A metaparadigm is commonly described as a set of concepts and propositions that set forth a general statement of a discipline. The central focus of the profession of nursing is developed around the idea of providing different dimensions of care to individuals in need by use of science and the promotion of health. As follows, nurses must always take a holistic approach towards the care of their clients and to maintain the same approach among all clients; the meta-paradigm of nursing was developed. The metaparadigm of nursing was first developed by Florence Nightingale and has since been adopted by all nursing professionals. This is a general concept that has developed over time to define the discipline of nursing. The structure for the knowledge The internal environment is the individual’s own, emotional. This can be achieved by providing medical practices such as assessing, diagnosing, implementing and evaluating. However, the overreaching goal of nursing is to provide the person with the support they need and to build on the strengths and natural abilities of the individuals while involving their families and communities in their path to healing. Fawcett makes a valid statement about Overall, having taken a closer look into the meta-paradigm of nursing it a multidimensional concept that aims to address and enhance the practice of Every individual’s perspective of well-being varies according to how they define the term health. For a person living with a terminal disease, their definition of health may be completely different than a person who is living without any illnesses. Therefore, the term health is contextual and exits on a continuum and does not have an absolute definition. The World Health Organization describes health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Taking this into consideration when individualizing care with each client allows the nurse to take into a full understanding of how the client views health and
The second concept, the environment, is the setting that can be controlled by the nurse or an individual to augment comfort. (Masters, 2017). In a hospital setting this could include dimming the lights, providing a low stimulation environment, or limiting visitors. Another example may be removing an individual from a situation that is not conducive to healing. Health is the third concept and refers to the orchestration and collaboration of those involved in assisting the patient to a state of well-being. Lastly, the concept of nursing describes the utilization of the nursing process of assessment, planning, intervention to meet the comfort needs of the individual and evaluating the effectiveness of those
These include nursing, personal, health, and environment. These meta-paradigms are represented in Dr. Barnard’s Nursing PCI Model.
These four concepts play a very important role throughout the care in every single patient we are in contact with. The concept of person is used to represent each individual patient, such as a man or a woman (Chitty & Black, 2014). In the nursing profession, we know that every person is different in their own way from many different factors such as, genetics and environment. As a nurse, we incorporate the different factors that make a person who they are today. According to Chitty & Black (2014), the concept of environment includes all the influences or factors that impact the individual. The environment plays an important role in either promoting or interfering with the patient’s health. The environment can consist of many different systems, such as family, cultural, social and community systems. All these different systems can play a role in the patient’s health. The third major concept of the metaparadigm is health. The concept of health varies from person to person and day-to-day with many different factors included (Chitty & Black, 2014). Health includes every part that makes a person whole, which includes being able to perform their everyday tasks in life effectively. The last concept of the metaparadigm is nursing. Nursing, being the final concept includes all the previous concepts of person, environment and health to create a holistic approach (Chitty & Black, 2014). The holistic approach promotes the well-being of the mind, body and spirit in our
Thanks in part to the scientific and technological advances of todays’ society, enhanced medicinal treatment options are helping people battle illnesses and diseases and live longer than ever before. Despite these advances, however, many people with life threatening illnesses have needs and concerns that are unidentified and therefore unmet at the end of life, notes Arnold, Artin, Griffith, Person and Graham (2006, p. 62). They further noted that when these needs and concerns remain unmet, due in part to the failure of providers to correctly evaluate these needs, as well as the patients’ reluctance to discuss them (p. 63, as originally noted by Heaven & Maguire, 1997), a patient’s quality of life may be adversely affected. According to Bosma et al. (2010, p. 84), “Many generalist social work skills regarding counseling, family systems, community resources, and psychosocial assessments are relevant to working with patients and families with terminal illness”, thereby placing social workers in the distinctive position of being able to support and assist clients with end of life decisions and care planning needs. In fact, they further noted that at some point, “most social work practitioners will encounter adults, children, and families who are facing progressive life limiting illness, dying, death, or bereavement” (p. 79).
Every person’s needs must be recognized, respected, and filled if he or she must attain wholeness. The environment must attuned to that wholeness for healing to occur. Healing must be total or holistic if health must be restored or maintained. And a nurse-patient relationship is the very foundation of nursing (Conway et al 2011; Johnson, 2011). The Theory recognizes a person’s needs above all. It sets up the conducive environment to healing. It addresses and works on the restoration and maintenance of total health rather than only specific parts or aspect of the patient’s body or personality. And these are possible only through a positive healing relationship between the patient and the nurse (Conway et al, Johnson).
