Philosophy and Science of Caring: Margaret Jean Watson

Philosophy and Science of
Caring
Margaret Jean Watson
Background
• Born in Southern West
Virginia
• 1964 – BSN in Colorado
• 1966 – MS in Psychiatric –
Mental Health Nsg
• 1973 – PhD in Educational
Psychology
PERSON
• Human being to be valued, cared for,
respected, nurtured, understood and
assisted
• Must be viewed according to the
client’s development & the conflicts
arising in this development
ENVIRONMENT
• Defined as society with all its influences

• It provides the values that determine how
one should behave and what goals one
should strive toward.
• Encompasses social, cultural & spiritual
aspect
HEALTH
• Refers to unity & harmony with in the mind,
body & soul
• Watson, in addition to WHO’s definition,
include these three elements:
 A higher level of over-all physical, mental & social
functioning
 A general adaptive- maintenance level of daily
functioning; and
 The absence of illness (or the presence of efforts
that lead to its absence)
NURSING
• Providing holistic health care
• A human science of people & human health-illness
experiences that are mediated by professional,
personal, scientific, aesthetic & ethical human care
transactions
Major Assumptions
• Caring can be demonstrated and practiced only
interpersonally
• Caring consists of carative factors that result in
the satisfaction of certain human needs
• Effective caring promotes health & individual or
family growth
• A caring environment accepts a person as he is
and looks to what the person may become
• A caring environment offers development of
potential while allowing the person to choose the
best action for himself/herself at a given time
• Caring is more “healthogenic” than is curing. The
practice of caring integrates biophysical
knowledge with knowledge of human behavior to
generate or promote health & to provide
ministrations of those who are ill. A science of
caring is therefore complementary to the science
of curing.
Major Assumptions
• Caring is central to nursing
Watson’s 10 Carative Factors
1. Forming humanistic-altruistic value system
• Occurs early in life but can be greatly influenced by
nursing educators
• Can be accomplished by examining one’s
views,beliefs, & interactions with various cultures as
well as personal
growth experiences
• Provides satisfaction through
giving & extending oneself
2. Instillation of faith-hope
• Describes the nurse’s role in developing
effective nurse-patient interrelationships& in
promoting wellness
• Is accomplished by helping a client adopt
health seeking behaviors, by
positively using the powers of
suggestion & positively supporting
the client
3. Cultivating sensitivity to self and others
• The recognition of feelings leads to self-
actualization through self-acceptance for both
the nurse & the patient
• As Nurses acknowledge their sensitivity &
feelings, they become more
genuine, authentic & sensitive
to others
4. Development of a helping-trust relationship
• Establishes rapport & caring
• Helps promote expression of positive &
negative feelings
• Is accomplished through congruence, empathy,
nonpossesive warmth, &
effective communication
5. Promotion & acceptance of the expression
of positive & negative feelings
• Involves sharing of feelings
• Includes being prepared for negative as well
as positive feelings
6. Systematic use of the scientific problem-
solving method for decision making
• is important for research, defining the discipline
& developing a scientific knowledge base for
nursing
• Brings scientific, problem-solving approach to
nursing care
7. Promotion of interpersonal teaching-
learning
• Gives a client maximum health control because
it provides information & alternatives
• Distinguishes caring from curing by assigning
responsibility for health to the client
• Enables a client to provide self-care, determine
personal needs & provide
opportunities for their
personal growth
8. Provision for supportive, protective &
corrective mental, physical, sociocultural &
spiritual environment
• Involves assessing & facilitating a client’s coping
abilities to support & protect mental & physical well-
being
• Requires understanding that a person’s environment
includes internal & external independent variables
• Includes providing comfort,
privacy, safety & a clean,
aesthetic surroundings
9. Assisting with gratification of human needs
• Addresses the needs of both the nurse & the client
• Requires meeting lower-order needs before
attaining higher-order needs
10. Allowance for existential-phenomenological
forces
• Permits one to understand people from the way
things appear to them; their experiences shape
their individual perceptions
• Leads to better understanding of oneself & of
others
THE END

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Philosophy and Science of

• Defined as society with all its influences

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