Dr. Jean Watson developed the theory of human caring. Although the theory was developed in the late 1970s, it has been gradually modified to accommodate Watson’s idea of a comfortable and always changing movement. Dr. Watson combines social psychology studies, educational-clinical studies, and her understanding of nursing to arrive at the theory of human caring, a middle-range theory (Yang, & Gao, 2019). Watson’s theory of human caring was developed to bring the nursing profession to other medical disciplines’ standards. The theory was also designed to get all the nurses worldwide guided by a set of rules and regulations. That moment when a patient and a nurse interlink their unique phenomenal fields, a caring moment is created, which happens to be the core of Watson’s theory. The article looks at critiquing Watson’s theory and, at the same time, defining the concepts of the theory. Also, evolving carative factors and conceptual elements of the paper. Watson’s theory of human caring will be discussed.
Description and Concept
Jean Watson’s theory of human caring was created to show that nursing was different from other health professions in science, discipline, and the expected reputation. With such information, nurses’ roles and duties can be easily identified by the public and the nurses themselves. The theory provides nurses with a platform to certify their profession and differentiate it from other health professions.
Henderson, Leininger, Gadow, Nightingale, and Martha are some of the nurse theorists and philosophers who motivated Watson into developing the discussed in the paper (George, 2011). Watson’s theory is positively linked to nightingale’s work as they are both tasked with changing the perspective of people with the highest standard of ethics possible. Institutions and schools have utilized Watson’s theory as a model for empowering nursing in the vast field of medicine.
Carative, transpersonal caring relationships and caring occasions are the core conceptual elements of Watson’s original and evolving human caring theory. Initially, Watson based her work on ten carative factors that gave an insight into how exceptional nursing can be. She now claims that clinical caritas are more adaptive to the movement, which pushed transpersonal caring to caritas away from carative. Shifting from carative to caritas has made it possible to widen the postmodern perspective by integrating both the past and the future. For transpersonal caring relationship, good personal relationship is critical to Watson’s theory as they form the base of her work. She firmly believes that for an individual to care for others, they must first show capabilities of caring for themselves by showing virtues like surrender, gratitude, and forgiveness. A caring occasion is automatically created at that moment when a nurse and another individual connect. A moment can prove to be the turning point in several situations to both the patient and the nurse.
Theoretical Assertions
Jean Watson expects nurses and patients to have a nurse-patient relationship with the patients being treated humanly by providing care that evolves within the carative factors. According to Jean Watson, human beings are spiritual beings who experience humanity in the human form. According to Jean Watson, a disease is not only physical but also psychological. That is, there is disharmony between the mind, body, and soul. Jean Watson believes that a patient can do well or heal in a good environment. Therefore nurses should create a suitable environment for the patients based on faith and hope, among the carartive factors.
Critical analysis of the theory of human caring
Watson’s concepts about love and care are complicated; one needs to reread to understand. She has also tried using poetry to make it easier for people to grasp the content. According to Watson, only when you can do a practical of her theory can you understand the meaning.
Consistency
The theory of human caring is consistent. Although Jean Watson’s work’s antics challenge it by saying caring is not consistent as it depends on one’s state of mind. Jean Watson approaches these antics by addressing the core of nursing rather than the trim.
Adequate
The theory of human caring has been around for a long time and is something that is experienced in our day to day lives. The adequacy of the theory makes it acceptable to society.
Logical development
Logical development focuses on addressing the nurse-patient relationship.this is how the nurse cares for the patient from her heart but not what the nurse is supposed to do. Researchers have used the theory as a theoretical framework for their studies since its existence.
External criticism
Watson’s theory is complex; that is, they cannot be understood quickly by a person with little experience or a person who has just read about it. The reader can interpret accordingly to his/her experiences.
Because it is a special theory, it will also get you superior results that are better than other caring theories. According to Jean Watson, nurses should always care for their patients, but you will find that some nurses mistreat patients in the real world. You will find that many nursing schools are applying and teaching the theory of caring. The research generated from the theory is important and has improved health outcomes in the patients’ lives. Watson’s caring theory is important as it is used in the entire medical field. It has benefitted many people, especially in the nursing field.
Research Generated and Theory Application
Watson’s Theory of Human Caring has been applied to many research studies. For instance, one research study applied the theory of caring to 52 patients suffering from hypertension. The patients agreed to take part in the research. Their blood pressure was recorded, after which they were asked to give more information about their demographic and quality of life in the form of a questionnaire. All the nurses who were taking part in the research were equipped with Jean Watson’s theory of human caring to establish a base of the caring process.
The final results showed that after the nurse practitioners used caring theory, a decrease in the patients’ blood pressure was witnessed, increasing patients’ quality of life. Another Chicago based health care adopted the Watson theory of caring. They wanted to put in the paper the patient experience of the Watson caring theory. It was evident that with the new technology, Watson’s theory had to be modified for the staff to document the patient experience. Staff was educated on the modification of the theory to better patients’ experience. The patients experience was documented, and the theory was found to be working; hence the patients recorded at least one carative factor. Jean Watson’s theory tries to make nurses more passionate about their work. Whereas those practicing more technical, medical models find it irrelevant because they find the theory lacks physical importance.
In conclusion, Watson’s theory of human caring is critical to the future of nursing as a whole. The paper has success critique Watson’s theory of human caring and also, at the same time, identified all the key concepts of the theory. The theory has played a big role in shaping the nursing profession to what it is today. Now that nursing has made it to the forefront in the medical field, a big part of this success is directly related to Watson’s theory of Human Caring.