Analysis Of Jean Watson's Theory Of Caring

Therapeutic communication is an essential skill to possess as a nurse. It is the nurse’s responsibility to interact with their patients in a way that treats the body as well as the mind and spirit. Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring is a central theory to nursing practice. This theory incorporates many aspects of therapeutic communication. Jean Watson describes the Ten Caritas Processes, all of which revolve around the idea of healing the person as a whole, instead of just the body. She describes the fifth process as “allowing for expression of positive and negative feelings – authentically listening to another person’s story” (Watson 2016). Therapeutic communication requires the nurse to empathize with the patient and create an environment that …show more content…
While the patient was talking about his frustration when feeling ignored by his nurses and doctors, his eyebrows were somewhat furrowed. The patient had otherwise neutral facial expressions. I gathered that this was because his situation is currently better and his needs are being met. During the second statement, the patient’s nonverbal communication remained the same while he was continuing to describe his situation. Then, as he began to tell his joke, his expression changed as he smiled and laughed at his situation. This indicates that his statement was intended as a joke instead of a statement he considers to be true.
His communication was consistent with both his diagnosis and treatment. The patient was visibly unhappy with the treatment he received from the hospitals he was at before his current facility. The patient was telling of an unhappy situation and his facial expressions reflected his unhappiness. Then, later in the conversation, he expressed pleasure due to his ulcer …show more content…
(Potter, et. al. 2017) I did not know what else to say, which led me to comment on the fact that his joke was funny. This is not considered a therapeutic technique. Humor can often be used as a therapeutic technique, when used correctly. (Potter, et. al. 2017) Commenting that he was funny instead of contributing something more useful to the conversation could have halted the conversation all together making communication awkward between the patient and me. Automatic responses have the tendency to make patients feel like they aren’t being heard. Nurses who aren’t actually listening to their patients, but feel the need to verbalize something, most often produce automatic responses. This kind of response tends to close communication between the nurse and the