Metaparadigm as Related to the Theory of Comfort Essay

Naidoo and Wills(2001, p.47) “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ - WHO (1946).” This definition falls into a holistic way of defining health, which believes that there are more areas to look at when thinking of health than just simply the absence of a disease. It considers the cause of why someone is ill and not just simply about ’fixing it’.

Health a continuum of wellness to illness, dynamic in nature, that is constantly subject to change. Optimal wellness or stability indicates that total system needs are being met. A reduced state of wellness is the result of unmet

Most often than not health is used synonymously with wellness. It can be assumed that when a person is healthy then they are well. Thus, wellness and healthy can be used interchangeably. The UC Davis Student health and counseling services explains that wellness has eight dimensions: “occupational, emotional, spiritual, environmental, financial, physical, social, and intellectual. Each dimension of wellness is interrelated with another and they are all equally vital in the pursuit of optimum health”. Health’s the body’s ability to adapt to a variety of stresses or challenges maintaining a state of equilibrium that is physical, mental, and emotional. Based on the following information it can be easily reasoned that health should be considered a basic human right. Difficulty accessing healthy food based off of geographic location, denied access to healthcare treatments based off of individuals economic capacity, and denied access to health care based off of where a person is born should not happen. Health does not consist of one concept but rather a combination of comprehensive subjects that form the cycle of everyday life.

Environment: Environment is defined as landscape or geography in which an individual resides. Environment plays a big part of what makes an individual who they are. This concept may also affect a person’s psychological and physical health.

In this paper, the author will share her views, values, and beliefs about the four main concepts of the nursing metaparadigm which includes the person, health, nursing and environment. There are many important components that encompass what nursing care is. Nursing is not only a science that focuses on a disease process but also an art form that works to heal all areas of a patient including the body, mind, and spirit.

First of all the definition of metaparadigm is a set of theories or ideas that provide structure for how a discipline should function. Furthermore, for a nursing discipline, these theories consist of four basic concepts: the patient as a whole, the patient’s health and well-being, the patient’s environment and the nursing responsibilities (Fawcett & Lee, 2015). The Metaparadigm is important to nurse theory because is encompassed the keys concept of nursing theory; it is the areas of focus of patient care. Therefore, nursing impacts the health of individuals, families, groups, and populations through situated caring which shows level of emotional involvement in the nurse-client relationship. The care structure considers the person’s spiritual

There are four basic metaparadigms patient, nurse, health and environment. “A metaparadigm is the world view of a discipline – the view that distinguishes the focus of a discipline. A metaparadigm, which is thought to be the most abstract viewpoint of a discipline, is made up of concepts that define the discipline” (Butts & Rich, 2011. p.93 para. 1).

This paper presents an analysis of Kolcaba’s middle range nursing theory, comfort theory (CT), using the method delineated by Meleis (2012). The nature of CT and its conformity to established standards are examined with regard to the following categories: the theorist, paradigmatic origins, and internal dimensions. This paper includes elements of a previous critique of the CT, conducted as part of the knowledge and theory development in nursing course at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University. Other theories which could be utilized independently or in conjunction with CT for this author’s topic of interest for future research are also briefly discussed.

Kim (1989) states that the functions of a metaparadigm are to summarize the intellectual and social missions of a discipline and to place a boundary on the subject matter of that discipline. The metaparadigm of the discipline of nursing consisted of four major concepts: person, health, environment, and nursing. The four fundamental of the nursing metaparadigm conceptual model (person, health, environment and nursing) are interrelated and it is through their connections that nursing obtains its shape and course (Hanucharurnkul, 1989). Each of these four concepts was presented as an abstraction. Person may represent an individual, a family, a community or all of humankind. Health represents a state of well-being as defined by the person or mutually decided on by the person and the nurse. Environment represents the person’s physical surroundings, the community, or the universe and all it contains. Nursing is the practice of the science and art of the

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”

Wellness is defined as an unified nature encompassing physical, psychological/emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions (BC Atlas of Wellness, s.a.:10). The abovementioned dimensions are discussed below.

Health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (WHO 1948).

Metaparadigm Concepts of nursing as defined in Kolcaba’s theory of comfort are: Person: Kolacaba refers to person as recipients of care. Person may be individuals, families, institutions, or a community that is in need of health care services (Kolacaba, 2003). Environment; This includes any aspect of a person that can be worked with the nurse, or the institution to improve comfort. Kolacaba considered health as optimal functioning of the patient, the family, the health care provider, or the community. And lastly, nursing, this is the intentional assessment of comfort to address person’s needs, and reassessment of comfort level after implementation of intervention.

Katherine Kolcaba is the founder of the comfort theory in nursing. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio; where she has spent most of her life. In 1965 she became a graduate of St. Luke’s school of nursing obtaining a nursing diploma. After working for many years in the areas of medical surgical nursing, long-term care, and home care. She had a promotional offer that required an academic degree. After completing the required prerequisites she went to Case Western Reserve University and in 1987 graduated in the first RN to MSN class with specialty in gerontology. During her years of work as a head nurse, she began to see comfort in a theorical context. She advanced her education and in 1997 obtained a PhD in nursing from

What health and wellness mean to me may be different than what the textbook would state health and wellness is. Health means to me the condition in which your body is, which could be poor or good health. The mind,spirit,physicality would pertain all to the state of one's body. Wellness is the consistent goal towards being in wellness meaning that one strives to be in good personal health. The book describes wellness as; “ wellness is the physical-well being , emotional-well being ,and spiritual- well being.” (Robert T. Harper) According to Merriam Webster the definition of health is “the condition of being sound in mind,body,and spirit.”(...) There is not much difference between what I perceive as health and