The nursing metaparadigm keeps this profession in balance
To understand what a metaparadigm is, it is useful to analyze the composition of the term. Metaparadigm is formed with the compositional element meta- (which can refer to “about”, “with”, “between”, “after” or “next to”) and the noun paradigm (a set of theories that is taken as basis for producing knowledge and achieving problem resolution).
General definition
A metaparadigm, therefore, is created with a series of interrelated general concepts that revolve around the object of interest of a discipline . The links between these notions are established in an abstract way.
Therefore, the metaparadigm is necessary for the composition of certain very complex concepts , which require two or more elements to be defined. This does not mean that the metaparadigm is a mere group of concepts that are related for practical reasons; For example, when talking about "home", we think of "furniture", "inhabitants", "services", etc., but this set does not represent a metaparadigm because they are not models .
Precisely, global concepts are not the only important part of the metaparadigm, but also global propositions that can be stated by observing the relationships established between them. It should be noted that all this takes place on the abstract level.
Nursing metaparadigm
The nursing metaparadigm , in this framework, establishes the specificity of this activity and the perspective that nurses adopt in their work. This metaparadigm includes the person , the environment , specific care and health as global concepts.
The metaparadigm identifies the most important elements of nursing as a practice and as a discipline . These are the four phenomena on which this area must be developed. It is important to keep in mind that these concepts were forged over time and from theoretical, social and philosophical reflection.
The inclusion of the person in the nursing metaparadigm refers to the recipient of care (the individual, his or her family group, the community in general). The idea of environment , in turn, is associated with social, physical and other factors that affect the person. Care , on the other hand, are the actions that nurses develop and the objectives that they set for the patient, while the concept of health points to well-being .
Needless to say, none of these four elements can be removed from the concept of nursing, since they are the four fundamental pillars of this profession. As mentioned above, we should not leave aside the relationships established between them, since nurses must respect them so that the metaparadigm is fulfilled.
Health is one of the pillars of the nursing metaparadigm
Nursing Paradigms
The concepts metaparadigm and nursing paradigms are often confused, but they do not refer to exactly the same thing. The latter includes different ways of defining and understanding the meaning of everything that is part of the former.
Many times the confusion that occurs in this matter is rooted in a poor translation of foreign terms, usually Anglo-Saxon, or in improvised or informal transliterations. If we make precise use of the idea of paradigms and understand metaparadigm in its meaning explained above, we can affirm that the former are the components of the latter.
Of course, it is also possible to define metaparadigm as "beyond the paradigm", thanks to the versatility of the language and the study of its etymology . If we choose this semantic path, then the group composed of person, health, environment and care seems a bad choice to define it, because they are nothing other than the basis of nursing , so they are not what is found "beyond." .