The nursing meta-paradigm represents basic principles and concepts in nursing. This meta-paradigm covers principles concerning nursing, environment, health, and person. These categories underpin nursing theories and practices, determining how nurses care for patients and the healthcare system. This paper delves into the nursing meta paradigm’s four domains, examining customized interpretations.
Definitions of the Four Domains
The Nursing Domain
One of the theorists who defined the nursing domain is Virginia Henderson. She described nursing as “the unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will, or knowledge” (Chinn, 2019, p. 50). This description emphasizes the nurse’s role in helping people achieve health or serenity.
The Environment Domain
Modern nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale stressed the importance of the environment in inpatient treatment. According to her, external conditions and influences affect an organism’s life and development. These conditions and influences can prevent, suppress, or contribute to disease and death (Gregory et al., 2022). This category includes physical, social, and cultural factors that affect health.
The Health Domain
WHO perceives health as the completeness of social, physical, and mental well-being. Their view exceeds the view that health is just the absence of disease or infirmity. This definition considers health to be more than just the absence of illness.
The Person Domain
Sister Callista Roy, a nursing theorist, defines a person as a holistic, adaptive system constantly interacting with the environment. This worldview sees people as multifaceted entities who adapt to their physical, psychological, social, and spiritual contexts.
Personalized Definitions of Domains
I understand nursing as a science and art providing compassionate and evidence-based community care. My philosophy in nursing is that every person deserves compassionate, evidence-based care for individuals, families, and communities. It addresses physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health. The environment includes ecological variables that affect health and life experiences. It also includes physical, social, and cultural variables. It includes concrete and intangible factors that influence wellness. Health is a dynamic balance between one’s self and one’s surroundings. A balanced physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health allows people to grow and attain their full potential. The person is unique and multifaceted, with worth and respect. Each person is a complex tapestry of biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual threads that evolve and adapt to their environment.
Nursing Philosophy and Comparison
Everyone deserves compassionate, holistic, and evidence-based care. I respect people’s autonomy, values, and cultures and treat them with dignity. I encourage people to actively participate in their treatment and create a healing atmosphere that fosters physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Evidence-based care, ethical decision-making, and cultural competence are central to the Miami-Dade College Benjamin Leon School of Nursing’s comprehensive approach to nursing. Their goal is like mine: to treat everyone kindly and respect their needs and beliefs (Norris, 2023).
However, Jackson Memorial Hospital puts technology and cutting-edge care at the top of its priorities. Remarkably, they care so much about their patients, but they might need to address mental or spiritual problems (Serota et al., 2021). They both try to make people healthier and happier, but they do it differently. One focuses more on biological care, while the other focuses more on general care. The Benjamin Leon School of Nursing goals at Miami Dade College are reasonable, as they make sense to me. Meeting the different needs of patients should be done carefully and with care.
Summary
The nursing meta-paradigm provides a solid foundation for understanding nursing, environment, health, and person. Exploring these areas and their definitions helps us understand nursing’s complexity and the many perspectives that affect patient care. Miami Dade College’s Benjamin Leon School of Nursing’s mission and values align with my nursing philosophy of compassion, comprehensive care, and respect for individual autonomy.
Reflection
I had many “aha!” times as I read about the nursing paradigm and thought about my nursing theory. It is a calling that takes a solid commitment to caring for people wholly and sensitively. My nursing philosophy is closely linked to my beliefs and respect for health, the environment, and each person’s worth. Along with becoming a better nurse, this study taught me more about myself. I realized that my nursing theory is flexible. Instead, it is growing and changing as I learn more, work with different people, and go to different healthcare places. My nursing mindset will help me stay on track as I learn more about nursing. This will teach me how important it is to care for each person in a way that respects their unique needs, beliefs, and cultural background. Giving people the tools they need to be involved in their care and a healing place that supports their physical, mental, and spiritual health will push me to make one.
This introspection revealed that my nursing ideology aligns more with the Miami Dade College Benjamin Leon School of Nursing’s holistic care and cultural competence. While I recognize the relevance of technology and evidence-based approaches, true healing requires a holistic approach that addresses individuals’ diverse needs.
Conclusion
This meta-paradigm and philosophy study showed how complex nursing care is. The four nursing domains—environment, health, and person—provide a complete foundation for nursing theory and practice. Evaluating individual interpretations of these domains shows how nurses adapt to individual, family, and community needs. To be a successful nurse, one should make an effort to consider all four domains. While studying and practicing nursing, I will uphold these values and personalize care to each patient’s physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual requirements.
References
Chinn, P. L. (2019). The discipline of nursing: Moving forward boldly. Nursing theory: a, p. 50. https://nursology.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03-21-case-keynote-7.pdf
Gregory, D. D., Stichler, J. F., & Zborowsky, T. (2022). Adapting and creating healing environments: lessons nurses have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurse leader, 20(2), 201-207. https://www.nurseleader.com/article/S1541-4612(21)00251-2/fulltext
Norris, T. L. (2023). Porth’s pathophysiology: concepts of altered health states. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rl3qEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT71&dq=the+Miami-Dade+College+Benjamin+Leon+School+of+Nursing%27s+comprehensive+approach+to+nursing&ots=GT0ANoOt1O&sig=0TUTpQiU9Ww8fKFP6_7KmWNBtXQ
Serota, D. P., Tookes, H. E., Hervera, B., Gayle, B. M., Roeck, C. R., Suarez, E., … & Doblecki-Lewis, S. (2021). Harm reduction for the treatment of patients with severe injection-related infections: description of the Jackson SIRI Team. Annals of Medicine, 53(1), 1960-1968. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07853890.2021.1993326
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