Running head: CARING THEORY

Caring Theory
University of Phoenix

Caring Theory
Caring is the central component of the nursing profession. Jean Watson believed that the essence of nursing is caring for a person (Alderson, Huynh, & Thompson, 2008). Watson’s caring theory has a philosophical, moral and spiritual source that addresses a person’s health with a holistic approach focusing on the mind, body, and soul. According to Watson (2009), “nurses and practitioners who are literate with caring relationships are capable of having loving, caring, kind, and sensitively meaningful, personal connections with an increasingly enlightened public: a public seeking wholeness and spiritual connections for their wellbeing, not just sterile, depersonalized, medical technological interventions, void of human-to-human caring relationships” (p. 468). Modern technology results in a cultural “void of humanity and authentic human caring relationships, and void of meaningful communication and connections” (p. 468). Nursing has evolved since Nightingale’s time. Nursing, in this era, uses both evidence-based practice and theory-driven care to provide patients with safety all while optimizing health outcomes (Britt, 2007). Using Watson’s Care theory, nurses can improve patient’s health outcome by focusing on the mind, body, and soul.
Last year, I had a patient diagnosed with a terminal lung cancer. This patient was 37 years old with no immediate family still alive. This patient was not married and did not have any children. This patient’s mother and father died in a car accident three years ago. He stayed on the unit for over four months. He did not have a place to be discharged to. The doctors had already told him he had months left to live. His blood pressure fluctuated between the two extremes on a daily basis. One day his blood pressure would be in the low 80’s systolic and