Jean Watson's Theory

Joseph, I appreciate your insights and thoughts on Ms. W.'s care and your application of Watson's theory. Watson's theory combines both art and science and puts a spiritual emphasis on caring and healing moments (Masters, 2015). She believes transpersonal connections are reciprocal in nature, and therefore involve healing and caring for both the nurse and patient (Masters, 2015). In today's fast-paced world, it is very easy for nurses to get hung up on tasks. Watson maintains that while tasks are important, they are second to the caring factor in the nurse-patient connection (Masters, 2015). Waston developed 10 Caritas in which to establish the transpersonal caring connection. (Masters, 2015). In other words, regarding your diagnosis of imbalanced
(Masters, 2015). Maintaining nutritional balance is extremely important. Malnutrition is prevalent in oncology patients with an incidence ranging from 40-80% and may be caused by multiple factors (Lee, Leong & Lim, 2015). These include, but are not limited to the following: response to cancer treatment; emotional and psychological changes; food aversion due to altered tastes from the medications; pain; depression; reduced intake; and poor absorption. (Lee et al., 2015). The two caritas you addressed, in my opinion, are at the heart of healing. They are broad spectrum, if you will, and address many, if not all nursing diagnosis in the care of a patient with cancer, including ineffective coping, your other diagnosis.

Many variables, throughout the course of Ms. W treatment, may affect her nutritional health. Application of Watson's theory aims to holistically address Ms. W's treatment and nutritional concerns through the use of the other 10 caritas.