Humanistic Nursing Theory

HUMANISTIC NURSING THEORY
I. NURSING THEORISTS
The Humanistic Nursing Theory was created by Dr. Josephine Paterson and Dr. Loretta Zderad.
Paterson was a public health major with a doctorate in nursing science while Zderad was a psychiatric
nursing major with a doctorate in philosophy. The two met in the 1950s at Catholic University for a
graduate program. They were tasked to create a new program that would combine psychiatric and
community health elements. This program would eventually evolve into what is now known as the
Theory of Humanistic Nursing or the Humanistic Nursing Theory (Scribd.com).
II. METAPARADIGM
Person
The Humanistic Nursing Theory’s main components are the patient and the nurse. The patient may be
defined as a person, a family, a community, or humanity in general.
 Patient is perceived as an individual and each situation as unique.
 Human beings, as a being; holistic in nature, dynamic, aware and multidimensional, capable of
abstract thought, creativity, and capable of taking responsibility.
 An open energy field which have a special life experiences.
 Humanistic nursing theory believed that patient can grow in a healthy and creative way.
Nursing
The nurse is defined as the person who the patient calls and receives help from. A nurse's goal is to help
others with their unique healthcare needs (Scribd.com).
 The author believed that nursing education should be formed in experience and a nurse;s
training should focus as much on the ability to relate to and interact with patient and scientific
and medical backgrounds.
 Nursing is a responsible searching, transaction relationship whose meaningfulness demands

conceptualization founded on a nurse's existential awareness of self and of the others.
 Nursing, as a human response, implies the valuing of some human potential beyond the narrow
concept of health taken as absence of disease.
Health
Peterson and Zderad do not see health as the absence of disease or an attainable and goal. instead, they
describe it as a resource that patient can use to help realize their own potential
 "Health" is valued as necessary for survival and is often proposed as goal for nursing.
 There are Instances of nursing that could be describe as "health restoring", "health sustaining",
or "health promoting", Nurses engage in "health teaching" and "health supervision".
Environment
The environment is seen as the time and space where the events are happening and nursing experience
take place. (Prezi, 2014)
 Environment represents the place where the service is delivered, the community of world.
 Place is another component of space, but it is more personalized; it belongs to the patient or
nurse and is highly subjective.
III. MODEL OF THE THEORY
Paterson and Zderad developed the theory in 1976 based off of the ideas of existentialism (a person is
responsible for his own development through his own will) and phenomenology (the study of human
consciousness and experiences) (Prezi). Humanistic Nursing Theory has 5 phases related to these
concepts.
The 1st phase is the preparation of the nurse for coming to know the other. Here, the nurse should
recognize that he and the patient may have different viewpoints, but it is important to accept new ideas
and to try and understand them.
The 2nd phase is the nurse knowing the other intuitively. In this phase, the nurse and patient
should talk to one another so that they can understand each other better and help the nursing process
develop.
The 3rd phase is the nurse knowing the other scientifically. This phase has the nurse looks over the
information given to him and tries to recognize any similar patterns or themes in regards to what he
already knows.
The 4th phase is the nurse complimentarily synthesizing known others. Here, the nurse should see
himself as a source of knowledge that continues to grow and develop the nursing community based on
his own experiences.
The 5th and final phase is the succession with the nurse from the many to the paradoxical one. This
phase has the nurse reflect on all of the information given to him by the patient, make a plan that is
inclusive of both parties’ experiences, and has the nurse and the patient come together as one (Scribd).
IV. GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY
Humanistic Nursing Theory revolves around everyone being their own unique person and how the
nurse should understand that. No person or experience is the same. This should be respected and
reflected in the care provided to the patient (Prezi.com). Here, nursing care should be multidimensional
and striving towards wholeness. While the patient and the nurse may have different concepts of
wholeness (a.k.a. “gestalts”), it is also important to note the similarities and use them to provide proper
nursing care (Scribd.com).
V. HOW THE THEORY HAS BEEN USED IN RESEARCH
The Humanistic Nursing Theory has been applied in research regarding hospice and palliative care.
The World Health Organization has stated the need for quality end-of-life care as a priority for global
health care. Nurses specializing in such areas have goals that resonate with the ideals of Paterson and
Zderad’s theory. After all, each patient should be seen as his own unique person when being provided
with care. A nurse that embraces this idea will better understand how to help these patients towards
their final goals in life (Wu and Volker, 2011).
The theory has also been applied in regards to China’s Children Caring Ward School (CCWS), the
pediatric department for Wuhon Union Hospital. The CCWS is the first humanistic nursing school among
the hospital’s wards. This approach was taken to see the effects of the theory on a nurse’s caring ability,
nurse-patient relationships, and patients’ satisfaction. Results have been revealed to be positive. After
implementation, nurses were found to have significantly developed their caring ability in regards to
cognition, courage, and patience towards their clients (He et al., 2016).
By:
Jan, Montero
Javier, Khyle Matthews M.
Florence, Jaja
VI. REFERENCES
He, Jiao et al. (6 May 2016) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095771816300305
millstoneridge1 on Scribd (Date Unknown) https://www.scribd.com/doc/16070080/HUMANISTIC-

NURSING-THEORY?webgl=0
Unknown on Prezi (13 December 2014) https://prezi.com/wluuzrylv3nz/humanistic-nursing-theory-

josephine-paterson-and-loretta-zd/?webgl=0
Wu, HL and Volker, DL (20 July 2011) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21771046
Image & Metaparadigm from http://wiki-tfn.blogspot.com/p/humanistic-nursing-theory-paterson.html

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HUMANISTIC NURSING THEORY

 Patient is perceived as an individual and each situation as unique.

 An open energy field which have a special life experiences.

 Nursing is a responsible searching, transaction relationship whose meaningfulness demands

III. MODEL OF THE THEORY

IV. GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY

V. HOW THE THEORY HAS BEEN USED IN RESEARCH

Javier, Khyle Matthews M.

He, Jiao et al. (6 May 2016) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095771816300305

millstoneridge1 on Scribd (Date Unknown) https://www.scribd.com/doc/16070080/HUMANISTIC-

Unknown on Prezi (13 December 2014) https://prezi.com/wluuzrylv3nz/humanistic-nursing-theory-

Image & Metaparadigm from http://wiki-tfn.blogspot.com/p/humanistic-nursing-theory-paterson.html

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