Jean Watson

- Born in West Virginia (currently living in Colorado)

- Earned a Bachelor of Science in 1964; Masters of Psychiatric Nursing in 1966 and
PHD in Educational Psychology and Counseling in 1973
- Founder of the center of Human care in Colorado
Theory of Jean Watson
- Her philosophy of caring attempts to define outcome of nursing activity in regard
in the humanistic aspects of life
- Her theory and philosophy of caring is based on the values of kindness, concern,
love of self and others, and respect for the spiritual dimensions of the person.
- The foundation of Jean Watson’s theory of nursing was published 1979 in nursing
known as “The Philosophy and Science of Caring”.
- Watson defined nursing as the human science of persons and human health-
illness experiences mediated by professional, personal, scientific, z`aesthetic,
ethical human care transactions.
- She also defined human caring in nursing as an act and a science which caring is a
human-to-human process demonstrated through a therapeutic interpersonal
transaction.
- According to Watson, “Nursing is concerned with promoting health, preventing
illness, caring for the sick and restoring health. She believes that holistic care is
essential to the practice of caring in nursing.
APPLICATION OF THEORY
- Watson’s model of nursing reflects and embodies the true essence of the nursing
profession to this very day.
- It viewed the patient as a mind, body, spirit, entity, that needs holistic nursing
care from nurses.
Integration of Watson’s Theory of Caring into Nursing Practice
- Establishing a caring relationship with patients
- Treat patients as holistic beings
- Display unconditional acceptance
- Treat patients with positive regard
- Promote health through knowledge and intervention.
- Spend uninterrupted time with patients
Major Elements of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring
- Carative Factors
o Guide for the for the core of nursing
o Watson used it to contrast with conventional medicine’s securative factors
o The Structure for the science of caring is build upon the ten carative
factors:
 The formation of a humanistic-altruistic system of values which
begins to develop mentally at an early age with values shared with
the parents. It is mediated to one’s own life experiences the
learning one gains an exposure to the humanities, it is perceived as
necessary to the nurses own maturation which the promotes
altruistic behavior towards others
 The installation of faith-hope which is essential to both the
carative and the curative processes. When modern science
has nothing further to offer the person the nurse can
continue to use faith-hope to provide a sense of well being
through beliefs which are meaningful to the individual
 Cultivation of Sensitivity to self and others the development
of one’s own feeling is needed to interact genuinely and
with sensitivity to others. Striving to become sensitive
makes the nurse more authentic which encourages self
growth and self actualization in both the nurse and those
with whom the nurse interacts. The nurse promotes health
and higher level functioning only when they perform person-
to-person relationship.
 Establishing helping-trusting human care relationship. The
strongest tool is the mode of communication which
establishes report and query. The nurse defined the
characteristics needed to develop the helping-trusting
relationship, congruence, empathy and warmth.
Communication includes verbal, non-verbal and listening in a
manner which express empathy and understanding.
 Expressing of positive and negative feelings. According to
Watson, feelings alter thoughts and behavior and needed to
be considered and allowed for in a caring relationship. Such
expression improves one’s level of awareness, awareness of
 the feelings which helps to understand the behavior it
causes.
 Systematic use of the scientific problem solving method for
decision making or a creative problem solving caring
process. According to Watson, the scientific problem solving
method is the only method that allows for the control and
prediction and that permits self correction. She also values
the relative nature of nursing and supports the need to
examine and develop the other methods of knowing to
provide a holistic perspective and that the science of caring
should not be always neutral and objective.
 Transpersonal teaching-learning also know as promotion of
interpersonal teaching-learning. The caring nurse must
focus on the learning processes as much as the teaching
processes. Understanding the person’s perception of the
situation assists the nurse to prepare a cognitive plan.
 The provision for the supportive, protective, corrective
mental, physical, social, societal and spiritual environment
which Watson divides into interdependent, internal and
external variables manipulated by the nurse in order to
provide support and protection for the patient’s mental and
physical health. The nurse must provide comfort, privacy and
safety as part of the carative factor.
 Human needs assistance, grounded in the hierarchy of need
similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. She ha created a
hierarchy which she believes is relevant to the science of
caring and nursing. According to her, each need is equally
important for optimal health, all the needs deserve to be
attended and valued. Watsons order of needs are the lower
need and the higher needs. Lower needs are the biophysical
and psychological needs including the need for food and
fluid, elimination, ventilation and sexuality while the High
needs are psychosocial needs that consist of achievement,
affiliation and slef actualization.
 Existential-Phenomenological-Spiritual forces.
Phenomenology is the way of understanding people from
the way things appear to them from their frame of
 reference. Existential psychology is the study of human
existence using phenomenological analysis, this factor helps
the nurse to reconcile and mediate the incongruity of
viewing the person holistically while at the same time
attending to the hierarchical ordering of needs thus the
nurse assists the person to find the strength of courage to
confront life and death.

At Watson’s continue to evolve her theory, she introduces the concept of Clinical
Caritas Processes

Caritas- from the Greek vocabulary means ‘cherish/give loving attention

Transpersonal Caring Relationship

- Transpersonal describes an intersubjective human to human relationship that
encompasses to individuals both the nurse and patient in a given moment. It
describes how the nurse goes beyond objective assessment to show concern
towards the person subjective or differ meaning of their health care situation. It
involves mutually between the two individuals involve.

TCR characterized special kind of human care relationship that depends on:

1. The nurse Moral Commitment on the protecting and enhancing human dignity as
well as the high Self and deeper Self.
2. The nurses caring consciousness communicated to preserve and honor the
embodied spirit. Therefore, not reducing the person to the moral status of an
object
3. The nurse Caring consciousness and connection having the potential to heal since
experience perception in intentional connection or taking place

CARING OCCASION
 - is the moment when the nurse + another person come together in such a way
that an occasion for human caring is created. Both persons come together in a
human-to-human relationship or human to human transaction. The one caring
for and the one being cared for are influenced by the choices and actions decided
within their relationship.

MAJOR CONCEPTS
Person: being-in-the-world
- Of mind, body, spirit that influenced by the concept of self
- Unique
- Free to make choices
Health: subjective experience

Watson added 3 following elements. A high level or overall physical, mental, and social
functioning
-Harmony of mind, body and spirit
Environment: has existed in every society

A caring attitude is not transmitted by generation to generation, it is transmitted by the

culture of the profession as a unique way of coping with its environment.