Metaparadigm
- Person
— Neuman sees the person as being in state of constant change and as an open-system in reciprocal interaction with the environment. The client can be individual, family, group, community, or social issue. The client system is a dynamic composite of interrelationships among physiological, psychological, sociocultural, developmental and spiritual.
- Environment
—Neuman defines environment as to be the totality of the internal and external forces which surround a person and with which the interact at any given time. These forces includes the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal stressors which can affect the person’s normal line of defense and so can the stability of the system.
— The internal environment exists within the client system. (Intrapersonal)
—The external environment exists outside the client system. (Interpersonal and Extrapersonal)
- Health
—Neuman sees health as being equated with wellness. She defines health/wellness as “the condition in which all parts and subparts are in harmony with the whole of the client.” she views health as a continuum of wellness to illness that is dynamic in nature and is constantly changing.
- Nursing
—Neuman sees nursing as a unique profession that is concerned with all of the variables with influence the response a person might have to stressor. The person is seen as a whole, and it is a task of nursing to address the whole person.
Major Concepts
- Person Variables
Psychological, physiological, sociocultural, developmental and spiritual—function to achieve stability in relation to the environmental stressors experienced by the client.
- Flexible Line of Defense
It helps the body to adjust to situations that threaten the imbalance within the client's stability.
- Normal Line of Defense
It acts in coordination with the normal wellness state. It is the normal reaction of the client in response to stress – the baseline determinants of wellness within the health continuum.
- Lines of Resistance
It acts when the Normal Line of Defense is invaded by too much stressor causing alteration in the normal health pattern to facilitate coping and overcome the stressors that are present within the individual.
- Stressors
The model focuses on the impact of stressors on health and addresses stress and the reduction of stress. Stressors are capable of having either possitive or negativeeffect on the client system.
- Prevention
Neuman defines prevention as the primary nursing intervention. Prevention focuses on keeping stressors and the stress response from having a detrimental effect on the body.
a. Primary Prevention
Occurs before the system reacts to a stressor.
b. Secondary Prevention
Occurs after the system reacts to a stressor and is provided in terms of existing systems.
c. Tertiary Prevention
Occurs after the system has been treated through secondary prevention strategies.
