Basic Concepts and Definitions

• Philosophy


  A statement encompassing ontological claims about the phenomena of central interest to a discipline, epistemic claims about how those phenomena come to be known, and ethical claims about what the members of a discipline value
• Conceptual Models


  A set of relatively abstract and general concepts that address the phenomena of central interest to a discipline, the propositions that broadly describe those concepts, and the propositions that state relatively abstract and general relations between two or more concepts
• Theory


  • A creative and rigorous structure of ideas that projects a tentative purposeful and systematic view of phenomena
  • A group of related concepts that propose actions that guide practice
  • A set of concepts, definitions, relationships, assumptions that project a systematic view of a phenomena
• Concept


  • The building blocks of theories
  • Abstract & concrete concepts
  • Mental formulation of an object or event that come from individual perceptual experience
• Middle Range Theory


  • A theory comprising limited numbers of variables, each of limited scope
  • May be descriptive, explanatory (specifying relationships between two or more concepts), or predictive (envisioning relationships between concepts or effects of certain concepts on others)
  • Made up of a limited number of concepts and propositions that are written at a relatively concrete and specific level
  • Generated or tested by means of research and are used as the evidence for practice activities, such as assessment and intervention
• Metaparadigm


  • A set of ideas that provide structure for how a discipline should function
  • For nursing, consists of four basic concepts: person, health, environment, and nursing
• Person


  • The receiver of care, including family members and other groups important to the patient
  • Considers the person's spiritual and social needs as well as health care needs
  • The premise is that the person is empowered to manage his health and well-being with dignity and self-preservation with positive personal connections
• Health


  • The extent of wellness and health care access that a patient has
  • Characterized as one with multiple dimensions in a constant state of motion
  • Covers a person's lifespan and genetic makeup, and how the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual well-being is integrated in health care for maximum health benefits
• Environment


  • The surroundings that affect the patient
  • Consists of internal and external influences
  • Interactions with family, friends and other people are part of the environment, as are physical and social factors such as economic conditions, geographic locations, culture, social connections and technology
  • A person can modify her environmental factors to improve her health status
• Nursing


  • The delivery of optimal health outcomes for the patient through a mutual relationship in a safe and caring environment
  • Applies principles of knowledge, skills, technology, collaborations, professional judgement and communication to carry out duties and responsibilities for achieving the best possible scenario in patient health outcome
  • Values a high degree of service, and integrates with other metaparadigm components for patient well-being