Summary
Contents
As nursing expands its scientific base and moves into more qualitative approaches, it is important that nursing students have the opportunity to know more about the nurse theorists that offer qualitative theories and methods. One such theorist is Margaret Newman. In Margaret Newman, Joanne Marchione offers an exceptional discussion on this preeminent nursing theorist. Marchione skillfully describes the origin of Newman's theory, the assumptions underlying the theory, the major concepts of meta-paradigm of nursing–including the nursing process–and propositions of the conceptual model itself. Also included are examples for application to practice and research (based on the author's years of continuous experimentation and application of Newman's theory), a bibliography of classic works, critiques and research, and a glossary of important terms.
Origin of the Theory
Origin of the Theory
Margaret Newman traced the origin of her theorizing on health to her prenursing days. As a young woman, Newman was influenced intuitively by her mother, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Newman (1986) noted while caring for her mother that although her mother was physically incapacitated, she was a whole person, viewed herself like any other person, and did not consider herself ill. Later, Newman formulated the premise that illness was part of health, and reflected the life pattern of a person. She arrived at this formulation through a synthesis of the knowledge gained in graduate study and her experiences with her mother. Newman claimed that nurses should recognize a person's life pattern and accept the pattern ...