One of the common theories in undergraduate education is Jean Watson's called the “Human Caring Approach.” It was developed between 1975 and 1979 while the scholar was working at the University of Colorado at the time when the nursing practice was gaining momentum. The theory's main idea is that nursing is based on care, where energy from the mind, the flesh, and the spirit has to be integrated for both the patient and nurses to benefit ( Sitzman, 2017) . Watson insisted that nurses are the ‘hearts' to healing, meaning that they play a central role. Nevertheless, they have to be treated like humans too in that they deal with their emotional strains first before helping other people. Therefore, the main idea, in theory, is that human caring means that nurse has to deal with personal issues and later help patients.
The human caring theory is based on the concepts that nurses should ensure personal care before handling patients and the Caritas processes that enable them to offer quality care to clients ( Sitzman, 2017) . Concerning self-care, the theory insists that the nursing profession demands physical, emotional, and spiritual energy, which makes it stressful. On the other hand, the stress would prevent the nurses from delivering quality services and thus not offer the expected human care. Watson thus provides several self-care activities that help nurses deal with emotional stress. One is that mistakes in the workplace should be handled as learning opportunities and not condemning points ( Sitzman, 2017) . For example, when a practitioner mishandles patients leading to negative outcomes, instead of nurses judging each other harshly, they should find solutions that would prevent reoccurrence of the problem. It would help nurses work in a peaceful environment and thus control emotional stress.
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The other self-care guideline outlined in theory is that nurses should have deep breaths each time they wash their hands. The activity would help them live in the present and thus reduce the chances of emotional imbalance. Also, nurses should pause for at least thirty seconds before beginning their shifts. During this time, one should formulate the day's goals and objectives. The activity is helpful as it would enable one to stay focused throughout the day, and thus offer quality human care. When the above aspects are observed, nurses would be at peace with themselves and thus handle patients’ needs rightly ( Watson, 2018) . Watson after that provides ten Caritas processes, which would lead to quality human care. One is that nurses should be kind and compassion for self and others. The quality would make nurses love the self and later extend it to other people; thus being compassion is caregiving.
Secondly, it is on the authentic presence and the honor of the inner life of self and others. In these cases, nurses should be fully present in helping patients, in that their mind, body, and soul are focused on meeting the needs of the patients. Sensitivity is also addressed, whereby nurses should keep cultivating personal and spirituality so that to manage the various social and cultural challenges, they face every day ( Watson, 2018) . The point means that nurses should get ready for challenges that arise when different cultures interact in a setting. The development of a caring relationship is outlined in the human caring theory. Nurses should not only offer care to patients but also establish a relationship with them because it forms a foundation of a holistic type of care. Watson claims that care providers should also express both the negative and positives while dealing with patients. However, this has to be carefully done as it would lead to negative outcomes especially when disrespect is noted ( Watson, 2018) . Other ideas raised in theory are problem-solving, transpersonal teaching, support environment, human needs assistance, and spiritual aspects.
The terms used in theory differ from the general use, which would lead to misinterpretation. The expression ‘human care' generally refers to acts of kindness, compassion, and assistance to other people ( Revels, Goldberg, & Watson, 2016) . For example, a layperson would understand that Watson aimed to assist nurses in improving the wellbeing of patients, through processes like listening to them, establishing a reliable relationship and offering holistic care. Based on the above concepts, the terms, in theory, do not refer to such type of care. Instead, the words refer to the self-care that nurses should ensure and also show to patients. Watson aims to insist that nurses are human beings too and therefore need care and support before they handle patients ( Revels et al., 2016) . The reason for the stand is that nursing is a stressing profession because all kinds of energy are needed to perform as required.
The other source of misinterpretation regarding the terms used would be on the application. Generally, human care means the physical aspect of ensuring that a person's parts are functioning as required. However, the theory goes beyond the terms as it relates to other broad concepts in human health. For example, the approach would be applied while promoting relational learning and education to the public. The sensitivity idea explained above would be useful, as nurses would not discriminate any person based on age, gender or sex. Also, the sensitivity would also promote public awareness, an idea not evident in the terms ( Revels et al., 2016) . When the public awareness is ensured, most of the illnesses would be controlled, which would lead to a lesser number of clients in hospitals, and thus nurses would get ample time in dealing with clients. The other hidden meaning in the terms relates to the concept of nursing in human caring. Even though the terms would imply that nurses should offer care to patients, the deep meaning indicates that treating is a two-way approach, where both the nurses and clients benefit from the care given ( Revels et al., 2016) . Therefore, one should have a deep understanding of the human caring theory, to avoid misinterpretation of terms.
In conclusion, the nursing theory addressed is human caring approach developed by Watson. The approach's main idea is that nurses should take care of the self, before handling issues of the patients. It would control the common emotional stress that they go through that contributes to negative treatment outcomes. Concerning nurses’ self-care concept Watson's theory claims that nurses should consider mistakes as learning experiences rather than condemning each other. They should also take regular deep breaths and pause for some time before the start of duties to meditate on the day's goals. The activities would enable them to control emotional stress and thus get fit to handle patients. The theory has also outlined ten Caritas such as compassion, authentic presence, problem-solving, sensitivity, spiritual aspects among others, which contribute to quality human care. The paper has also addressed sources of misinterpretation on the words used in theory, where Watson uses simple words but explains deep concepts. Thus, one should understand the theory to ensure that misunderstanding is prevented.
References
Revels, A., Goldberg, L., & Watson, J. (2016). Caring Science: A Theoretical Framework for Palliative Care in the Emergency Department. International Journal Of Human Caring , 20 (4), 206-212. doi: 10.20467/1091-5710.20.4.206
Sitzman, K. (2017). Theory-Guided Self-Care for Mitigating Emotional Strain in Nursing: Watson’s Caring Science. International Journal of Human Caring, 21 (2), 66-76. doi:10.20467/humancaring-d-17-00009.1
Watson, J. (2018). Unitary Caring Science – Universals of Human Caring and Global Micro practices of Caritas. Napolisana Campania . doi: 10.32549/opi-nsc-22
