Watson's Theory of Caring

1984 Words8 Pages
Watson’s Theory of Caring

Kimberly Feehan

Watson’s Theory of Caring Jean Watson’s first published her theory of caring in 1979 as a basic nursing text for baccalaureate students and it has continued to evolve over the years (Rafael, 2000). Watson’s theory addresses caring relationships among humans and life experiences and experience translates through multiple layers of awareness (Jesse, 2010). Caring is a different way of living, present, attentive, conscious, and intentional. Watson defines caring as the moral ideal of nursing that has interpersonal and humanistic qualities (Jesse, 2010). Caring is a complex concept involving knowledge, experience, and communication (Jesse, 2010). Watson views the person as possessing three spheres of being, body, mind, and soul (Jesse, 2010). The starting point is the mind and emotions (Jesse, 2010). Self is the center that lives within the body, thoughts, memories, desires, and life history (Jesse, 2010). Personhood is based on the concept of humans as embodied spirits (Jesse, 2010), according to Watson humans can coexist with the past, present, and the future by emphasizing the spiritual dimension of life (Jesse, 2010). Nursing is centered on helping the patient achieve a higher degree of harmony with mind, body, and soul and is achieved through caring actions involving a transpersonal caring relationship (Suliman, Wellman, Omer, Thomas, 2009). Transpersonal caring is the proposed approach to achieve a connection in which the nurse and patient change together (Alligood, 2010). Watson’s theory states that caring transcends the technical aspect of care and “honors the person as an embodied spirit” (Jesse, 2010, p.119). Watson does not deny the technical importance of nursing but embraces the mind, consciousness, treating the whole person. Watson recognized the
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