Transpersonal Caring Philosophy

Nursing is a career of compassion, caring, self-discipline, hard work, responsibility, intelligence, and honesty. I could go on and on with the characteristics that describe nursing. I believe in Christian values and attach them to nursing. I think of the words of Jesus and the Bible when taking care of patients; “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them” (Luke 6:31). The Bible is a great source of strength and rules to live by for me. Because of this, I chose Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring. Jean Watson’s work involved the nurse-patient relationship as a participation together to improve one’s health. She believed in health as a union of the mind, body, and soul. An individual without the harmony of all three would
be at risk for illness. I feel this is very true and is a part of my philosophy of nursing.
The mind or psychological state of a person is of fundamental importance. A person has to want to be healthy in order to be healthy. If you don’t care about your health, you will abuse your body, hence without a healthy mind, you will not have a healthy body. The soul has to be healthy, or you will not be harmonious psychologically. I feel the soul reflects your personality and life view. If that view changes, such as when one loses faith, it will affect one’s mind. A Christian who loses faith will most likely become mentally ill during that period because his life view changed. He/she may feel angry or fooled and that life no longer has meaning. Now that the soul disharmonized the mind, the mind will then likely disharmonize the body. My theory is parallel to Watson’s view of the three elements of unity: mind, body, and
soul.
Watson created ten carative factors, which differentiates from curative. This is a contrast to distinguish nursing from medicine (Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 309). The ten carative factors describe what is necessary to promote health and harmony in the mind, body, and soul. When we think of nursing, the first thing we tend to think about is the body. This is, of course, the most obvious sign of illness because it can be seen by our own eyes. Illness of the mind or soul may not be as easily recognizable. That is why it is so important to establish trust. The nurse can help heal the mind and soul if the patient trusts him/her enough to open up. “In the process of transpersonal relationships, nurses develop and encourage openness to understanding of self and others” (Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 309). Trust is a core element in transpersonal caring. We must maintain an environment of trust and openness to pursue health.
Health promotion is the first step in preventing illness.
We must establish trust in order to teach and mentor the patient. If the patient does not listen to teaching, he/she may have disharmony of the mind or soul. We must heal the mind or soul before healing the body. For example, if a diabetic patient comes in to the hospital with diabetic hyperosmolar syndrome and knows he/she has diabetes, the patient is either lacking teaching (health promotion) or has illness of the mind. To allow one’s insulin to get to the point where it almost kills you, there is either a lack of responsibility or knowledge (teaching) or there is illness to the mind (do not care about the body). In either case, we must establish trust as a person of knowledge and teach the patient how to better monitor and take care of his/her blood sugar. If he/she continues to come to the hospital for lack of control, there is probably an illness to the mind. In this case, we will have to treat the mind, and then allow the patient to treat the
body.
Nurses are the main caretakers of the sick. We have to appreciate what we do and accomplish, in order to maintain an environment of trust and healing. Whatever a nurse’s philosophy is, nurses must at least abide by the standards of care. According to the American Nurses Association’s code of ethics, “Nursing encompasses the prevention of illness, the alleviation of suffering, and the protection, promotion, and restoration of health in the care of individuals, families, groups, and communities.” (Chitty & Black, 2011, p. 130). Nursing theorists’ perspectives are many and ever-changing. Creating and adapting my own nursing philosophy was challenging; however, it made me think, and that’s what philosophy is all about.
Chitty, K. K., & Black, B. P. (2011). Professional nursing, concepts & challenges. W B Saunders Co.

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