Exploring the Nursing Metaparadigm: Reviewing Concepts and Theories

The Purpose of this Paper

Task:

The purpose of this paper is to review the school of thought and explore the nursing metaparadigm that guide my nursing practice. My aim is to examine four concepts of the nursing metaparadigm in light of nursing theories. I begin with the theory which my philosophy most closely allign. I go on to explore the concepts that interrelate to my philosophy and the nursing paradigm. The concepts I would interelate are the Purnell’s Cultural care diversity and Patient advocacy as defined by American Nursing Association being a pillar of nursing.

As I reflect on my career thus far, I am proud of the qualities that I have developed as a registered nurse. Working on a busy medical-surgical floor has honed many of my strengths and my philosophy why I became a nurse. On my unit, nurses are flooded with new information every minute of the shift. We often care for six patients at a time and must constantly prioritize and reprioritize what needs to be done, and to rationalize why. Despite our designation as a med-surg floor, we frequently encounter very sick patients who require immediate interventions before moving to a higher level of care. One must be flexible with the changing demands of the day in order to stay afloat and to keep our patients safe. The experience I have gained and the education I have obtained helped me create an understanding of nursing philosophy which is unique to me. As Paterson & Sderad mentioned in their theory of Humanistic Nursing; The ability of the nurse to develop or see themselves as a source of knowledge, to continually develop the nursing community through education, and increased understanding of their owned learned experiences. (Paterson&Zderad, 1976)

Through my nursing education, I have been influenced by the analitical philosophers, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, and of Florence Nightingale as the first nurse theorist.  I have  tried to foster my self by observing, learning from experiences, listening to my coworkers, continuing my nursing education… Basicaly, being a life long learner is making me who I am and helping me how I function my nursing practice. All the theories, concepts from nursing care to American Nursing Association’s Code of Ethics for nurses have their seeds in my philosophy in Nursing.

During my first year as a nurse, I believed as analytical school of thought explained that no belief is morally acceptable unless based on evidence. This ethical theory resonated with me as a nurse who has been programed to provide patient care based on scientific evidence and research. However, upon further analysis I realized this theory was alienating, and culturally insensitive; patients come from all sorts of backgrounds, and have all sort of believes, and to claim that their beliefs have less value or are immoral based on the western model of science is presumptuous at best. Then I learned about other analytical philosophers who explain the concept of belief that humans as beings that experience the world through their senses are bound to believe in things that have no evidence. If I could give an example: pain; if I had pain on my knee, I would have no evidence that such pain exists except for my subjective experience of pain. I have no way of proving to others that my pain is real, I have no evidence to show for it. Nursing is a holistic discipline, we, nurses, incorporate all the experience, observations, our “aha moments” with science and research.