According to Watson (1997), the core of the Theory of Caring is that “humans cannot be treated as objects and that humans cannot be separated from self, other, nature, and the larger workforce.” Her theory encompasses the whole world of nursing; with the emphasis placed on the interpersonal process between the care giver and care recipient. The theory is focused on “the centrality of human caring and on the caring-to-caring transpersonal relationship and its healing potential for both the one who is caring and the one who is being cared for” (Watson, 1996). Watson’s Theory of Caring

Jean Watson’s Philosophy and Science of Caring addresses how nurses express care to their patients. Caring is central to nursing practice, and promotes health better than a simple medical cure. She believes that a holistic approach to health care is central to the practice of caring in nursing. According to Watson, caring, which is manifested in nursing, has existed in every society. However, a caring attitude is not transmitted from generation to generation. Instead, it’s transmitted by the culture of the nursing profession as a unique way of coping with its environment.

According to her theory, caring can be demonstrated and practiced by nurses. Caring for patients promotes growth; a caring environment accepts a person as he or she is, and looks to what he or she may become. Caring consists of carative factors. Watson’s 10 carative factors are: forming humanistic-altruistic value systems, instilling faith-hope, cultivating a sensitivity to self and others, developing a helping-trust relationship, promoting an expression of feelings, using problem-solving for decision-making, promoting teaching-learning, promoting a supportive environment, assisting with gratification of human needs, and allowing for existential-phenomenological forces. The first three factors form the “philosophical foundation” for the science of caring, and the remaining seven come from that foundation. Watson’s Theory of Caring

Within assisting with the gratification of human needs, Watson orders the needs. Lower-order biophysical needs include food and fluid, elimination, and ventilation. Lower-order psychophysical needs include activity-inactivity and sexuality. Higher-order psychosocial needs include achievement, affiliation, intrapersonal-interpersonal need, and self-actualization.

Watson’s theory has four major concepts: human being, health, environment/society, and nursing. The human being is defined as “…a valued person in and of him or herself to be cared for, respected, nurtured, understood and assisted; in general a philosophical view of a person as a fully functional integrated self. He, human is viewed as greater than and different from, the sum of his or her parts.” A human’s health includes a high level of overall physical, mental, and social function; a general adaptive-maintenance level of daily function; and the absence of illness or the process of efforts that will lead to an absence of illness.

Watson’s nursing process parallels the scientific research process. The first step is assessment. This involves observation, identification and review of the problem, and the formulation of a hypothesis. Next, the nurse creates a care plan to determine how variables will be examined, as well as what data should be collected and how. Step three is intervention. This is the implementation of the developed plan and includes the collection of the data. Finally, the nurse conducts an evaluation. This is the examination of the data and results of the intervention, and the interpretation of the results. This may lead to an additional hypothesis.

One advantage to Watson’s Philosophy and Science of Caring theory is that it creates a generalized framework for nursing that can be applied to a variety of situations and patients. It also places the patient in the context of the family, community, and culture. The patient is the focus of practice rather than the technology. However, the “looseness” of Watson’s framework can also be a drawback in instances when something more structured is needed for the care of a patient. Watson’s Theory of Caring

Harvard style