Metaparadigm includes factors that shape people’s behaviors, attitudes, and influences. It is a set of theories that guide the way discipline should function. These theories comprise four concepts in nursing that explain patients’ wholeness, health, environment, and nursing processes and responsibilities. The metaparadigm of a person focuses on the recipient of care, while the environment entails the internal and external factors. Health refers to the patient’s wellness, and nursing entails applying professional knowledge to improve health outcomes. Hence, it is vital to examine these concepts' definitions and understand how they can be applied in nursing philosophy to enhance the nursing profession and patients’ wellness.
The concept of a person refers to a patient who needs care. It may comprise the individual’s culture, spirituality, family, friends, and socioeconomic status (Branch et al., 2016). Each person has unique and unpredictable needs, and the nursing metaparadigm of the person ensures that caregivers accept and honor the patient’s needs. According to Watson’s Human Caring Theory, a person has comprises three dimensions, namely mind, body, and soul (Nikfarid et al. 2018). Hence, the healing process has to be holistic to factor all these dimensions. From this perspective, a person is a being who is valuable and deserves respect, care, and assistance. The soul is the most integral part of the person. Watson’s theory asserts that a person’s healing process includes mystical power (Nikfarid et al. 2018). Nurse practitioners deliver miracle-like care to ensure that the person achieves self-actualization. According to Persian mysticism, human beings have a mind and a soul; the body is the lowest dimension with needs while the soul focuses on transcendence and actualization (Nikfarid et al. 2018). This viewpoint asserts that a person is the only creature with free will and acquires power through intelligence and speech. However, human beings depend on God as a source of empowerment. This definition of a person impacts nursing philosophy. During sickness, patients may feel powerless and vulnerable. It is the nurse practitioners' responsibility to spend quality time with the patients to prevent the occurrence of these feelings. They should also observe and maintain patients’ privacy. This metaparadigm asserts that nurses should respect patients regardless of their religion, beliefs, and socioeconomic status.
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Nursing refers to caregiving procedures, objectives, and outcomes. According to Jean Watson, nurse practitioners should establish long-lasting relationships with their patients (Branch et al., 2016). Although medicine and science are the primary curative elements, they do not guarantee improved health outcomes. Nursing practices and objectives should focus on the person as a whole, including the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects. When nurse practitioners establish meaningful relationships, patients will feel safe and comfortable (Branch et al., 2016). Besides, these connections enable nurse practitioners to understand the patients’ needs, promoting improved healing. Nursing professionals should also educate and guide patients to enhance positive health outcomes. This concept can be applied to nursing philosophy. It will guide the nurse practitioner to become leaders who teach patients how they can improve their health (Branch et al., 2016). The concept also guides the nurse practitioners in assessing and evaluating patients’ needs and delivering the deepest care level. As a result, nurse practitioners will exude professionalism and treat patients with compassion and empathy.
The environment metaparadigm refers to the internal and external factors related to human health. Internal factors comprise the patient’s beliefs and attitudes. Nurses are among the external factors since they offer assistance and care to patients through the Ten Caritas Processes such as compassion, empathy, problem-solving, trust, teaching and learning experiences, and forming altruistic value systems (Nikfarid et al., 2018). The nurse and the person unite during these processes. A patient’s external environment should be safe and comfortable. For example, a nurse can ensure that the noise levels are at a minimum to enhance serenity. Other external factors include the physical, ethical, and social issues that govern people’s lives (Nikfarid et al., 2018). Environment metaparadigm can be applied in nursing philosophy by ensuring that patients’ surroundings are clean, safe, and close to nature to reduce stress and anxiety. Nurse practitioners need to customize the patients’ environment to their needs to improve health outcomes.
Another nursing metaparadigm is health; it refers to holistic care processes. Health refers to the life and death processes (Nikfarid et al., 2018). For a healing process to be successful, nurse practitioners should focus on the person’s physical, cognitive, and spiritual dimensions. From this perspective, healing involves finding the meaning of disease. According to Watson’s Human Caring Theory, patients have the metaphysical ability to heal themselves and achieve supreme consciousness (Nikfarid et al., 2018). This definition informs the nursing philosophy since nurse practitioners should have a unique approach when treating patients. Also, nurse practitioners should understand the meaning of different conditions during care delivery. The spiritual dimension asserts that pain and suffering result from living in the natural world (Nikfarid et al., 2018). Hence, the care process should focus on moving the body from the earthly dimension to the divine spirit. This concept can be applied in nursing philosophy by considering health as a spiritual concept. Nurse practitioners can improve patients’ health by incorporating religious beliefs into the care process and ensure that patients move closer to God.
Overall, the metaparadigm of person, nursing, environment, and health can improve patients' health outcomes. The person refers to the patient’s mind, body, and soul. A nurse practitioner has to ensure that these dimensions are in harmony to enhance the caregiving process. The nursing metaparadigm provides insight into the best practices, such as empathy and compassion. During care delivery, both the internal and external elements should be harmonized. The internal factors are the patients’ feelings, needs, and attitudes, while the external factors are the social, natural, and ethical issues. A patient’s health should also be analyzed by addressing the physical, spiritual, and cognitive needs. These concepts can be applied in nursing philosophy to guide the caregivers’ actions.
References
Branch, C., Deak, H., Hiner, C., & Holzwart, T. (2016). Four nursing metaparadigms. Indiana University South Bend Undergraduate Research Journal , 16 , 123-132.
Nikfarid, L., Hekmat, N., Vedad, A., & Rajabi, A. (2018). The main nursing metaparadigm concepts in human caring theory and Persian mysticism: A comparative study. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine , 11 .
