Metaparadigm

The Person

• Is subjective and unique, not objective, predictable and calculating.
• Has distinct human needs, which are biophysical, psychophysical, psychosocial and interpersonal.
• Is to be valued, cared for, respected,nurtured, understood and assisted.
• Is a functioning whole, there is no division among the mind, body and spirit (George/2002).
• Is directly influenced by their external environment.
• Has to be taken cared for, respected, nurtured, understood and assisted.
• Fully functional integrated self. “Greater than and different from, the sum of his or her parts”.

The Environment

• Is crucial to the holistic healing (mental, physical, social, emotional, spiritual, developmental, protective,supportive environments), which is conducive to a patients health and wellbeing.
• Affects both patients and nurses within a caring-healing model. (Bernick, 2004).
• Is usually designed as a home-like environment but these “systems still fall short as healing spaces”(Watson/1999).
• Contains “noise, privacy, light,access to nature, color, space and smells that can have an impact on the caring-healing process” (Watson/1999).
• Caring and Nursing have existed in every society. A caring attitude is not transmitted from generation to generation. It is transmitted by the culture of the profession as a unique way of coping with its environment .

Health

• Is viewed holistically, as the unity between the physical, social, mental and spiritual self, with all parts working together in harmony and functioning to their full capacity.
• Is a perceived by the patient and is influenced by their own unique life experiences (Bernick/2004).
• Entirely includes an individual's physical, social, aesthetic and moral realms, not just their behaviour and physiology (George/2002).
• Watson believes that there are other factors that are needed to be included in the WHO definition of health.
She added the following three elements:
1. A high level of overall physical,mental and social functioning
2. A general adaptive-maintenance level of daily functioning
3. The absence of illness (or the presence of efforts that leads its absence)

Nursing

• Is a caring, meaningful and harmonic connective bond that is shared between the nurse and the patient (George/2002).
• Is providing caring, professional and thoughtful interactions to restore and promote holistic health and to prevent illness.
• Is a holistic practice that is complementary to medicine.
• “Nursing is concerned with promoting health,preventing illness, caring for the sick and restoring health”.
• It focuses on health promotion and treatment of disease. Watson believes that holistic health care is central to the practice of caring in nursing.
• She defines nursing as…..
“A human science of persons and human health-illness experiences that are mediated by professional, personal, scientific, esthetic and ethical human transactions”.


References: www.curentnursing.com
www.wikipsaces.sheldon.com