Critical Appraisal of Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring

Critical Appraisal of Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring

Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring remains to be the most widely accepted theoretical framework guiding nursing practice. The Theory of Human Caring focuses on how relationships between nurses or other caregivers and the recipient of care or the patient influence the recovery and wellness of both the recipient and caregiver. In the development of the Theory, Jean Watson viewed how the human being is a valuable individual who is made of different interconnected parts to make them whole. This wholeness of the human being can only be achieved if the human being receives care, nurturing, and assistance that understands their needs and respects them from a physical, spiritual, mental, and environmental perspective. To achieve the best out of caring for those in need, Watson’s Theory of Human Caring identifies the role the nurse plays in achieving the health of the patient, managing their health, treating factors that threaten the health and wellness of a patient, and the approaches and interventions the nurses apply to achieve the best health outcomes for the patient. Additionally, it identifies the nurse’s role in caring for themselves to care for others. Overall, the Theory focuses on the ways to improve caring-to-caring transpersonal relations and how they influence healing for the patient and the nurse.

However, it is still important to consider whether the concepts presented by the theory have any applicability in real nurse settings. It is important to ask if these concepts can be empirically tested and if the concepts go beyond their subjective presentation to objective application. In this critical appraisal, I will critically analyze a research article that applied Watson’s Theory of Human Caring as its theoretical framework. Through the review of the study, I will be able to critically appraise the theory by focusing on how the application of the theory helped guide the study in achieving the results reported. For that reason, I will appraise the strengths and weaknesses of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring as per the findings of the research article reviewed.

Research Article Summary

In the article “Experiences of Nurses Diagnosed with COVID-19 and Recovered: A Qualitative Research,” Durgun Ozan et al. (2022) present the findings of a qualitative study that focused on nurses who had contracted COVID-19 while caring for other patients and survived the disease. It aimed to identify and explain how they felt and experienced their care during recovery. Durgun Ozan et al. (2022) applied Watson’s Theory of human caring to best explain how the nurses felt and experienced care throughout the recovery process after contracting the disease as they provided care to COVID-19 patients.

Durgun Ozan et al. (2022) used a qualitative descriptive research design and convenience sampling to draw a sample of 15 nurses who had contracted the disease while caring for others and their fears of transmitting COVID-19 to their families. The authors further used semi-structured interviews to collect data on how the nurses felt and experienced the care they received, their fears of transmitting COVID-19 to their families, and throughout the recovery process. Durgun Ozan et al. (2022) then applied thematic analysis to the data as per the carative factors provided in Watson’s Theory of human caring.

Further, the findings presented by Durgun Ozan et al. from the study identify the strengths and weaknesses of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring. Durgun Ozan et al. found that the nurses who had recovered had previously feared dying, transmitting COVID-19 to their loved ones, and even losing them in the process. The study further identified the nurses’ view on the importance of life. The overall findings show how nurses experience various spiritual and professional difficulties, especially when receiving care.

In defining the strengths of Watson’s Theory when applied in nursing practice and as a theoretical framework for nursing research, the findings found that the corrective factors influence the recipients of care’s experiences, views of care, and overall view on the importance of life. The Theory’s insistence on the humanistic approach to caring for others is well-identified as an effective approach to nursing care. For instance, the capacitive factor of humanistic values in care, as per Watson’s Theory, helped the nurses get through the negative experiences throughout the recovery process, such as being excluded, feeling isolated, and their fear of infecting others with COVID-19. Accordingly, this further shows how Watson’s Theory’s use of humanistic approaches in nursing care can significantly influence how patients view the care delivered and how it can help both the caregivers and recipients of care to heal and maintain their well-being throughout their recovery process. In addition, the findings show how failure to experience any corrective factors during their times of need influenced their experiences and feelings, such as feeling uncared for by society, loss of hope, and lack of caring relationships. This basically shows the importance of providing patient-centered care. The findings based on the perspectives of Watson’s Theory significantly show that prioritizing the patients’ emotional, spiritual, and physical needs is important to the patient’s recovery and to avoid developing negative experiences.

