A nursing experience of applying Watson's caring theory to a primary caregiver in an ICU

The authors present a case study of a nursing experience applying Watson's caring theory to a critical patient's primary caregiver in the intensive care unit. Data were collected by observation, discussion, and telephone interviews between 20th April and 10th May 2004. Major nursing problems were: (1) anxiety, (2) anticipatory grieving, and (3) poor social support system. The authors describe the details of the primary intervention effort, using Watson's caring theory in accordance with the spirit of nursing as conducted by the Mutual Confidence Foundation, providing individual protective nursing, reducing the caregiver's anxiety, facilitating constructive anticipatory grieving, and providing appropriate social resources. This relieved the caregiver's stress caused by physical, mental, emotional and social factors.