Jean Watson is a nurse truth-seeker and competent lecturer from the US. She is famous for her human caring hypothesis. Watson’s theory of care was first developed in the 1970s before it was later amended to become the postmodern paradigm of transpersonal care-healing that is largely applied in nursing and other healthcare disciplines (Fitzpatrick & Whall, 2005). Changing the systems of healthcare across the globe has translated to increasing nurses’ workload and responsibilities. However, despite these challenges, nurses must develop ways of maintaining a caring practice. Indeed, Jean Watson’s human caring theory plays a key role in aiding healthcare providers to achieve this indispensable goal of nursing care in the modern healthcare environment (Watson, 2009). Jean Watson focuses on nursing care towards a group of people, families, and individuals.
Through the caring theory, Jean Watson claims that caring comprises one of the ways of showcasing humanity in the nursing practice. To achieve this goal, nurses need to help people at an individual level to acquire the soul-body-mind harmony (Watson, 2009). Therefore, Watson (2009) asserts that nurses need to go beyond assessing individuals physically to venture into a deep understanding of one’s perceptions and situation. An individual’s immediate situation or perception is central in ensuring quick recovery and response to treatment. To this extent, Watson holds a paradigm that nursing should aim at gaining self-harmony via a transpersonal caring relationship.
The theory shapes the multiple nursing paradigms. For instance, it addresses the manner in which nurses should offer care via a ‘carative’ approach as opposed to a therapeutic orientation. Watson caring theory supports the holistic approach to nursing care. It also emphasizes and endorses caring as an essential nursing professional identity, which contributes to the understanding and development of humanistic behavior in the healing process. Understanding the existing spirit-body-mind harmony is vital to realizing this objective. Fitpatrick and Whall (2005) uphold Watson’s belief that practitioners and clients participate actively in caring and facilitating the healing process. This participation suggests that nurses and patients experience quantum energy fields that play a pivotal role in enhancing the healing process, which is the primary goal of any health practitioner.
Reference list
Fitzpatrick, J., & Whall, A. (2005). Conceptual Models of Nursing: Analysis and Application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Watson, J. (2009). Caring science and human caring theory: transforming personal and professional practices of nursing and healthcare. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 31(4), 466-482.