Jean Watson: Life and Nursing Theory

Abstract

Dr. Jean Watson is one of the most prominent scholars in the field of nursing who is best known for her famous theory of human care. Her entire life and career is reflective of her passion for life and humanity as she has always strived for incorporating the element of humanity and care to the practice of nursing. This paper briefly discusses the life of Dr. Jean Watson in relation to her work, along with the discussion of the carative factors upon which she based her theory of human care.Jean Watson: Life and Nursing Theory

Introduction

Dr. Jean Watson is of the most famous American scholar who is highly regarded for her work in the discipline of nursing. She was born in West Virginia and currently living in Boulder, Colorado since 1962. She completed her undergraduate studies in nursing and psychology from the University of Colorado. Later on, she pursued a master's degree with major in psychiatric-mental health nursing and continued her successful educational career with Ph. D. in educational psychology and counseling.

Presently, Dr. Watson is the Murchinson-Scoville Chair at the University of Colorado and disseminating knowledge and sharing her valuable experience in the field as a Distinguished Professor of Nursing in the same university. She has been nominated for received numerous honors and has been recognized for her work nationally and internally, receiving many honorary doctoral degrees. She also has fellowship at the American Academy of Nursing. Beside this distinguishing academic career and several honors from national and international bodies, she also has numerous published works to her credit, mainly discussing her philosophy and theory of nursing i.e. theory of human caring. This paper aims at exploring the work of Dr. Jean Watson in relation to her life.

Discussion

Dr. Watson's work greatly contributed to the discipline of nursing and healthcare. As she suggested, her work especially the theory of human caring has a profound relationship with her personal life and clinical practices. She described the main elements comprising her theory of human caring as: the caring occasion/caring moment, the carative factors and the transpersonal caring relationship.

Carative Factors

Dr. Watson has developed the famous “carative factors” in the year 1979 which were revised later in 1985 and 1988. These “carative factors”, according to Dr. Watson's view, work as the guide for the core practices in the field of nursing. There is an element of humanity that played an important ...