Nursing Theory: Watson’s Theory of Human Caring

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Professor and Class,
The caring theory that resonates with me the most for my practice as a nurse practitioner is Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. The Watson human caring theory is a theory about transpersonal relationships that promotes patient care quality through compassion. The Watsons human caring theory is used widely across nursing practice, education, and literature. According to the theory there are 10 factors in caring which include but are not limited to developing trusting relationships, practicing kindness, forgiving, showing empathy, engaging in teaching learning situations, and more (Wei & Watson, 2019). The nursing paradigm is a set of beliefs and principles in nursing. Watson’s theory integrates the nursing paradigm by highlighting the importance of the nurse-patient relationship and the holistic approach to caring for the patient’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Watson argues that the evolving theoretical stance on caring becomes a converging paradigm for nursing practice (Butts & Rich, 2018).
The parts of the theory that stand out to me the most is the importance of compassion and the relationship between the nurse and the patient. I am going to be a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and will be spending a lot of time talking 1:1 with patients that have suffered a lot of trauma. Individual’s with trauma and psychiatric disorders are often very damaged and have difficulties trusting others. For me, as an NP, it is most important to build a trusting rapport with my patient so they can open up to me with information that I can use to treat them. Also, it is important for a patient struggling with mental health to want to be involved in their care and comply.
I have also thought about opening my own practice which will involve me spending an extensive period of time with patients and truly getting to know them. I believe that Watson’s theory of human caring is a very important theory for this type of field because one can argue that the nurse-patient relationship is the most important part of this type of care. I also would like to work with patients suffering from addiction. A lot of times individual’s that are suffering with addiction are often misunderstood and judged. Watson’s theory is useful for the NP to learn how to treat patients with compassion no matter how difficult it can be.
Watson's theory of human caring can help to meet CLAS standards to advance health equity by demonstrating the importance of respecting the patient's cultural beliefs and values. The theory emphasizes on creating a caring relationship which allows the NP to better understand the patients’ background, beliefs, and culture and in result improve holistic care.
References:
Butts, B. J. & Rich, L. K. (2018). Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning
Wei, H., & Watson, J. (2019). Healthcare interprofessional team members’ perspectives on human caring: A directed content analysis study. International Journal of Nursing Sciences. https://doi(dot)org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2018.12.001Links to an external site.