Dr. Jean Watson was born Margaret Jean Harmon during the baby boomer generation in a small town in the Appalachian Mountains
of West Virginia in the 1940s. She graduated from the Lewis Gale School of Nursing in Roanoke, Virginia in1961. She ardently and quickly progressed through her nursing education earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964, a master of science in nursing in psychiatric and mental health nursing in 1966, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology and counseling in 1973, all from the University of Colorado at Boulder (McEwen& Wills, 2007).
Dr. Watson married Douglas Watson after nursing school in 1961 and moved to her husband’s home state of Colorado where she had two daughters in 1963 and 1967. She ardently and quickly progressed through her nursing education at the University of Colorado earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964, a master of science in nursing in psychiatric and mental health nursing in 1966, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology and counseling in 1973. (McEwen & Wills, 2007). Dr. Watson is a distinguished professor of nursing and holds an endowed chair in caring science at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is founder of the original Center for Human Caring in Colorado and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She served as dean of nursing at the University Health Sciences Center and is a past president of the National League for Nursing. She is the author/co-author of more than 14 books on caring and holds six honorary doctorates. Recently she founded Watson Caring Science Institute, a non-profit organization developed to help spread her nursing theory and ideas (http://nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Jean-Watson.php).
Dr. Watson developed one of the newest nursing grand theories, her descriptive theory of caring in 1979 incorporating spiritual dimensions into nursing practice. She contributes two major life changes in a short time to influencing her more broadened and advanced theory of caring science in nursing published in 2005; the loss of her left eye in an accident in 1997 and the loss of her husband of thirty seven
years in 1998 (Kuuriku, 2010). Dr. Watson’s theory focuses on developing new knowledge in human behavior and human interaction and utilizing holistic approaches of nursing into healthcare practice.
of West Virginia in the 1940s. She graduated from the Lewis Gale School of Nursing in Roanoke, Virginia in1961. She ardently and quickly progressed through her nursing education earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964, a master of science in nursing in psychiatric and mental health nursing in 1966, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology and counseling in 1973, all from the University of Colorado at Boulder (McEwen& Wills, 2007).
Dr. Watson married Douglas Watson after nursing school in 1961 and moved to her husband’s home state of Colorado where she had two daughters in 1963 and 1967. She ardently and quickly progressed through her nursing education at the University of Colorado earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1964, a master of science in nursing in psychiatric and mental health nursing in 1966, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology and counseling in 1973. (McEwen & Wills, 2007). Dr. Watson is a distinguished professor of nursing and holds an endowed chair in caring science at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She is founder of the original Center for Human Caring in Colorado and is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She served as dean of nursing at the University Health Sciences Center and is a past president of the National League for Nursing. She is the author/co-author of more than 14 books on caring and holds six honorary doctorates. Recently she founded Watson Caring Science Institute, a non-profit organization developed to help spread her nursing theory and ideas (http://nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Jean-Watson.php).
Dr. Watson developed one of the newest nursing grand theories, her descriptive theory of caring in 1979 incorporating spiritual dimensions into nursing practice. She contributes two major life changes in a short time to influencing her more broadened and advanced theory of caring science in nursing published in 2005; the loss of her left eye in an accident in 1997 and the loss of her husband of thirty seven
years in 1998 (Kuuriku, 2010). Dr. Watson’s theory focuses on developing new knowledge in human behavior and human interaction and utilizing holistic approaches of nursing into healthcare practice.