Watson 's Theory of Human Caring
Amber Carter
University of Phoenix
Watson 's Theory of Human Caring
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to take an in-depth look of Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. I will describe a caring moment that I have had with a patient in the past and I will describe how Watson’s carative factors were utilized in the transpersonal relationship. Watson has a total of ten carative factors that serve as the foundation and framework for the science and practice of nursing (Alligood & Tomey, 2006, p. 103). Transpersonal caring is the proposed approach to achieve connections in which the nurse and the patient change together (Alligood & Tomey, 2006, p. 47). Watson defines caring “as the ethical and moral ideal of nursing that has interpersonal and humanistic qualities. It is a complex concept involving development of a range of knowledge, skills, and expertise and encompassing holism, empathy, communication, clinical competence, technical proficiency, and interpersonal skills (Alligood & Tomey, 2006, p. 104, para 1). Once one has read this paper, they should have clearer understanding of how to apply Watson’s Theory of Human Caring into their nursing practice.
Background
Jean Watson is originally from West Virginia (Watson, 2006). She attended Lewis-Gale School of Nursing in Roanoke, VA from 1958-1961, where she received her R.N. (Registered Nurse) Diploma in Nursing. She moved to Boulder, CO to obtain her BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) from the University of Colorado. She received her BSN in 1964 (Watson, 2006). She received her Masters Degree in Psychiatric Mental-Health Nursing in 1966 from the University of Colorado Medical Center, in Denver, CO (Watson, 2006). From 1969-1970 she attended school at the University of Colorado where she did graduate study in Social and Clinical Psychology (Watson, 2006). She went to school at the
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