Margaret Jean Herman Watson is a nursing theorist and professor known for developing the Theory of Human Caring. She was born in West Virginia and received several nursing degrees, including a PhD. Watson developed 10 carative factors and 7 assumptions to underpin her theory. Her publications evolved her theory and emphasized caring as central to nursing practice and education. Watson's theory views caring as the essence of nursing and promotes holistic health.
Margaret Jean Herman Watson is a nursing theorist and professor known for developing the Theory of Human Caring. She was born in West Virginia and received several nursing degrees, including a PhD. Watson developed 10 carative factors and 7 assumptions to underpin her theory. Her publications evolved her theory and emphasized caring as central to nursing practice and education. Watson's theory views caring as the essence of nursing and promotes holistic health.
Margaret Jean Herman Watson is a nursing theorist and professor known for developing the Theory of Human Caring. She was born in West Virginia and received several nursing degrees, including a PhD. Watson developed 10 carative factors and 7 assumptions to underpin her theory. Her publications evolved her theory and emphasized caring as central to nursing practice and education. Watson's theory views caring as the essence of nursing and promotes holistic health.
Margaret Jean Herman Watson is a nursing theorist and professor known for developing the Theory of Human Caring. She was born in West Virginia and received several nursing degrees, including a PhD. Watson developed 10 carative factors and 7 assumptions to underpin her theory. Her publications evolved her theory and emphasized caring as central to nursing practice and education. Watson's theory views caring as the essence of nursing and promotes holistic health.
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Margaret Jean Herman Watson
-Born in Southern West Virginia
-Grew up in 1940’s- 1950’s in the small town of Welch West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains -Youngest of 8, by an extended family - Attended high school in west Virginia, and attended the Lewis Gale School of Nursing in Roanoke, Virginia - After grad, she married her husband, Douglas Watson, and moved west to native state of Colorado -Douglas was also her best friend who died in 1998 - Has 2 daughters; Jennifer (1963), and Julie (1967). Despite everythiung that happened she still lived in Boulder, Colorado -after moving to Colorado, she continued her nursing education and graduated in University of Colorado - She earned her B.S nursing in 1964 at the Boulder Campus - An M.S Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing in 1966 at the Health Sciences Campus -A Ph.D. in educational psychology and counseling in 1973 at Boulder, Campus - Distinguished as professor of Nursing and endowed chair in caring science at the university of Colorado health sciences center -A fellow in the American Academy at Nursing and has received numerous another awards and honors, including a Visiting Kellogg Fellowship at Western Australia Institute of Technology and an International Fulbright Award -Previously, Dean of Nursing at the University Health Sciences Center and President of the National League for nursing - Watson has been invited distinguished lecturer in numerous countries such as Israel, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Taiwan as well as in the United States - She has authored 10 books, shared in authorship of 5 books and has written countless articles in nursing journals
The following publications reflect the evolution of her theory of caring from her ideas about the philosophy and science of caring: 1st book: - Nursing: the philosophy and sciences of caring (1979) 2nd book: -Nursing: Human Science and Human Care- a theory of Nursing - published in 1985 and reprinted in 1988 and 1999 3rd book: -Postmodern Nursing and Beyond (1999) 4th: book: - Instruments for assessing and measuring caring in nursing and health sciences (2003) 5th book and latest book: - Caring Science as Sacred Science (2005)
WATSON’S METAPARADIGM IN NURSING
Person - Watson uses interchangeably the terms human being, person, life, personhood, and self - She views person as “a unity of mind/body/body/spirit/nature” and she describes that personhood is tied to a notion that’s one soul possesses a body that’s not confined by objective time and space. - Human being is valued person in and of him to be cared for, respected, nurtured, understood and assisted, In general, it is a philosophical view of a person as a fully functional integrated self - She viewed human as greater than, and different form, the sum of his or her parts. Environment - In the original 10 carative factors, Watson speaks to the nurse role in the environment as “attending to supportive, protective and or corrective mental, physical, societal and spiritual environments” - Provides the values that determine how one should behave and what goal should strive toward - These values are affected by change in the social, social, cultural, and spiritual, arenas, which in turn affects the perception of a person and can lead to stress Health - Refers to unity and harmony within the mind, body, and soul. It is also associated with the degree of congruence between self as perceived and as experienced. - There are following three elements: A high level of over-all physical, mental and social functioning. A general adoptive-maintenance level of daily functioning. The absence of illness (or the presence of efforts that lead to its absence) Nursing - According to Watson, the word nurse is both noun and verb. - To her nursing consists of knowledge; thought, values, philosophy, commitment, and action with some degree of passion. - Nurse are interested in understanding health illness and restoring the health; preventing illness. - Nurse is concern with the promoting health, preventing illness, caring for the sick, and restoring health. It focuses on health promotion and treatment of disease. - Warson believes that holistic health care is central to the practice of caring in nursing.
Watson’s 10 carative factors:
- Formation of a humanistic-altruistic system of values - Instillation of faith-hope - Cultivation of sensitivity to self and to others - Development of a helping trust relationship - Promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative feelings - Systematic use of the scientific problem-solving method for decision making - Promotion of interpersonal teaching-learning - Provision for supportive, protective, and corrective mental, physical, sociocultural, and spiritual environment - Assistance with gratification of human needs - Allowance for existential phenomenological forces
Watson’s seven assumptions:
- Caring can be effectively demonstrated and practiced only interpersonally - Caring consist of carative factors that result in the satisfaction of certain human needs - Effective caring promotes health and individual or family growth - Caring responses accept a person not only as he or she is now but as what he or she may become - A caring environment is one that offers the development of potential while allowing the person to choose the best action for himself or herself at a given point in time - Caring is more “health genic” than is curing. A science of caring is therefore complimentary to the science of curing. - The practice of caring is central to nursing
In her second book, Nursing Human Science and Human Care, Watson states both nursing education and the health care delivery system must be based on human values and concerned for the welfare of others.
Watson proposes the following 11 assumptions related to human care values:
Clarity- Watson’s theory uses nontechnical, yet sophisticated language. At the times, lengthy phrases and sentences need to read more than once to gain meaning. Her increasing inclusion of metaphor, personal reflections, artwork, and poetry make her complex concepts more tangible and more aesthetically appealing.
Simplicity- Watson draws on a number of disciplines to formulate her theory. The
reader does best by being familiar with a variety of subject matters to understand the theory as it is presented. It is viewed as complex when considering the existential-phenomenological nature of her work, which is partly because many nurses have a limited liberal arts background and baccalaureate- nursing curricula has a limited integration of liberal arts.
Generality- the framework encompasses all aspects of the health-illness
continuum. The theory addresses aspect of preventing illness and experiencing a peaceful death, thereby increasing it generality. The carative factors that Watson described have provided important guidelines for nurse-patient interactions
Empirical Precision- although the framework is difficult to study empirically,
Watson draws heavily on widely accepted work from other disciplines, Watson describes her theory as descriptive and she acknowledges the evolving nature of theory and welcomes input by others. The methodologies relevant to studying transpersonal caring and developing nursing as a human science and art can be classified as qualitative. Naturalistic, or phenomenological. Watson does acknowledge that a combination of qualitative-quantitative inquiry may be useful.
Derivable Consequences- Watson’s theory continues to provide a useful and
important metaphysical orientation for the delivery of nursing care. Watson’s theoretical concepts, such as use of self, patient-identified needs, the caring process, and the spiritual sense of being human, may help nurses and their patients find meaning and harmony in a period of increasing complexity.