While Durgun Ozan et al. findings are significant in identifying how the corrective factors of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring influenced their view on caring for others, getting care for, and the importance of life, there are various aspects of theoretical weakness that the research has identified. For instance, the research links the nurses’ experiences, such as isolation and fear of infecting others throughout the recovery, and outcomes from COVID-19. The study further notes that the nurses feel that this is okay and justifiable due to the risk their health condition bears. These views are basically from a humanistic altruistic system of value. The humanistic approaches to care and the relation of that care to the outcomes of the patients still lack any empirical evidence to support the link between humanistic values and the approach to care and improved patient outcomes. The overall link to the humanistic approach to care and better patient outcomes, as presented in the use of Watson’s Theory of Human Caring as the study’s theoretical framework, is highly subjective as they only come from the nurses’ own views and subjective feelings which mean they may have a high potential for being biased.

Additionally, there is evidence of inconsistency in the care delivered throughout the recovery period. On the other hand, the nurses still linked the care to their improved outcomes. For instance, one nurse, with regards to contracting COVID-19 and needing care, noted “When I told my roommate the news… She stayed away… I was excluded… I mean, she saw me as a disgusting substance that no one would like to approach… I mean… I felt very bad … It was how I felt then…” Although it is justifiable to avoid those infected with highly communicable diseases, it fails to cultivate an environment that can lead to the development of sensitivity to the needs of others as well as trusting care relationships. It is basically a failure of the other nurses to meet the corrective factors focused on creating an environment that supports and protects the mental, social, and spiritual wellness of the individual. Despite these, the nurses, as care recipients, link their improved outcomes based on the care provided despite the negative experiences. These are basically the nurses’ personal perspectives, and they are attached to care delivery due to their professional roles as caregivers. As a result, it is hard to objectively assess the validity of the claims made by the nurses and how effective Watson’s Theory can be when applied in practice to improve patient outcomes. In addition, it also shows the inconsistencies that exist in the use of the Theory to care for different types of patients and the lack of common standards for care delivery based on the Theory across various patients.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the findings presented by Durgun Ozan et al. (2022) clearly show how, despite its weaknesses, Watson’s Theory of Human Caring can be a valuable framework for providing care and supporting patient recovery. However, there is a need to explore its universality in diverse nursing settings, such as when the roles are reversed and the nurses become care recipients.

References

Durgun Ozan, Y., Çiçek, Ö., & Anuş Topdemir, E. (2022). Experiences of nurses diagnosed with COVID-19 and recovered: A qualitative research. Journal of Nursing Management, 30(8). https://doi.org/10.1111/

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Assignment Prompt
Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring is a conceptual thread in the USU College of Nursing’s curriculum framework. The purpose of this assignment is to offer students the opportunity to be exposed to human caring science while providing them with the skills of critical appraisal of evidence.
1. Students will select one nursing research article that focuses on a study that used Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring as a theoretical framework.

Critical Appraisal of Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring

2. Students should use as a guide, an appropriate Rapid Critical Appraisal Checklist found in Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt (2019; pp. 708-722).
3. The critiques are to be informal, although correct grammar, spelling, etc., are expected. The critique should include a brief description of the study that was reviewed and should address elements of the study relevant to the critique.
4. Students will provide a written critique on a critical appraisal of the elements relevant to the nature of the research study, such as type of study, design, quality of the study, and rationale, as well as implications for practice and further research and/or evaluation.
The grade will be based on accuracy, level of content and structure of the document.
Examples of research articles incorporating Jean Watson’s theory in the USU online library:
Durgun Ozan, Y., & Okumus, H. (2017). Effects of Nursing Care Based on
Watson’s theory of human caring on anxiety, distress, and coping when
infertility treatment fails: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Caring
Sciences, 6(2), 95-109.
Rossillao, K. (2018). Caritas education: Theory to practice…2018
National Teaching Institute research abstracts presented at the AACN
National Teaching Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, May 21-24, 2018.
American Journal of Critical Care, 27(3), e 14 – e15.

Expectations
• Due: Monday, 11:59 pm PT
• Length: 4-5 pages (including title and reference pages)
• Format: Formal paper in APA 7th ed format
• Citations: If used (not required), cite references according to APA 7th ed.
• File name: Save the file with Student First Name_Last Name_Appraisal
See the USU NUR Writing Assignment Rubric for additional details and point weighting.