What Is The Metaparadigm Of Nursing

Kristen M. Swanson may not be as well-known as Florence Nightingale in the nursing field, but she has made great contributions with the Theory of Caring that has been used in many hospitals, even internationally, for their framework to guide patient care. Through the study of her practice, I have realized much of her practice is reflected in mine. This paper will present the basic concept of nursing known as the metaparadigm concepts of person, health, environment, and nursing as presented by Swanson, as well as provide my own philosophy of nursing, which in many ways mirrors Swanson’s.

The nursing metaparadigm concepts described by Fawcett (as cited in McEwen & Willis, 2011), are a primary phenomena of interest to a discipline, which identifies globally by ways in which, nursing can deal with those phenomena in a distinctive and applicable manner. The functional aspects of the meta-paradigm according to Kim (as cited in McEwen & Willis, 2011), involve a combination of intellectual and

The purpose of this paper is to discuss my personal beliefs pertaining to the profession of nursing. As well I will discuss the (4) metaparadigms in nursing which are known as; human beings, environment, health, and nursing, and my personal beliefs on these concepts and how they have similarities to the nursing philosophy of a nursing theorist.

A metaparadigm is a concept that is extremely general, one that serves to define an entire world of thought. The metaparadigm of nursing is comprised of four parts: person, health, nursing and environment. This concept is important to nursing theory, because those are the key areas of focus when it comes to patient care. In this metaparadigm, the ‘person’ can refer to the patient, the patient’s family members, friends, communities, and groups. The nurse’s goal when dealing with the ‘person’ is to nurture the patient and empower him or her to manage their own health to the best of their abilities. The next part of the metaparadigm is ‘health’. It generally addresses the person’s state of well-being and their availability to healthcare. The other metaparadigm ‘environment’ includes factors that affect individuals internally and externally. A positive therapeutic interaction creates an environment that is essential for patient recovery. The final concept in the metaparadigm of nursing is ‘nursing’. In general, this refers to any hands-on medical treatment from nurse to patient.

ANA's definition of nursing supports the metaparadigm theories of nursing. These theories provide guidelines to nurses on their professional practice through implemenation of education and research. Evidence-based research is a conglomoration of "research evidence, experience and expertise, and patient preferences inthe process of clinical care"

The purpose of this paper is to explore the author’s personal philosophy which was influenced by nursing theorist Jean Watson. This paper will also compare and discuss both the author’s and theorist’s philosophy with the metaparadigm model of nursing.

Fawcett developed four nursing concepts to create the metaparadigm (Alligood, 2014). The four concepts that make up a metaparadigm are person, environment, health, and nursing. Each one of these is considered a paradigm that help make up the metaparadigm. The concepts are described as the one receiving the treatment, the environment that they are in, what health problems the person receiving the treatment has, and the care that is provided by the nurses (Masters, 2014). “Metaparadigm concepts influences nurses’ understanding of what nursing is, and especially their understanding that nursing is an intellectual discipline and not only skills used in the care of people who are sick” (Lee & Fawcett, 2013, p. 97). Each of the four concepts

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 of nursing are patient (or human), nurse, health, and environment. Many theorists have developed several variations to these metapardigms. The metaparadigms in Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice are described as “human beings requiring nursing care meaning the participant, family, or community; the environment of the human beings requiring

Throughout the history of nursing, there have been many nursing theorists who have each made significant contributions towards the shaping of nursing knowledge. Each of these theorists have differing perspectives and interpretations of how each domain of the nursing metaparadigm fit into their respective theories. The four domains of the nursing metaparadigm are: person, environment, health and illness, and nursing. The purpose of this reflection is to provide an overview of the domains related to the metaparadigm of nursing as well as to introduce this author’s perspective on their developing personal philosophy of nursing. In this paper, the author will take a closer look at each of these areas, how they are individually defined, and how they each fit into the nursing metaparadigm as a whole. At the conclusion of this overview, readers will be introduced to how these theorists and their perspectives have enabled this author to begin to create their own philosophy of nursing.

The purpose of this reflective paper is to explain what the five metaparadigm concepts mean, to write down my own definition of each metaparadigm and further to explain them by providing clinical examples of each definition from my nursing clinical practice.

This philosophy of nursing is assimilation of the author’s beliefs in regards of the metaparadigm through experience and understanding of knowledge. The author looks at the fundamental level, a theory which encompasses all or most theories. Attempts to view the theory as an interplay of energy, while looking at it in an atomic level. With the patient being the nucleus the primary structure and concentration of high energy while health and environment as different valence rings each holding electrons which are constantly moving in all possible directions all while orbiting around the nucleus. The space between the nucleus and the valence rings is nursing the spatial potential energy which unites the structure creating

Environment as a concept within the nursing metaparadigm incorporates the context of experiences within everyday life including the variations in the care quality, time, and space (Smith, 1999). Variable determinants, like space, availability of recourses, personal experiences and skills can affect the environment and patient outcomes (Jarrin, 2012). Successful treatment of patients presenting with acute ischemic strokes is based on time and efficiency. The timely treatment with intravenous thrombolytic medication was associated with decreased mortality and morbidity rates (Fonarrow, Xin Zhao, & Smith, 2014). Therefore, effective treatment of stroke patients can be greatly affected by the various environmental determinants.

Nursing, in common with any other branch of knowledge or disciplines, has always been influenced by current philosophies or perspectives. Fawcett identifies four metaparadigms that are intrinsic to the field of nursing: health/ environment/person/and nursing. Health refers to the generalized condition as contextual to that particular individual; environment is holistic including social and cultural dynamics; 'person' refers to the sick individual as a person rather than a 'patient'; and 'nursing' refers to the root of nursing i.e. caring rather than as a mechanized set of practices.

By outlining the focus and boundaries of the discipline nursing is able to highlight areas of study that are significant to nursing education and practice, all of which can be traced back to the fundamental concepts. These central ideas feature as integral to nursing development and continue to demonstrate their influence by shaping the way nurses learn and do. The concepts of person, health, environment and nursing are all interrelated, as are the concepts put forward by Newman, Smith, Dexheimer-Pharris and Jones (2008), and can be identified as prominent in nursing studies and the development of nursing theories. The nursing theories based on these fundamental concepts serve as the building blocks for all nursing knowledge and as Smith and Parker (2010) explain “the primary purpose of nursing theories is to further the development and understanding of nursing practice” (p. 8). The structure of knowledge as described by Smith and Parker provides a clear example of how nursing metaparadigms have implications for all levels of nursing theory, education and research from the most abstract or global concepts to the more concrete