In the process of nursing development, four key metaparadigms were identified, which were formed historically and became the basis to which many specialists adhere. These notions include the concept of patient, nurse, health, and environment. Each of these metaparadigms has its distinctive features and is an essential component of nursing.
Concept of Patient
The first of metapardigms is the concept of patient. According to this notion, a person who needs medical care, as well as his or her physical and mental problems and experiences are the key aspects of nurses’ activity (Marchuk, 2014). The quality of care is a fundamental factor in the treatment process, and the patient is the primary object of nursing attention. As Bahramnezhad, Shiri, Asgari, and Afshar (2015) note, this concept is used today in the practice of many professional specialists, and following its rules allows providing patients with the highest quality and timely care. Also, this concept implies an individual approach to each person and consideration of his or her personal characteristics.
Concept of Nurse
This metapardigma examines the role of nurses in the process of providing medical care and defines their key tasks and priority areas of development (Marchuk, 2014). Focusing on the patient’s problems, the junior medical staff is an integral part of the entire treatment process, regardless of the severity and duration of a particular disease. Accordingly, the metapardigm of patient and nurse are closely related to each other and quite often overlap. Bahramnezhad et al. (2016) claim that the relationship between nursing staff and their wards is an essential indicator of the quality of employees’ work. Therefore, this concept is also significantly and undoubtedly worthy of attention.
Concept of Health
The metapardigma of health is a notion that requires involving both nurses and patients. Marchuk (2014) remarks that this concept requires considering patients’ individual experiences, as well as nurses’ ability to provide appropriate care according to specific health indicators. Improving the condition of patients is the paramount task of medical personnel. Therefore, the metaparadigm of health plays not less significant role than all the other concepts. Also, as Bahramnezhad et al. (2016) note, it includes risk assessment, analysis of the patient’s current indicators, as well as planning of the optimal mode of work. Therefore, its peculiarities should be appropriately observed.
Concept of Environment
The metapardigm of environment relates to the conditions in which this or that patient lives since this aspect also plays an essential role in the treatment and care process. According to certain information regarding the life of a person, his or her habits and norms of behavior, nurses can make a rather detailed plan of care and identify the primary activities (Marchuk, 2014). Moreover, the concept of environment encompasses not only health indicators but also other aspects of life, for example, the degree of socialization, occupation, etc. Having such a picture, specialists can quickly identify the problem and eliminate it due to the data obtained.
Conclusion
Thus, all the four metapardigms of nursing have distinctive features and reflect the main aspects of nurses’ activity in relation to those who need care. The concepts of patient, nurse, health, and environment are used to identify key problems and eliminate them timely. The high quality of care, which is proof of employees’ professionalism, largely depends on the observance of these metaparadigms and adherence to its fundamental principles.
References
Bahramnezhad, F., Shiri, M., Asgari, P., & Afshar, P. F. (2015). A review of the nursing paradigm. Open Journal of Nursing, 5, 17-23.
Marchuk, A. (2014). A personal nursing philosophy in practice. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 20(6), 266-273.