Jean Watson's Theory Of Human Caring

Human caring is what sets nursing apart from other professions. As Watson (1998) stated, “care and love are the most universal, the most tremendous and the most mysterious of cosmic forces: they comprise the primal universal psychic energy. Caring is the essence of nursing and the most central and unifying focus for nursing practice” (p. 32-33). It is important to establish a good nurse-patient relationship in order to create a healing environment that would meet patient’s needs on all levels including physical, mental/emotional and spiritual, promote recovery, maintain health, and create positive outcomes. Jean Watson emphasized the importance of human

Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring has six explicit assumptions. The first assumption is, ontological assumptions emphasizing on the oneness or the connectedness of the human beings. The nurse’s experiences and values are key points to the first assumption. The second is an epistemological assumption which states that there are many ways of knowing. This includes topics as oneself and patients to abstract topics and concepts in nursing. The third assumption mentions that there are diverse methods of knowing and that the collection of information is in various forms. This includes learning about cultures, talking to patients etc. The fourth assumption makes the diverse perspectives explicit in the caring model.

“Watson describes nursing as a human science, with the major focus being the process of human care for individuals, families and groups. Her theory is based on a form of humanism and has its origins in metaphysics (philosophy of being and knowing)” (McCance et al., 1999, pg. 2). Knowing and understanding the nursing metaparadigm is the first step in defining the art of human caring. Nursing is defined as promotion of health, prevention of illness, and collaborative care (Taylor, 2011). However, there are a lot more vital aspects to becoming a good nurse. It all relates back to the care you will be providing for the patient. “The goal of

Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. The theory can be described as an expanded view of

When asked to develop a personal nursing philosophy caring was found to be the main component. Jean Watson’s Caring Science as Sacred Science reflects this philosophy in which caring is the predominate component needed in nursing. This paper will provided basic information on the Caring Science as Sacred Science Theory. The paper will further provide a personal example of a patient experience in which this theory shaped the care and healing of the patient. The personal experience to be shown in this paper involves a patient with complex chronic illness. The patient had been hospitalized for over a month. Patients with chronic illness and in the hospital often experience feeling powerless, scared, distant, and confined (Kay Hogan & Cleary, 2013). When these feelings persist they overcome the patient and do not allow the patient to concentrate on healing or being an active member of the healthcare team. Patients in this situation need caring and psychosocial support before moving on with medical care. However, this can often be hard for the healthcare team. When a patient has complex complications often treating these issues is all the team has time for due to patient load and institutional demands. Jean Watson (2009) recognizes this in her work Caring Science and Human Caring Theory: Transforming Personal and Professional Practices of Nursing and Health Care. Watson (2009) recognizes nurses are often torn between values of human caring

The theory of human caring meets the criterion of significance. Watson explicitly articulated the philosophical claims and the conceptual orientation for the theory. She credited her education and experiences, including her intellectual, philosophical, and personal values and beliefs of human beings and life as the antecedents through which the theory of human caring is derived (Fawcett & DeSanto-Madeya, 2013). She acknowledged most of the adjunctive knowledge she drew upon. She referenced the impact of Carl Roger on her definition of the self

The caring theory was grounded on a humanitarian perspective and is found on a humanistic approach toward human caring programs and experiences. It acknowledges that life with individuals and their community to the surrounding environment are somehow connect and affects wellbeing of everything involved. The nature of the theory caring implies that it embraces reflective investigations as well subjective and interpretative inquiries. The nursing profession uses nursing theories as the framework and foundation for practice.   Many people find nursing theories to be meaningless and of no use to the

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and summarize the philosophy of nursing and how nursing theory guides this nurse’s practice. Information used to do this paper was retrieved from the online database, Nursing and Allied Health Source and CINAHL through the SJR State Library. Our textbook, The Conceptual Foundations and the Merriam- Webster Dictionary website was also used. Some of the search phrases used were Jean Watson theory of human caring, philosophy of nursing, and Watson’s philosophy and theory of human caring in nursing on the online database. The word philosophy was also searched on the Merriam- Webster Dictionary website. There was an abundance information throughout my research on

Watson’s definition on health is not just simple absence of disease, she state health as a subjective experience. It corresponds to the persons harmony, or balance within the mind, body, spirit related to the degree of congruence between the self as perceived. Watson theory also applied in the definition of health by World Health Organization as

Another concepts in Watson’s theory are person, health, illness and environment. Watson defines person not only as a spiritual being, but also as a material physical being that is also a part of nature and the physical world. “A person is experiencing and perceiving

The fourth Carita in Watson’s theory is to develop helping, trusting, and caring relationships. Building trust happens as soon as the patient walks in the door by

This theory is holistic in nature and emphasizes that nursing actions have a direct correlation to the promotion of healing environments, while preserving individual human dignity (King & Kornusky, 2016). These actions almost seem instinctual for the caring nurse but are sometimes forgotten as the nurse becomes busy with a large workload or becomes desensitized to the needs of patients over time. Examples of caring essentials include: noise reduction strategies, physical touch for comfort, dim lighting, eye contact, spiritual support, and trust among many others (King & Kornusky, 2016). One study found that bedside nurses who were familiar with Watson’s theory of caring demonstrated higher caring scores compared to those who were not familiar with the model, further supporting that education and understanding of caring concepts promotes positive patient-nurse relationships (Vandenhouten, Kubsch, Peterson, Murdock, & Lehrer,

Watson’s theory of caring is related to the nurse recognizing the patient and his needs as the priority, with regards to his body mind and spirit. Regardless of the setting, hospital, clinic, or community, care should be rendered to the patient with knowledge and skill while creating an interactive relationship that allows challenge and growth for both parties. It is not just the nurse completing tasks or treatments as ordered by the physician.

Watson links her 10 carative factors with her seven carative assumptions, this is where the science of nursing merges with the compassion of nursing practice. “Watson is one of the few nursing theorists who consider not only the cared-for but also the caregiver” Cara, 2003, p. 51). Promoting and applying these carative factors and carative assumptions is essential for nurses as well as patients.

Jean Watson's theory of nursing is based on the ideas of a number of philosophers and psychologists, including Carl Rogers, most specifically on his "phenomenological psychology and philosophy" (Tourville and Ingalls, 2003, p. 21). Her theory evolved over at least two decades of diverse experiences. Watson's theory is referred to as Transpersonal Caring because it emphasizes unity in the world (Tourville and Ingalls, 2003). Watson proposed that caring is a natural act for humans and it becomes a moral principle at the point when a patient and a nurse share a caring experience (Watson 2007). According to Watson, the goal of nursing is to help the patient achieve harmony of mind, body and spirit (Watson, 2007).