Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring, Revised Edition

by Jean Watson

Jean Watson's first edition of Nursing, now considered a classic, introduced the science of human caring and quickly became one of the most widely used and respected sources of conceptual models for nursing. This completely new edition offers a contemporary update and the most current perspectives on the evolution of the original philosophy and science of caring from the field's founding scholar.

A core concept for nurses and the professional and non-professional people they interact with, "care" is one of the field's least understood terms, enshrouded in conflicting expectations and meanings. Although its usages vary among cultures, caring is universal and timeless at the human level, transcending societies, religions, belief systems, and geographic boundaries, moving from Self to Other to community and beyond, affecting all of life.

This new edition reflects on the universal effects of caring and connects caring with love as the primordial moral basis both for the philosophy and science of caring practices and for healing itself. It introduces Caritas Processes, offers centering and mediation exercises on an included audio CD, and provides other energetic and reflective models to assist students and practitioners in cultivating a new level of Caritas Nursing in their work and world.

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Dr. Jean Watson is Distinguished Professor of Nursing and holds an endowed Chair in Caring Science at the University of Colorado Denver and Anschutz Medical Center Campus. She is founder of the original Center for Human Caring in Colorado and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

She is a widely published author and recipient of several awards and honors, including an international Kellogg Fellowship in Australia, a Fulbright Research Award in Sweden.

Clinical nurses and academic programs throughout the world use her published works on the philosophy and theory of human caring and the art and science of caring in nursing.

As author/co-author of over 14 books on caring, her latest books range from empirical measurements of caring, to new postmodern philosophies of caring and healing. Her books have been American Journal of Nursing books of the year awards, seek to bridge paradigms as well as point toward transformative models for the 21st century. In 2008 Dr. Watson created a non-profit foundation: Watson Caring Science Institute, to further the work of Caring Science in the world (www.watsoncaringscience.org).

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

required reading in my college. Years later I have finally begun to digest the real intent.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

2008 edition--yay for amazon--ordered it last night and it arrived less than 24 hours later...got some reading to do!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a "caring science" residency program, coming from the perspective as a marriage and family therapist. Lots of the material transfers. Sometimes got heavy in the nursing jargon and felt a little choppy in the transitions between clinical language and Eastern medicine concepts in very general terms.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives new insights into the "whys" and "hows" of nursing that go far beyond the task-orientation many of us find ourselves swimming in.