Running head: THEORY OF CARING AND ITS INFLUENCE
Theory of Caring and its Influence on My Personal Philosophy of Nursing Education
Linda DeFranco
Molloy College
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THEORY OF CARING AND ITS INFLUENCE
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Theory of Caring and its Influence on My Personal Philosophy of Nursing Education
Nursing by its nature is a caring profession. The Theory of Caring by Jean Watson only
solidifies this very important aspect of nursing. Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring is a holistic
theory that believes in treating the whole person (body, mind and soul.) Jean Watson is a nurse
who holds numerous nursing degrees including six honorary doctorates along with three
international honorary degrees. She is a prolific writer having written ten books that further
develop her theory. She was the Dean of Nursing at the University of Colorado where she was
instrumental in developing the curriculum that would lead to a Doctorate of Nursing Practice
degree.
In developing her nursing theory Jean Watson was influenced by many theorists but the
biggest influences were Florence Nightingale’s deep sense of commitment and ethical human
service and Carl Roger’s phenomenological approach, in which nurses are to understand and not
manipulate and control patients in the clinical arena. When Watson first developed her theory,
she outlined ten carative factors and later expanded these factors into caritas process. The caritas
process added a spirituality component to her work. The overall concepts of the caritas processes
are to promote loving and kindness to enhance human dignity, a helping, trusting relationship
with an acceptance of both positive and negative feelings. It is important to create a healing
environment and always take into account the basic needs of patients, including body, mind and
spirit. The caritas process can be used in both a nurse-patient setting as well as educator-student
environment. As cited by Alligood and Tomey (2010, p. 94), Watson describes a “transpersonal
caring relationship” as the foundation of her theory: it’s a special kind of human care
relationship-a union with another person-high regard for the whole person and their being in the
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world. This theory pertains to the whole person and the notion that nursing is not comprised of
only tasks and skills. The key to nursing is a caring, trusting nurse-patient relationship. Watson’s
work continues to evolve “to make explicit that humans cannot be treated as objects and that
humans cannot be separated from self, other nature and the larger universe (Alligood et al. p.98).
I found Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring to be a very important concept in the field of nursing
and nursing education. It is important for nurse educators to promote a nurturing environment.
As cited by Holt-Waldo (2013, p.78), a nurse who is educated from a holistic perspective
acquires knowledge from the biomedical and psychosocial sciences as well as philosophy,
language, religion, history, ethics, art, and music. A holistic nurse educator sees students as a
whole including body, mind and spirit. Especially interesting was Watson’s view that in order for
nurses to understand the mind-body-spiritual framework, they should have a strong liberal arts
background to fully understand all aspects of the patients they will encounter. She also is also a
strong proponent of changing the way nurse educators educate. There is a push to move away
from traditional lectures to incorporating cooperative learning and interaction between student
and educator. “Caring in student-teacher relationships is essential to nursing education: in order
for students to be caring that have to experience caring in their lives and education” (Paterson &
Crawford, 1994, p. 166).
I think that students learn better in an accepting, open environment. Lecture can be a
good tool to deliver material but should not be the only way for students to learn. Cooperative
learning, through the use of small groups, is an excellent learning environment where students
can learn from each other along with the educator’s expertise. Working in groups can help to
expand a students understanding, gaining perspective and feedback from others. This is
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especially helpful when learning skills, along with open communication with the educator. This
will also help reduce anxiety among students when first learning new skills. While working in a
group the student can gain insight or other ways of learning from their peers. Lecture is still
useful but it should also include group work and discussion between the educator and students.
My philosophy as a nurse educator is one of treating the student as a whole, understanding
strengths and weaknesses. Nurturing students will help reduce anxiety and increase selfconfidence. Being confident and not feeling intimidated if mistakes are made while learning
helps to make better nurses. This in turn will help newly trained nurses be more caring and
compassionate, understanding and treating the whole person, not just the disease. This theory is
important in my nursing education philosophy because I always have felt that we should treat
people the way we would want to be treated and I feel this theory of caring is a perfect model to
follow for me to be an effective educator.
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References
Alligood, M.R. & Tomey, A. M. (2010) Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed.).
Maryland Heights, Mo: Mosby/Elsvier.
Clark, C. (2005). Transforming nursing education: a partnership social system for alignment with
philosophies of care. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 2(1).
Holt-Waldo, N. (2013). A portrait of holistic nurse educators. Creative Nursing, 19(2), 77-80.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1353081726?accountid=28076
Paterson, B., & Crawford, M. (1994). Caring in nursing education: an analysis. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 19(1), 164-173. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.1994.tb01064.x