Reference no: EM131255289

The American Nurses Association describes nursing as "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities and populations." (ANA, 2016).

The metaparadigm theories of nursing have four concepts. These include person, health, environment, and nursing. Person includes those spiritual and social needs. You should be able to manage your health and well-being with dignity and self-preservation with positive personal connections. Health includes factors that influence a person's state of well-being. As nurses, we need to recognize what factors have influenced our patient's well-being to treat them properly. Environment has internal and external influences. A person can modify their environmental factors to improve their health status. Nursing is the delivery of optimal health outcomes done in a safe and caring environment. (Dupree, D, n.d.).

Both the ANA definition of nursing and the metaparadigm theories have the same concept. We need to understand that there are many factors that incorporate the care of our patients and factors as to why they are seeking our help. As nurses, we need to look at the picture as a whole and not just one factor. This will allow us to advocate for our patients and give them the best quality of care for their health as we can.