Fawcett 4 Metaparadigm Concepts
A metaparadigm seeks to explain global concepts that are of interest to a specific
discipline and the relationships that exist among these concepts (Chaffee & McNeil, 2007). The
purpose of nursing having a metaparadigm is to develop a framework that defines nursing’s
specific body of knowledge and to establish nursing as a stand-alone discipline (Lee & Fawcett,
2013). In 1978 Fawcett originally developed a set of four metaparadigm concepts central to
nursing that included human beings, environment, health and nursing (Lee & Fawcett, 2013).
Human beings are those that are those that are receiving treatment, are ill or are under the care of
nurses and their families and friends. Environment can be thought of as narrow (immediate
environment or circumstances) or broad (Chaffee & McNeil, 2007). Health is referred to as the
human processes of living and dying (Chaffee & McNeil, 2007, p. 239). Nursing is the study of
health and illness processes (Chaffee & McNeil, 2007).
The four metaparadigm elements should be defined in all nursing theories. These
concepts are very broad and are relevant and necessary to any nursing theory development.
The
concepts are all interrelated and work together to form the “person.” The pictorial depiction
below illustrates that the person, or client and family should remain at the center of any nursing
theory.
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Nursing
Person
Environme
nt
Health
Gabriel, your post resounded with me for several reasons. I agree that caring does not need to be
included in the four metaparadigms. Caring should be an inherent part of a nurse. I liked
Thorne’s “uniform” definition and agreed that it is a definition that most in the profession can
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understand and agree to. I believe that nurses should work to have their profession be
recognized as such and to claim a knowledge set as their own. By furthering our degrees and
knowledge we are preparing ourselves to lead future nurses. Fawcett stated that she believes that
DNP preparation should be the entry into professional practice (Butts & Fawcett, 2012, p. 153).
What are your thoughts on this? To think that every single bedside nurse should be required to
have a DNP is unrealistic to me. This would take an estimated 7-8 years of schooling to
complete. If this was the entry level I think it would actually do our profession a disservice by
excluding many potential nurses. Many people would struggle to commit to this level of
education due to families, cost and support. If all nurses would be required to be DNP prepared
what educational level would nursing leaders be expected to obtain? I agree that BSN entry level
is necessary to protect our profession but in times where there are a shortage of nurses we should
not be adding more educational requirements to get to the bedside.
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References
Butts, J. B., & Fawcett, J. (2012). The future of nursing: how important is discipline-specific
knowledge? A conversation with Jacqueline Fawcett. Nursing Science Quarterly, 25(2),
151-154. doi.org/10.1177/0894318412437955
Carper, B. A. (1978). Fundamental patterns of knowing in nursing. American Nurses Society,
1(1), 13-24.
Chaffee, M. W., & McNeil, M. M. (2007). A model of nursing as a complex adaptive system.
Nursing Outlook, 55, 232-241. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2007.04.003
Lee, R. C., & Fawcett, J. (2013). Advancing nursing knowledge: A response to Burns’ letter to
the editor. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27(1), 88-90.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0894318413510636
Lee, R. C., & Fawcett, J. (2013). The influence of the metaparadigm of nursing on professional
identity development among RN-BSN students. Nursing Science Quarterly, 26(1), 96-98.
doi: 10.1177/0894318412466734