Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

by Jean Watson

In the evolution of the nursing profession, the phrases nursing care, therapeutic care, caring for others, and related expressions are used by nurses to describe their professional service to others. Members of our society have different thoughts and role expectations about these phrases in relation to the kind of care they receive from nurses. Furthermore, these expressions hold different meanings for nurses in their various care-giving roles, such as to individual clients, families, and community groups they serve. Care-giving and care-receiving roles of nurses have different sets of expectations and behaviors. It is well, there, that members of the nursing profession begin systematically to clarify the diverse functions and cultural values related to the concepts of care, caring, and nursing care. The concept of care is probably one of the least understood ideas used by professional and nonprofessional people, yet it is probably one of the most important concepts to be understood by human groups. It is a word with multiple social usages in the American culture, and has other meanings in other world cultures. The terms care, caring, and nursing care have both symbolic and functional meanings as they are used by caregivers and care-recipients. Nursing care also has a general, special meaning to nurses, and is often taken for granted in nurses' thoughts and action patterns. It is time that we study the implicit and explicit meanings associated with the concepts of care and caring so that we can reduce their ambiguities. Furthermore, the humanistic, scientific, and linguistic meanings related to nursing care and caring behaviors in any culture remain a most fascinating area of study for nurses.

344 pages, Paperback

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.