Possible Impact of Healthcare Reform on the Nursing Metaparadigm
The metaparadigm of nursing consists of four concepts: nursing, person, health, and the environment. The concept of nursing is focused on providing care and studying illnesses, health, and their relationship. The concept of the person is a human that is defined throughout their life. The concept of health is described as not just the absence of disease but as a general wholeness. Finally, the concept of the environment includes both the physical environment and the socioeconomic environment (Alligood, 2013).
If any of the proposed healthcare measures came to pass, the impact on the metaparadigm would be seen in health, nursing, and the environment. The act of care would become inaccessible to millions of people. In turn, this would actively prevent the primary purpose of nursing. The socioeconomic environment would turn to the worse for most people in the country, leading to less available medical treatment.
In such cases, people are likely to avoid receiving care to save the money needed for other life aspects. This decision would directly impact their health as illnesses and diseases would be accompanied by additional stress from the need for additional funds. The only concept in the metaparadigm of nursing that may not be affected is a person’s concept because it does not change the definition of personhood (Katz et al., 2014).
Conclusion
Although the newly proposed healthcare reforms have repeatedly been rejected, it is possible that a new plan might be offered in the future. The current administration has shown that their ideas are almost fundamentally opposed to the nursing metaparadigm and are likely to undermine it if it aligns with their beliefs. Hopefully, the opposition of these plans will stay strong enough to prevent their implementation.
References
Alligood, M. (2013). Nursing theory. London, UK: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Katz, I., Dietrich, J., Tshabalala, G., Essien, T., Rough, K., Wright, A., … Ware, N. (2014). Understanding treatment refusal among adults presenting for HIV-testing in Soweto, South Africa: A qualitative study. AIDS and Behavior, 19(4), 704-714.