Our hospital is introducing the Jean Watson method of nursing to us. They say it is required that we attend this seminar. Some nurses are having issues with it because it is "new age" and almost cult-like in nature. Has anyone heard of this?? Are you being required to do it? I think it's strange. I am doing some research online about it and I don't care for it. Also, on her website she is at the Mary Baker Eddy library when she is speaking in one video. Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of the Christian Science religion, which to my knowledge, doesn't approve of medical care!
I am a Christian, and I feel it should be ok to refuse to get this training about Jean Watson's "theory" if I don't believe in it.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=fungez;4416223]. . .So, go. If they bring up mysticism and crystal healing, tell them that violates your personal beliefs and insults your intelligence, and see how they respond. And if they don't it won't be an issue and you'll have earned some extra money and maybe a free meal, too.
Yep, those were my thoughts, too. My employer sent us to a seminar (not based on Jean Watson) run by a doctor-nurse couple that was just so out there I stopped wondering how to work it into my job about 90 minutes in. They were wearing Birkenstocks and Indian prints, went on and on about how a flower is really a metaphysical being of light or something based on Quantum theory which I tried to figure out but decided I would just look at it as a flower and leave it at that.
Then they had a lecture based on those Avery colored dots you get at the office supply store. Sticking the dots all over the place to surprise your co-workers and put a smile on their face. They gave all of us a package of dots and a mood ring. No I am not kidding. Beat running my rear end off all day anyway.
Yep, those were my thoughts, too. My employer sent us to a seminar (not based on Jean Watson) run by a doctor-nurse couple that was just so out there I stopped wondering how to work it into my job about 90 minutes in. They were wearing Birkenstocks and Indian prints, went on and on about how a flower is really a metaphysical being of light or something based on Quantum theory which I tried to figure out but decided I would just look at it as a flower and leave it at that.
Then they had a lecture based on those Avery colored dots you get at the office supply store. Sticking the dots all over the place to surprise your co-workers and put a smile on their face. They gave all of us a package of dots and a mood ring. No I am not kidding. Beat running my rear end off all day anyway.
It reads almost like satire, doesn't it. You just can't make this stuff up.
It's be funny except that some people take it seriously.
I think the problem here is that people get used to doing something a certain way and god forbid something new gets presented to them. All hell breaks loose. You haven't even gone to the seminar yet and already you're saying because you are a Christian you feel it's okay to not take part. I highly doubt your hospital is going to require you to perform "crystal healing" and take part in "mysticism". It's probably just going to be about understanding the patient better, etc.
Well, I spent some time reading her stuff instead of sleeping.
Holy Cow, it's all about CARING. And that many aspects of nursing CARE cannot be quantified, but are important, and worthwhile uses of our time. Imagine that!
Must be very scary to incorporate this into ANY religious belief, because there is no CARING in religion....
Specializes in Triage, MedSurg, MomBaby, Peds, HH.
I am a Christian who actually chose Jean Watson's theory to present in my leadership class. Additionally, I exchanged emails with her and found her to be a very intelligent, compassionate human being. Most of her ideas dovetailed quite nicely with Christianity, which is basically about forgiveness and doing unto others as you would have done unto you.
As a Christian, I interact with and am friends with people of MANY faiths. Several of my oldest friends are either agnostic or atheists. I love them regardless, as Christ asks me to do. No one is asking you to perform New Age crystal healing here or to sacrifice a goat: this is still nursing, a science as well as an art.
Watson just asks you to consciously and genuinely care for your patient. Not everyone can do that, and her theory is too spiritual for some tastes; I understand that. But I wouldn't eschew her theory simply because you are Christian.
Jean Watson is one of the nursing theorists you learn about in nursing school - although in my ADN program it was simply a quick mention of all the nursing theorists whereas in my BSN class it was an entire class.
The (conservative) Christian University I attended used Jean Watson's theories as the base for their nursing program and in every class you had to write a paper that included something from her theories. I've met her and heard her speak. While she is a bit like an old hippie, she is not part of a cult. She is very nice.
As to where she spoke that one time - she speaks all over the place. As I mentioned, she spoke at my university.
Just go. It won't hurt you. Really.
steph
edited to add: Jean doesn't teach healing with crystals or sacrificing goats for healing.
Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.
My school used Watson's carative factors too. It did encourage us to look at our patients as people and not just disease processes; and to realize our priorities were not necessarily those of the people we cared for. Now, having said that, as seniors we HAD to go listen to her live and she did seem a little airy-fairy much of the talk.
My school used Watson's carative factors too. It did encourage us to look at our patients as people and not just disease processes; and to realize our priorities were not necessarily those of the people we cared for. Now, having said that, as seniors we HAD to go listen to her live and she did seem a little airy-fairy much of the talk.
Like I said - "an old hippie".
There is an old and long thread about Jean . .. .from 2002.
Personally, I'd go. Seriously, you might learn something new. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And if it were me, I'd educate myself before I went and challenge the speaker. I'd love to do this with the Studer Group.
"So, Quint, I keep hearing about how these hourly rounding logs have proven to reduce falls and call light use. Yet I can only find one study, and it was sponsored by your group. Couldn't that be considered research bias?"
