of a humanistic-altruistic system of values-practicing loving kindness and equanimity for oneself and other
2. The instillation of faith-hope-being authentically present and enabling, sustaining, and honoring the deep belief system and subjective life world of oneself and the patient
3. The cultivation of sensitivity to oneself and others-cultivating one’s own spiritual practices; deepening of self-awareness and going beyond the ego self
4. Development of a helping-trusting, human caring relation-developing and sustaining a helping-trusting, authentic caring
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The promotion of transpersonal teaching-learning-engaging in a genuine teaching-learning experience within the context of a caring relationship, while attending to the whole person and subjective meaning; attempting to stay within the other’s frame of reference
8. The provision of a supportive, protective, and corrective mental, physical, societal, and spiritual environment-creating a healing environment at all levels (physical, nonphysical), subtle environment of energy and consciousness whereby wholeness, beauty, comfort, dignity, and peace are potentiated
9. The assistance with gratification of human needs-reverentially and respectfully assisting with basic needs, with an intentional caring consciousness of touching and working with the embodied spirit of another, honoring the unity of being; allowing for a spirit-filled connection while administering human care essentials, which potentiate alignment of the mind-body-spirit, wholeness, and unity of being in all aspects of care; attending to both the embodied spirit and evolving emergence
10. Allowance for existential-phenomenological-spiritual forces-opening and attending to spiritual, mysterious, and unknown existential dimensions of life, death, suffering. (Masters,
In conclusion, Jean Watson’s theory of caring, a middle-range theory, provides essential framework and guidelines in nursing shortage problem. Nurses who exposed to caring theory have moral and ethical obligations to care for others during challenging situations. Patients, families and other professionals depend on nursing profession, their expertise and knowledge for best patient
Watson, J. (2001). Jean Watson: Theory of human caring. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (pp. 343-354). Philadelphia: Davis.
182), having only been completely codified in 1979, revised in 1985 (Watson, 1988), and expanded and advanced lately (Watson, 2005, 2008). Watson states that she was motivated to develop her model of human caring because of a deep concern for preserving humanity today and to rediscover the human spirit. She expresses a commitment of moving nursing away from the limitations of the philosophy of positivism or a system that hold every rationally defensible assertion can be scientifically justified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof, and that therefore rejects metaphysics and faith. The central focus of Watson’s conceptual nursing model is human care. Human care, as conceived by Watson, is an intersubjective process and an epistemic effort that include human-to-human interaction. Watson has always been explicit in describing the human as a holistic, interactive being possessing energy field experiencing health and illness as characteristics of human pattern (Watson,
Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
Watson first published her theory of caring in 1979 in a book titled, Nursing: Human Science and Caring. Watson and other researchers have built upon this theory and caring theory should continually be evolving as the delivery of patient care evolves. This theory focuses on care between the nurse and the patient. This interaction is defined as setting mutual tasks, how a spiritual force may help the interaction and when caring in the moment of true healing may occur. When the nurse and patient are on the same level spiritually self-awareness and self-discovery occur. There are ten themes identified in this article essential to caring in
Watson, J. (1997). The theory of human caring. Retrospective and prospective. Nursing Science Quarterly. 10(1), 49-52.
Both theories use communication as the backbone to their theories and in developing an environment conducive to promote healing. Although communication is the framework for both theories, types of communication is looked at different in each theory. In Watson’s theory, she that communication is a spiritual occurrence. The focus is on nonverbal as well as verbal expressions. She also involves personal experiences and growth, art, religious practices. Watson uses the concept of care as the center of nursing care. The goal of the Human Care Theory is for the patient and nurse to gain a higher degree of harmony within themselves, cultivating a wholeness of mind/body/spirit (Watson Caring Science Institute, 2010, p.
A transpersonal caring relationship is a where humans are connected with another with regard for the whole person (Watson, 2012, p. 75). Watson (2012, p. 75) further describes transpersonal caring when the nurse can sense the spirit or soul of the one being cared for, feels the condition of the spirit, and then responds in a way that the one being cared for can release subjective feelings and thoughts. With the release of this type of thoughts, more harmonious energy enters the mind through other thoughts and feelings, which places the patient an improved position for inner healing. Transpersonal nursing relationships also express the nurses’ commitment to protecting the dignity, providing holistic care, and encouraging the patient to achieve harmony, which goes beyond the technical aspects of providing patient care.
