Margaret Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness is directly applicable today because it outlines a nursing paradigm built on the concepts inherent in healthcare and medical science. Its central assumption is that disease manifests as the result of the underlying pattern of the person, and this pattern as a cause always precedes the disease as an effect (Pharris, 2014). If healthcare professionals cure the disease itself but leave the underlying pattern unaddressed, the patient will, in all likelihood, encounter the same health problems again.
To ensure a healthier life for a patient rather than merely curing a specific case of a specific condition, one has to address the disease in a broader context of the patient’s existence (Pharris, 2014). Essentially, Newman likens diseases to symptoms while representing personal patterns as causes. Rooted in these fundamental medical concepts, the theory of health as expanding consciousness is straightforward and easy to apprehend, and its focus on the patient rather than the illness ensures it remains applicable.
Another theory that has direct application for a contemporary population a health professional works with is Madeleine Leininger’s Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory. This theory stresses the necessity of delivering care congruent with people’s cultural beliefs while still achieving medical results (Wehbe-Alamah, 2014). This theory requires nurses to understand how people from different cultures care for themselves and each during health, disease, dying, and death (Wehbe-Alamah, 2018).
Such transcultural knowledge is crucial for addressing the needs of the population I currently work with since it is far from culturally homogenous. Patients with different cultural backgrounds use different behavioral strategies that make them more or less likely to respond positively to various approaches, and, as a nurse, I have to be aware of these intricacies.
References
Pharris, M. D. (2014). Margaret Newman’s theory of health as expanding consciousness. In M. C. Smith & M. E. Parker (Eds.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (4th ed., pp. 279-301). F. A. Davis Company.
Wehbe-Alamah, H. B. (2018). Leininger’s culture care diversity and universality theory: Classic and new contributions. Annual Review of Nursing Research, 37(1), 1-23.
Wehbe-Alamah, H. B. (2014). Madeleine Leininger’s theory of culture care diversity and universality. In M. C. Smith & M. E. Parker (Eds.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (4th ed., pp. 303-320). F. A. Davis Company.