OR
"Well, Quint, I personally believe that calling patient care "customer service" is ultimately counterproductive. We are caregivers and healers, not customer service reps. What's your response to that?
I would so love to be a mouse in the corner if a nurse would actually do this. No, wait---I'd sell tickets! That would be FUN!
You brought up a very intriguing point, Fungez. I've studied Watson a bit and I find her warm and fuzzy focus on caring to be, in many ways, the antithesis of assembly line health care as advocated by some health care administrators. If I am not mistaken, Watson puts a great deal of emphasis on the nurse's presence, the caring relationship, and taking time to sit and LISTEN to the patient rather than just rushing from one bed to the next. It seems to me that viewing nurses as caregivers and healers is far more congruent with Watson's Caring Science than it is with the all too prevalent view in many places as nurses as customer service reps or smiling waitresses dispensing pills and bedpans instead of the daily special at Applebee's or Friday's.
So if an institution is really adhering to Watson's theory, then it should allow for smaller nurse-patient ratios so that the nurse isn't rushed and can take the time for a therapeutic conversation and to address the whole person---the psychosocial and spiritual concerns, not just the physical ailments.
OP, I understand your reservations but do please look at this with an open mind. The best case scenario is that there is a genuine commitment by someone in your hospital's hierarchy to stop the depersonalization of health care and promote nursing as more than just attending to the physical needs of the patient. The most likely worst case scenario is that there will be lip-service paid to the notion of "caring" and that nothing will change or nurses will get lambasted if they don't "care" enough and "caring" will become just another task in the name of "good customer service".
As a Christian I see a lot of Christianity in what she says but I also see elements of Taoism, Buddhism, and Native American religious beliefs. My interpretation of her openness to other spiritual beliefs is that she's trying to explain the spiritual aspect of nursing in a way that can be amenable to nurses and patients of many faith traditions. However, when I was at a more spiritually conservative place in my life, I had reservations about the spiritual aspects in Watson's theory, so I do get where you are with your discomfort. My best suggestion is to read what you can, approach it with an open mind, and wait to see what happens in your institution. Again, if your place of employment is trying to promote caring, there should not be any incompatibility with any beliefs or faith traditions. If someone is trying to promote complimentary therapies, some of which might be incompatible with your beliefs, you may be challenged to stand up for your beliefs while not coming off as someone who is closed-minded. KWIM?
I hope you are able to work through this without compromising your belief system.
Thank you moogie, your post was great. One of the nurses who went to this class a few days ago said she was actually scared when she walked into the room. The lights were very low, fake candles, bowls of some kind with water in them...and the speaker was always talking in a monotone voice. It sounded like brainwashing to me! The nurse also said they used way too many words to describe Jean Watson's theory of caring. On one hand, it sounds way too strange to me...the way it is presented. On the other hand I would be getting paid to sit around and listen to this stuff, and they provide meals!
I am going to ask all of my co-workers who go what they thought before I make a decision. I don't think management can fire a nurse over refusing to attend if they say it's mandatory...can they? Also, when nurses are going to this class, it is leaving some floors short-staffed!
I don't think management can fire a nurse over refusing to attend if they say it's mandatory...can they? !
Yes, they can. That's the definition of the word "mandatory." Anybody who doesn't comply, can be fired, with your employment record stating that you would have no chance of being rehired at that facility in the future. They might choose not to fire you, but they can do so if they choose. They might choose to do nothing ... or they might just give you bad performance evaluations and "ride you pretty hard" until you quit. They will have lots of options as to how they handle anyone's refusal to participate in mandatory education or to practice according the chosen philosphy/theory/practice model of the hospital.
I think you are blowing this waaaayyyy out of proportion. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if you sit through a class in which you disagree with the speaker. We've all had to attend some classes we didn't like at some point in our lives. That's just part of life ... and part of being an employee. (Personally, I hate Studer, but I didn't make a big deal about it when my boss asked me to read one of his books. I read it. I found a few things I agree with -- and several things I disagree with. But it didn't hurt me to read the book.)
You can go to the class and choose to buy in on not buy in to whatever is said there. But you will not be able to make an informed choice about the new practice model until you take a look at it with an open mind. Since your employer values this material enough to pay for you all to attend, you should go and learn about it so that you can make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to continue to work for that institution. Quitting your job or inviting them to fire you without ever hearing what they have to say will only hurt your career.
nursel56
7,115 Posts
Yep, those were my thoughts, too. My employer sent us to a seminar (not based on Jean Watson) run by a doctor-nurse couple that was just so out there I stopped wondering how to work it into my job about 90 minutes in. They were wearing Birkenstocks and Indian prints, went on and on about how a flower is really a metaphysical being of light or something based on Quantum theory which I tried to figure out but decided I would just look at it as a flower and leave it at that.
Then they had a lecture based on those Avery colored dots you get at the office supply store. Sticking the dots all over the place to surprise your co-workers and put a smile on their face. They gave all of us a package of dots and a mood ring. No I am not kidding. Beat running my rear end off all day anyway.