Contributions of Jean Watson's theory to holistic critical thinking of nurses

Abstract

Jean Watson's theory is based on the humanistic aspects and on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of care, considering the characteristics of each individual and their bio-psycho-spiritual-social needs, which can contribute fundamentally to the development of holistic critical thinking and to the role of the nurse in care, teaching and research fields.

Experience of the nursing team concerning the care of patients with meningitis attended in emergency department

“…The professional must be qualified for the nursing exercise based on the scientific and intellectual rigor and ruled by ethical principles, that consider the biopsychosocial dimensions and its determinants. [23] To give care and actively hearing the patient and his relative is important to reduce de anxiety levels and assure a humanized and holistic nursing care. The humanized assistance favors the establishment of a therapeutic bond, which reflects in better communication about the understanding of the disease, its risks, complications and standard-precaution forms, which, in turn, ease the therapeutic adhesion and the contribution of the patient and his companion.…”

As representações sociais de Iemanjá para seus devotos: apontamentos para o cuidado de Enfermagem

“…Os elementos que envolvem Iemanjá, principalmente a fé, podem ser imprescindíveis para vinculação, compreensão e participação do paciente em dinâmicas assistências de Enfermagem. Uma vez que o enfermeiro saiba observar tais elementos e inserir no seu cotidiano do cuidado, atrelado a teorias, como a de Watson [23,24], por exemplo, a melhora na condição clínica ou simplesmente a compreensão do caráter, por vezes paliativo de um cuidado, será fundamental na relação enfermeiro-paciente.…”

Florence Nightingale’s theory and her contributions to holistic critical thinking in nursing

“…Like Florence, it is worth highlighting other nursing theorists, such as Watson, Horta, King and Leninger, who impacted society by considering not only the physical aspects of a human being, but also the interconnection between each individual's body, mind and spirit. It must be considered that, in the last three decades, nursing has gone from a model focused on physiological and scientific aspects to a model focused on nursing science, care and healing, seeking to consider the cultural aspects, values and beliefs connected to the act to care (10) .…”

“…In Brazil, we can describe this movement as a paradigm shift from a biomedical-technicist model to a care model based on the art and science of technical-scientific and humanistic care (10) . This movement boosted the emphasis on Florence Nightingale's philosophy and teachings, awakening in nurses the capacity and a need to think holistically using the brain, heart and hands in creating healing environments, in order to effectively take care of the trinomial dimensional body-mind-spirit.…”

“…In this direction, nurses who develop holistic critical thinking in nursing training will have better performance by applying cognitive, behavioral and habits of the mind and, consequently, Florence Nightingale's principles and theory. In this regard, it will be possible to care for individuals as a unique human being, i.e., singular, in order to consider the needs related to the physical body (physiological aspects), the mind (emotional aspects) and the spirit (spiritual aspects) (10) .…”