My philosophy of nursing focuses on making sure that nurses provide patient-centered care and to make patients feel like they are genuinely being cared for. Nurses must be guided by altruism. Nursing health care policies are rooted in the principle of altruism and nurses who take the initiative to take patients concerns seriously and show interest in their well-being, will only continue to grow and have satisfactory results. Watson viewed the individual as mind-body-soul and also, that there should be an internal balance between health and harmony (Zerwekh & Zerwekh Garneau, 2015). This is similar to how me and Watson see an individual because if a patient is not good in health, he or she will not be in harmony with oneself or others. There will not be an equilibrium with mind, body and soul, causing illness, depression and
This interactive grand theory is grounded in humanist philosophy, which expresses the belief that humans are unitary beings and energy fields in constant interaction with the universal energy field. This model guides the nurse who is interested in “physiologic” and “psychological” adoptions (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 177). This model views the nurse as holistic adaptive system constantly interacting with different stimuli. And also explains how different sets of interrelated systems maintain a balance between various stimuli to promote individual and environmental transformation (Alkrisat & Dee, 2014). This model creates a framework to provide care for individuals in health and “in acute, chronic, or terminal illness” (Shah, Abdullah, & Khan, 2015, p. 1834). It focuses on improving basic life processes of individuals, families, groups of people; nurses see communities as holistic adaptive systems. It consists of three basic assumptions: philosophical, scientific, and cultural. And it also contains many defined concepts about the environment, health, person, goal of nursing, adaptation, focal, contextual, and residual stimuli, cognator and regulator subsystem, and stabilizer and innovator control processes (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p.
In the field of Nursing, the role of caring is an important, if not the most critical, aspect involved to ensure that the patient is provided with the most proficient healthcare plan possible. Jean Watson developed a series of theories involved with transpersonal relationships and their importance, along with caring, in the restorative process of the patient and healing in general. Although all of Watson 's caritas processes are crucial to the role of nurses and patient care, the fourth process is incredibly essential as it outlines the importance of the caring nurse-patient relationship. This paper serves to identify Watson 's fourth caritas process, how it can be integrated in nursing care and how it can be developed by current nursing
Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring is considered a philosophy; therefore, it is very broad and general in scope. Included in the theory are ten caritas the nurse should practice promoting a meaningful nurse-patient relationship (Sitzman & Wright Eichelberger, 2017).
Dr. Jean Watson's theory focused on love with the attention to values, the strong and trusting relationship she developed and maintained with her patients, the ability to care and be understanding of other people with different backgrounds and cultures and a respect for a science and multiple means of acquiring information. Dr. Watson's theory has a reflective and meditative approach to nursing that entailed looking at a patient's situation and condition through a holistic approach. Dr. Watson's theory had a basic focus on caring that extended from her patients to helping the universe as a whole.
She proposed that caring and love are universal and mysterious (Wagner, 2010). Watson believes that health professionals make moral, social, and scientific contributions to humanity and that a nurses' caring ideal can affect human development (Wagner, 2010). Watson believes that it is imperative in today's society to maintain a caring ideology in practice (Wagner, 2010). Caring is a concept that focuses on having a respectful, non-judgmental, supportive attitude that contributes to the healing process. Watson's theory, in relationship to the metaparadigm of nursing, focuses on the relationship between the nurse and the patient (Wagner, 2010). According to Watson's theory, the nurse and patient form a caring relationship where both the patient and the nurse promote healing (Wagner, 2010). In general, the theory of caring reminds us that a nurse can have a great impact on the life of a patient. If I were to add a new conceptual metaparadigm, it would be the concept of caring since I firmly believe that without caring it will be almost impossible to have wellness at all. If I were to choose one metaparadigm concept to eliminate, I would opt to remove the concept of health since I think that in the concepts of caring and nursing the individual's health should be fully
Watson views the concept of a human being as a person that should be valued, cared for, respected, nurtured, understood, and assisted (Nursing Theories, 2012). Every human being should be treated as a person instead of an object and receive the opportunity to have their distinct needs cared for. Health is viewed as a high level of physical, mental, and social functioning, ability to adapt and maintenance with daily living, and the lack of illness or the efforts that lead to the lack of (Nursing Theories, 2012). Watson’s theory believes that the environment determines the values that influence your behaviors and the goals you wish to pursue. It also influences how well a patient copes with the situation and how the nurse should be supportive and considerate towards the patient. Watson defines nursing as “a human science of persons and human health-illness experiences that are mediated by professional, personal, scientific, esthetic and ethical human transactions” (Nursing Theories, 2012, para. 4). Nursing should be more than just providing medical care, it should establish a relationship and build trust. Watson’s other concepts of her theory include the caring occasion, transpersonal caring, phenomenal field, self, and