Watson’s Theory of Caring

Running head: WATSON’S THEORY OF CARING 1
Watson’s Theory of Caring
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Watson’s Theory of Caring
Watson developed the theory of caring to explain how the humanistic aspects of nurses
relate to scientific knowledge and the nursing profession. It describes how nurses care for
patients by promoting health, prevention strategies, restoration of health, and improving quality
of life (Clark, 2016). The theory explains the holistic approach to be the best way to care for a
patient, based on knowing the person, the environment, the health status, and the nursing
profession. The theory explains the carative factors that ought to be the center of the nurses in
patient care and also described the human needs in hierarchy form beginning from the most
essential requirements to be addressed; nutrition, ventilation and elimination purposes, functional
needs; sexuality and activity, integrative needs of affiliation and achievement then lastly the need
for self-actualization (Pajnkihar, Štiglic, & Vrbnjak, 2017). Patient care is guided by the steps of
assessment, planning care, nursing intervention, and lastly evaluation.
The theory defines the concept of a person by stating that a person is not only viewed as a
system made of sub-systems but is considered uniquely. A person is a fully integrated entity that
should be cared for and protected into his best well- being. Health is addressed as not just the
absence of ailment in a person, but the congruency between the mental, social, and physical body
function (Nikfarid, Hekmat, Vedad, & Rajabi, 2018). It is the harmony between how the body
perceives a situation and the experience. The theory explains nursing to be a collection of
science, professionalism, and ethics that mediate human health and illness. The environment is
described as the basis of the behavior of professional culture in the caring of patients.
Watson’s theory of caring qualifies as a theoretical framework since it explains, extends
challenges the existing knowledge concerning patient care. It beats the available assumptions