The foundation of the philosophy and theory of Transpersonal Caring by Jean Watson is “Transpersonal Caring Relationship.” Transpersonal caring relationship is a special kind of human care relationship because the person or the recipient of care is valued with regards to their existence in the world and being a person as a whole.
The four concepts: person, environment, health and nursing compose the metaparadigm of nursing. A metaparadigm sets the boundaries of the discipline of nursing from other disciplines like medicine, sociology or clinical exercise physiology. According to Fawcett (2005), a metaparadigm must define the phenomena of a discipline in a holistic, clear and simple way. It must also be perspective-neutral and international in scope. Each nursing theory defines the concepts of the metaparadigm in a specific and distinct way. Below are the definitions of the four concepts of the metaparadigm of nursing as defined by the nursing theorist, Jean Watson, in her nursing philosophy and theory: Transpersonal Caring.
Nursing according to Watson’s theory is a science, philosphy, values and passion all together. She views nursing as not just a profession that performs routine procedures, tasks and techniques in the practice setting. The aforementioned are just the trim of nursing. Those are the aspects of the nurse-patient relationship that could result in a therapeutic outcome as part of the transpersonal caring process. The core of nursing on the other hand is caring. She focuses her definition of nursing on a reciprocal relationship between the nurse and the patient that is centered on helping the patient achieve harmony within the mind, body and soul. Through a transpersonal relationship and caring, harmony can be achieved. It is known that nursing promotes and restores health, prevents illness and understands health, illness and the human experience. The 10 original carative factors are the bases for the Transpersonal Caring theory. Each of the factors has corresponding caritas processes. Caritas is a Latin word meaning “to cherish, to appreciate, to give special attention, if not loving attention” (Alligood , 2014, p.94). The carative factors and the clinical caritas processes are used by the nurse to provide care to different patients. Watson’s theory emphasizes the need for human caring – nursing as a caring-healing process. Watson makes it explicit that the human care process and transpersonal aspects of caring healing are the focus of a Transpersonal Caring relationship. Watson’s definition of caring delineates nursing from medicine and sets a separation between the science of nursing from the science of medicine. Based on Watson’s definition of Nursing, I can say that nursing is caring. The emphasis of her definition is a caring relationship between the nurse and the patient.
Watson’s definition of person is a “unity of mind/body/spirit/nature” (Watson, 1996). She believes that a personhood or being a person means that one’s soul possess a body that is not confined by time nor space objectively. Watson emphasizes the spirit/metaphysical aspect of a human being -mind, body and soul. She believes in the unity of the mind, body and soul. Overall, she defines a person as a whole with no division regarding the aspects of mind, body and spirit. She views a person as an integrated self that is fully functional. I can describe her view of a person is that he is greater than the sum of his parts. A person should function as a whole unit of well-functioning mind, body and spirit because if one of those parts is missing, the person cannot function as an integrated whole.
Health according to Watson (1988) refers to the “unity and harmony within the mind, body, and soul”; associated with the “degree of congruence between the self as perceived and the self as experienced” (Alligood, 2014). So with this definition of health, I can say that balance among the aspects of self is what Watson considers as health. As a nurse caring for an individual, the individual’s perspective must be considered because how individuals perceive health is different. What one individual may consider positive for his and her health, may be not for another individual. Watson’s original definition of health in 1979 was derived from the definition of the World Health Organization including these three elements (1) a high level of overall physical, mental, and social functioning; (2) a general adaptive-maintenance level of daily functioning; (3) the absence of illness (Watson, 1979). Watson views illness as a disharmony within a person’s mind, body and soul either consciously or unconsciously. Illness does not necessarily have to be a disease. Genetic and constitutional vulnerabilities can cause disease processes and when disharmony is present, can manifest themselves. In turn, more disharmony is created when disease occurs. Watson’s view on Health has a metaphysical aspect to it and involves the concept of imbalance or disharmony within the person which very much coincides with his definition of a person as a fully functional integrated self. If the parts of the person are in disharmony, disease occurs and therefore affects the health of the person.
According to Watson, the caring science is not only responsible for the care of humans but also to the planet. The environment includes internal and external factors. She says that the healing spaces can be used to help others overcome illness, pain and suffering. This means that the nurse should ensure that a caring-healing environment is provided for the patient in order for transformative measure to be capable of occurring. Watson (2003) emphasized the connection between the environment and the person that when the nurse enters the room of the patient, there is a magnetic field of expectation that is created. This is where a caring environment comes in wherein it allows the development of potential while allowing the person to choose the best action for his or herself in order to transform. Majority of Watson’s views are influenced by metaphysical and spiritual concepts like her view of the environment. She believes that humanity and life itself is linked by the environment and that it transcends across time and space, boundaries and nationalities (Alligood, 2014).
Her theory provides moral and philosophical basis for nursing. Caring can be effectively demonstrated and practiced if there is the presence of interpersonal relationship between the nurse and the patient. The definitions of Watson on the metaparadigms of nursing on the caring process and the spiritual sense of human being may help nurses and patients find meaning and harmony in health and in illness.
Reference
Alligood, M. (2014). Nursing Theorists and their Work (8th ed., pp. 81-91). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier. Retrieved from http://file:///C:/Users/Guest/Downloads/Nursing%20Theorists%20and%20Their%20Work,%20Eighth%20Edition-%20Martha%20Raile%20Alligood%20(1).pdf
