JEAN WATSON'S PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING

Introduction
• Born: West Virginia
• Educated: BSN, University of Colorado, 1964, MS, University of
Colorado, 1966, PhD, University of Colorado, 1973
• Dr. Jean Watson is Distinguished Professor of Nursing and holds
an endowed Chair in Caring Science at the University of Colorado Health
Sciences Center.
• She is founder of the original Center for Human Caring in
Colorado and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She
previously served as Dean of Nursing at the University Health Sciences
Center and is a Past President of the National League for Nursing
• Dr. Watson has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in
nursing and psychiatric-mental health nursing and holds her PhD in
educational psychology and counseling.
• She is a widely published author and recipient of several awards
and honors, including an international Kellogg Fellowship in Australia, a
Fulbright Research Award in Sweden and six (6) Honorary Doctoral
Degrees, including 3 International Honorary Doctorates (Sweden, United
Kingdom, Quebec, Canada).
• Her research has been in the area of human caring and loss.
• The foundation of Jean Watson’s theory of nursing was published
in 1979 in nursing: “The philosophy and science of caring”
• In 1988, her theory was published in “nursing: human science and
human care”.
• Watson believes that the main focus in nursing is on carative
factors. She believes that for nurses to develop humanistic philosophies
and value system, a strong liberal arts background is necessary.
• This philosophy and value system provide a solid foundation for
the science of caring. A humanistic value system thus under grids her
construction of the science of caring.
• She asserts that the caring stance that nursing has always held is
being threatened by the tasks and technology demands of the curative
factors.
 “THEORY OF HUMAN CARING”

“Nursing is concerned with promoting health, preventing illness, caring for the
sick, and restoring health. Nursing has traditionally focused on integrating biophysical
knowledge with the knowledge of human behaviour to promote wellness and the care for
the sick” (Watson, 1985, p.7).

Jean Watson developed her Theory of Human Caring in 1975-1979 while teaching
at the University of Colorado. Watson describes her theory as emerging from her own
views of nursing as well as a combination of information she received during her years of
higher education. It was also influenced by her involvement with the nursing curriculum
at the University of Colorado. “It was my initial attempt to bring meaning and focus to
nursing as an emerging discipline and distinct health profession with its own unique
values, knowledge and practices, with its own ethic and mission to society” (Watson,
2004).

According to Leddy & Pepper (1998), for this model “…the purpose if nursing is
to help persons gain greater harmony within the mind, body and soul.” Watson’s Theory
of Human Care is centered towards subjective inner healing and person’s lived
experiences. This is achieved through the carative factors.

Watson’s theory and the four major concepts

1. Human being
• She adopts a view of the human being as: “….. a valued person in and of him or
herself to be cared for, respected, nurtured, understood and assisted; in general a
philosophical view of a person as a fully functional integrated self. He, human is
viewed as greater than and different from, the sum of his or her parts”.
2. Health
• Watson believes that there are other factors that are needed to be included in the
WHO definition of health. She adds the following three elements:
• A high level of overall physical, mental and social functioning
• A general adaptive-maintenance level of daily functioning
• The absence of illness (or the presence of efforts that leads its absence)
3. Environment/society
• According to Watson caring (and nursing) has existed in every society. A
caring attitude is not transmitted from generation to generation. It is
transmitted by the culture of the profession as a unique way of coping with
its environment.
4. Nursing
• According to Watson “ nursing is concerned with promoting health, preventing
illness, caring for the sick and restoring health”.
• It focuses on health promotion and treatment of disease. She believes that holistic
health care is central to the practice of caring in nursing.
• She defines nursing as…..
“A human science of persons and human health-illness experiences that are
mediated by professional, personal, scientific, esthetic and ethical human
transactions”.

Ten Carative Factors

Watson's theory of caring is based on the following carative factors. Each of the factors
involves the lived experience of all persons involved in the relationship, the client, their
family and the nurse.
1. "The formation of a humanistic-altruistic system of values"(Watson, 1979). This factor
develops at an early age and involves a broad awareness of self.
2. "The instillation of faith-hope"(Watson, 1979). An understanding of and sensitiviy to
an individual's beliefs provides a sense of well-being for the client.
3. "The cultivation of sensitivity to one's self and to others"(Watson, 1979). This allows
the nurse and the client to become increasingly sensitive, and therefore more genuine.
4. "The development of a helping-trust relationship"(Watson, 1979). Effective
communication techniques such as congruence aids in the creation of this relationship.
5. "The promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative
feelings"(Watson, 1979). This factor recognizes that the expression of emotions enables
people to reach deeper levels of awareness
6. "The systematic use of the scientific problem-solving method for decision
making"(Watson, 1979). The problem-solving method is foundational to the practice of
nursing.
7. "The promotion of interpersonal teaching-learning"(Watson, 1979). The provision of
information empowers a client to make informed decisions about health and healing.
8. "The provision for supportive, protective, and(or) corrective mental, physical,
sociocultural, and spiritual environment"(Watson, 1979). This factor encompasses
internal and external variables that the nurse is responsible for guiding.
9. "Assistance with the gratification of human needs"(Watson, 1979). Human needs
include all acts of life, ranging from food to the need for achievement.
10. "The allowance for existential-phenomenological forces" (Watson, 1979). The nurse
needs to view each person's reality through the individual's eyes.