Reading 4 Flashcards
(22 cards)
Nursing: The Ontology of the Discipline
Reed
*In the article “Nursing: The Ontology of the Discipline” by Pamela Reed, how is nursing defined?
an inherent human process of well-being, manifested by complexity and integration in human systems
Nursing is?
The Ontology of the Discipline
*Ontology
claims regarding the nature and structure of being – What is?
*Nursing, the discipline?
the study of nursing processes of well-being, inherent among human systems
*So, these ladies want to change nursing from ? to a ?
a verb to a noun.
*As a verb, it’s like…
doing something to someone… an action the nurse does to a person
*As a noun?
a participatory process that transcends the boundary between patient and nurse
*The substantive focus of the discipline, then, is not how nurses per se facilitate well-being, but, rather…
how nursing processes function in human systems to facilitate well-being
It is proposed that the intersection of what 3 characteristics distinguish human processes as nursing? What is the nature of nursing processes that distinguishes them from other human processes?
complexity integration well-being
Complexity
the number of different types of variables that can be identified in a given situation
When does complexity occur?
When human systems experience or express variables as parts, separated from the whole, rather than as patterns of the whole (loss of a loved one or chronic illness introduces many new and seemingly disconnected variables into an individual’s life, on various levels of awareness)
Increasing complexity means a change in?
quantity, not quality of the whole
This would become chaotic were it not accompanied by corresponding changes in?
nursing
integration
Integration
synthesizing and organizing of variables such that there is a change in form, not just changes in size or number of events (integration is evident when people construct meaning or identify a pattern in the variables experienced
The rhythm between complexity and integration is a means by which what occurs?
innovative change
The rhythm between complexity and integration is a means by which innovative change occurs as a manifestation of?
the underlying process called nursing
*Reed, how is nursing defined?
an inherent human process of well-being, manifested by complexity and integration in human systems
The rhythm between complexity and integration is a means by which innovative change occurs as a manifestation of?
the underlying process called nursing
Thus, well-being may be explained by?
changes in complexity that are tempered by changes in integration
The nursing process then is not necessarily based upon a reversal of a disease process, but more…
upon a moving forward to gain a sense of well-being in the absence or presence of disease
So what focus is distinctly nursing?
promoting well-being based on a perspective of the inherent process of complexity and integration
