Metaparadigms in nursing

The American Nurses Association defines nursing as, “nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. ” Metapardigm theories are declarations that serve to reinforce the entire theoretical field of the nursing profession. It is composed of four interconnected central ideas which are Person, Environment, Health, and Nursing.

Metapardigm theories also identify phenomena which incorporate a series of moral expectations and also guide the methodology to those expectations. The Person receives care. This care includes the whole person; spiritually, physically, and mentally. The patient’s family, church, or community may also be involved. Each patient should be treated with respect and individually. With environment, the nurse would consider the different circumstances, religions, cultural customs, internal and external conditions that may determine the decisions the patient makes.

Health is the wellbeing or the measure of wellness or illness experienced by the person. We, as nurses, would like for our patients to be healthy or at least back to their baseline. To achieve this, we have to consider the life of the patient past the discharge. We want to make sure they can afford the medications they are prescribed, we want them to be able to see the unit numbers on the insulin syringes, we want them to be able to make it to the follow-up appointments.

We have to treat the whole person. If we don’t, it is likely that they will return to the hospital. Nursing involves giving care. As a nurse, we help to restore good health by providing education to the patients. A nurse has to speak to the patient and not “at” the patient. We have to be able to work together with patients. We teach patients how to slow the disease progression by promoting healthy activities and disease prevention.