When it comes to narrowing down and discovering personal philosophies on nursing, one can look to the metaparadigm of nursing to assist in their search. The metaparadigm of nursing is a collection of four concepts that
My personal nursing philosophy and fundamental beliefs of nursing using the four meta-paradigms concepts: nature of human beings, health, environment, and nursing. First, I believe that the profession of nursing is all about the nature of human beings as people. Care involves the patient as a whole, not just as a disease process. Second, I believe that health is on the same continuum as illness. Health is more about quality of life. Third, it is also necessary to look beyond the patient to the environment in which he/she lives in. This is important because people come from different backgrounds and have their own story, we cannot separate patients from their environment because they are interrelated. Last, I think that nursing involves being with the individual patient and having an active roll with them. This process of being engaged in meaningful relationships requires we as nurses be actively
A metaparadigm is an overarching framework that provides a comprehensive perspective of a discipline. In nursing, this framework serves to distinguish the profession intellectually, comprising of four concepts which provide a foundation to the content and context of nursing theory and scope of practice (Lee & Fawcett, 2013; Masters, 2014; Schim, Benkert, Bell, Walker, & Danford, 2007). Namely, these foundational concepts are: person, environment, health, and nursing. Hence, the intent of this essay is to describe the four main concepts that make up nursing’s metaparadigm and discuss how they are used in practice, education and research.
Hospice Care refers to the focus on quality of care and life rather than treatment and curative options for someone and their disease. This type of care includes not only the patient, but also their family and physician. Dame Cicely Saunders states, “You matter because of who you are. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but also to live until you die.” With this quote, Saunders reflects what Hospice believes in and their commitment, or duty, for the patient. Patients who are terminally ill can be considered as patients with cancer, diabetes, and many more diseases. Very few cancer patients have a type of cancer that has a known cure, and unlike those patients many other cancer patients possess a type of cancer that is curable today. Terminally ill patients have to choose between continuing treatment or being provided with Hospice Care. Both hope and Hospice means that the patient can have both the benefit from treatments, which give them hope that the disease could be cured or at least reduce the symptoms, and Hospice Care, which provides the patients with relieve of pain and
Since its establishment as a profession more than a century ago, Nursing has been a source for numerous debates related to its course, methods and development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing definitions and theories have evolved over time. Furthermore it is in a constant process of being redefined.
This paper explores the personal philosophy I have as a nursing student and what I intend to convey throughout my nursing career. A philosophy is “an analysis of the grounds and concepts expressing fundamental beliefs (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.). Before entering into any profession it is important to evaluate your personal philosophy about the profession, as it pertains to values and principles in which believe in to guide your practice. The field of nursing is more than treating a physiological ailment, but it involves providing quality care for the individualized needs of each patient, hence being client centered. My philosophy of nursing integrates the importance of knowledge base practice of medicine, combined with addressing holistic needs of the patient and family, including the physical, psychological, cognitive, emotional, spiritual and social care (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network, 2010). Additionally, a vital aspect of nursing is effective interpersonal relationships with other healthcare professionals to promote quality patient care. Moreover, my philosophy includes the importance the client-nurse relationship to aid in health promotion to prevent illness and increase the level of health of clients.
The metaparadigm encompasses the major philosophical orientations of a discipline, the models and theories that guide research, and the empirical indicators that operationalize theoretical concepts. The purpose or function of the metaparadigm is to summarize the intellectual and social mission of the nursing discipline and place boundaries on the subject matter of that discipline (McEwen & Wills, 2014). The four metaparadigm of the discipline of nursing are person or client, environment, health, and nursing (Parker, 2001). A person or client is the recipient of nursing care. The environment is the internal or external surroundings that affect the client. Health is the degree of wellness or well-being that the client experiences. The nursing concept refers to the attributes and actions
Summary of the main points discussed and stating my an interpretation on its relevancy to contemporary professional nursing practice
Around the 1960s, nursing educational leaders wanted to formulate a nursing theory that contained knowledge and basic principles to guide future nurses’ in their practice (Thorne, 2010, p.64). Thus, Jacqueline Fawcett introduced the metaparadigm of nursing. Metaparadigm “identifies the concepts central to the discipline without relating them to the assumptions of a particular world view” (MacIntyre & Mcdonald, 2014). Fawcett’s metaparadigm of nursing included concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing that were interrelated. The metaparadigm ultimately contributed to conceptual framework to guide nurses to perform critical thinking and the nursing process in everyday experiences in clinical settings.
The nursing metaparadigm consist of the person, environment, health/illness, and nursing (Creasia &Frieberg, 2011). Persons are those individuals receiving nursing care, such as patients, families and communities (Creasia &Frieberg, 2011). Environment refers to the setting where nursing care is provided, as well as the surroundings and internal factors affecting the client (Creasia &Frieberg, 2011). Health and illness refer to the state of well being of the person and nursing refers to the actions taken to provide care for the person (Creasia &Frieberg, 2011).