Newmans Theory of Health - Essay Example

"Newman’s Theory of Health" is a decent example of a paper on wellness and lifestyle.
According to the theory of health as expanding consciousness by Newman (2000), in chapter three of his book, different health conditions are influenced by the alterations that occur in an individual’s immediate surroundings (p. 32). The theory of health as expanding consciousness asserts that people have prevailing orientations in them referred to as patterns. The alteration of these patterns, causes an individual to feel unhealthy. Moreover, the theory of health as expanding consciousness argues that the more an individual’s original patterns are altered, the more such an individual adapts and becomes more aware. The theory of health as creating consciousness further insinuates human immunity, what they think and their beliefs can be altered to cure diseases. Newman then recommends that nurses would make their work easier in tackling emerging conditions just by re-orientating the perceptions and beliefs of the patient.

However, it is possible to interpret and criticize this theory can be interpreted and criticized in different dimensions. Human orientation and interpretation of scenarios lie purely with their brains. It is the characteristic of the brain to normalize an individual based on its requirements. From this point of view, Newman can be insinuating that this theory is more applicable and useful in handling illnesses that emanate from psychological conditions and to a very small percentage of those that emanate from the alteration of physical conditions of a person. Depending on how they were brought up, humans vary in their reactions when exposed to different conditions. However, it is beyond doubt that the master of the theory of health as creating consciousness can assist in creating a good nurse-patient relationship, which is essential in handling health conditions, according to Kim and Kollak (2006), in the first chapter of their book (p. 3). The applicability of the theory (health as creating consciousness) is evidenced in the following health scenario:

Homesickness and the feeling of loneliness have been a psychological condition with influence to people who have friends and family members to whom they feel so close when they are detached from those circles. Take for instance a grade one student who is on drugs for HIV/AIDS infection and has ever been encouraged to take drugs by the family members to whom they are close. When such a child is taken to a boarding school away from the family, they start developing secondary health conditions besides the one under which they are on medication.  Reasons why the condition might have worsened some of which can be: homesickness or lack of motivation to take the drugs which formerly they used to get from their peers (Newman, 2000, p. 37).

To uninformed nurse, the best solution to such a patient will be to put them under extensive administration of drugs. With the knowledge of the theory of health as creating consciousness, the nurse would be advised to create a rapport with such a patient according to chapter two of Picard, Jones, & Newman (2005, p. 11). The rapport will then give them (the nurse) the opportunity to know the original psychological state of the patient, where they lived, to whom they interacted most and how those individuals were involved in their life with drugs.  The solution here can be educating the patient to interact more with the people around them more. With interaction and socialization, they would form a new circle, thus unable to compromise neither their health nor their education.

Conclusion

Theory of health as creating consciousness has huge applicability in dealing with patients, especially those with psychologically induced pathological conditions. Through the theory, nurses come to understand various body patterns which eventually ease medication.

Read More