Jean Watson's Theory of Human Caring: An Overview

Regrettably, the existence of nursing depends on the medical inadequacy of others. Unfortunately, nursing exists because people get hurt, cannot care for themselves, or need assistance with daily activities. Carol Taylor (2011), author of Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care, writes, “Nursing care involves any number of activities, from carrying out complicated technical procedures to something as seemingly as holding a hand” (p. 5). Taylor explains it is the duty of a nurse not only to learn the pertinent skills but also to bond with and comfort others. Nurses have to do and become many things: They must be stern when necessary, compassionate when needed, open minded

1. Formation of humanistic-altruistic system of values, becomes: "Practice of loving-kindness and equanimity within context of caring consciousness" (p. 468).

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

The Theory of Human caring is a middle range theory developed by Jean Watson with the focus on the relation between use of the clinical caritas processes and the building of a transpersonal caring relationship within the context of caring occasion and caring consciousness. The Theory of Human Caring honors the unity of the whole human being, while focusing on creating a healing environment (Watson, 2006). Watson had preference for human science, and clearly shunned the mechanistic and reductionist word view (Watson, 1985, as cited in Fawcett & DeSanto-Madeya, 2017). According to Watson, person is “an experiencing and perceiving spiritual being” (Watson, 1999, as cited in

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

Nursing is based on caring in nursing. Compassion and concern for protecting and enhancing the

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 theory of transpersonal caring is the nursing theory of Jean Watson. The essence of her theory is “caring for the purpose of promoting healing, preserving dignity, and respecting the wholeness and interconnectedness of humanity.” (George, 2010) The four major components of Watson’s theory are the human being, health, environment/society and nursing. Watson embraces

Swanson’s middle-range theory, Caring Theory, was derived from Watson’s grand theory of Human Caring (Chen & Chou, 2010). Jean

The purpose of this paper is an overview of Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring. This theory can be taken into account as one of the most philosophicaly complicated of existent nursing theories. The Theory of Human Caring, which also has been reffered to as the Theory of Transpersonal Caring, is middle – range explanatory theory. (Fawccett, 2000) The central point of which is on the human component of caring

and sensitivity of self and others.” (Alligood, 2010, p. 37) A nurse needs to be aware of one’s self

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).

It is important to critically appraise the theory. I have used Chinn and Kramer’s approach to evaluate Jean Watson’s Theory of human caring. This evaluation criteria reflects on the clarity, the simplicity of the theory, asks how general, how accessible, and how important this theory to the nursing profession is.