Question

How can Margaret Newman's nursing theory of health consciousness be applied to safe practice for APRNs (advanced practice nurses)?

Answer 1

Ans) Newman's theory embraces a unitary and transformative paradigm of nursing as “caring in the human health experience.”[5] Her first step as a theorist evolved around 1979.[6] After elaborating her idea, three books were published in order.

- The basic assumptions of the theory are synthesized as follows:

• Health is an evolving unitary pattern of the whole, including patterns of disease

• Consciousness is the informational capacity of the whole and is revealed in the evolving pattern

• Pattern identified the person–environment process and is characterized by meaning.[3]

- The basic assumptions of the theory are focused on pattern. Pattern refers to “information that depicts the whole, understanding of the meaning of all the relationships at once.”

- Wholeness is identified in pattern. Pattern is constantly evolving. Each observable pattern is time specific and contains information that was enfolded and will unfold. The evolution and transformation of pattern occurs through the patient–environment interaction, that is, the manner in which the patient relates with the environment. A pattern can be demonstrated retrospectively as sequential patterns over time. Sometimes, a patient's life is orderly; other times, the patient goes through a difficult life passage that is seen as chaos. Order and disorder in the patient's life are part of expansion of consciousness.

- AA nurse enters this process with the patient, particularly at a time when the patient is experiencing chaos. The key is that the nurse and the patient can engage in the mutual process of pattern recognition. Thus, both of them will evolve to higher levels of consciousness.

A nursing intervention calls for action that evolves out of pattern recognition. That is, the recognition of pattern provides personal insight into the meaning of the pattern and reveals the potential for action. This nursing intervention that is based on Newman's theory was named “caring partnership” in a patient–nurse relationship.