Application of Parse’s Theory of Human Becoming to the Case of Mrs. R.

2245 Words5 Pages

Hemiplegia, a condition in which one-half of a patient's body is paralyzed usually results from stroke or cerebrovascular accident. Individuals affected by hemiplegia have difficulty dealing with frustration, swallowing, walking, forming words, dressing, feeding self and bowel/urine incontinence. Quality of life from the individual’s own perspective is paramount because hemiplegia leads to self denial, self care deficit and need for minimal to total dependence. Therefore the goal of treatment is to help the individual reach his or her fullest potential for independence, functioning and accepting who they are as individuals.

In this paper, I will reflect an interpretation of Mrs. R.’s story using Parse’s ‘theory of human becoming’ as a framework, the relevance of this theory in nursing practice will also be discussed.

Overview of Parse’s Theory of Human Becoming.

The human becoming theory posits quality of life from each person's own perspective as the goal of nursing practice. It is a human science theory that views individuals as an open, unitary and free-willed beings that co-creates their health and interact with their environments. The human becoming theory views nursing as a basic science with a unique knowledge base. Parse defined unitary as the indivisible, unpredictable and ever-changing part of human that makes choices while living a paradoxical pattern of becoming in mutual process with the universe (Parse, 2004). Health is living one’s own chosen values; it is the quality of life experienced and described by the person and it cannot be given, guarded, manipulated, judged or diagnosed. It is a process of becoming that is unfolding and cannot be prescribed or described by societal norms but by the individual living t...

... middle of paper ...

...d application

St. Louis, MS: Mosby

Canadian Nurses Association, (2008). Code of Ethics for Registered nurses (Centennial ed.).

Ottawa: Author

Mitchell, G. J, and Copplestone, C. (1990). Applying Parse’s Theory to Perioperative Nursing: A

Non-traditional Approach. AORN Journal. Vol. 51, 3.

Parse, R. R. (1981). Man living health: A theory of nursing. NY: John Wiley.

Parse, R. R. (1987). Nursing science: Major paradigms, theories, and critiques.

Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.

Parse, R.R. (1990). Health: A personal Commitment. Nursing Science Quarterly, 3, 136-140

Parse, R.R. (1995). Illuminations: The human becoming theory in practice and research.

NY: National League for Nursing

Parse, R. R. (2004). The many meaning of unitary: A plea for clarity. Nursing quarterly, 17, 293.

More about Application of Parse’s Theory of Human Becoming to the Case of Mrs. R.

Open Document