Introduction

P & Z HUMANISTIC NURSING THEORY

Introduction

"The meaning of nursing as a living human act is in the act itself....Nursing is a response to the human situation....one human being needs a kind of help and another gives it." (Paterson & Zderad, 1988, p. 11)

To me, a nurse is a being, becoming through intersubjectively calling and responding in her suffering, joyous, struggling, chaotic humanness, always trying beyond the possible while never completely free from ignoble personal human wants. And, through their [sic] presence it is possible for other persons to be all they can be in crisis situations of their worlds...In humanistically recalling and reflecting a nurse will understand and respond empathetically and sympathetically to both one's [sic] own humanness and the other's. (P & Z, p. 56)

Once while reflecting on the nature of nursing against a background of notions about intersubjectivity drawn from experience and literature and testing them against my own real life experiences of nursing, I suddenly saw that NURSING ITSELF IS A PARTICULAR FORM OF HUMAN DIALOGUE. This insight occurred to me with clarity, conviction, and all the force of a brand new idea. It was so obvious, so distinct, so simple, so clearly a central intuition that could illuminate the phenomenon of nursing from within. I experienced the idea as fresh and excitingly full of promise. (P & Z, p. 22)

The psychiatric and mental health setting was the background that provided the fertile grounds for Josephine G. Paterson and Loretta T. Zderad to first develop and then refine their "Humanistic Nursing" Theory. Their theory developed over a score of years during the 1950's through the 1970's at which time both instructors were teaching nursing students all the medical information necessary to provide a good solid background in scientific principles. They both recognized that while the scientific principles taught were good and sound, they were only a part of what being a nurse was all about. There was so much more to nursing not explainable in scientific terms. This part of nursing was valuable and of great worth in assisting their clients to optimum health and as a result of this it also made the nurse greater than (s)he was previous to the encounter.

Paterson and Zderad did not actively start out to develop "Humanistic Nursing Theory" but rather tried to find a method to explain and define the "hows," "whats," and "whys" that nurses provide. They felt there was a whole other world in which nurses accomplish what they do beyond the scientific principles that they taught their students. There was another aspect of accomplishment not explainable by science but rather was descriptive in nature. This was not a work that came easy. Creation of their theory took place over much of their professional lives and followed a rather convoluted and lengthy route. Their ideas were examined, reexamined, and refined. Their theory was polished and pondered over many years. "Humanistic Nursing Theory" is now utilized as a framework to guide the practice arena by many nurses since its development.

Humanistic Nursing Theory is still and will be a work in progress by others beyond Paterson & Zderad. Further development and refinement of this theory is the wish of Dr. Paterson and Dr. Zderad (personal communication with Nancy O'Conner, 2002). To this end in order to keep alive and continue with the work Paterson & Zderad started, Nancy O'Conner wrote Paterson and Zderad: Humanistic Nursing Theory (1993) in the series Notes on Nursing Theories by Sage Publications.

Another Humanistic Nursing activist is Dr. Susan Kleinman, who has written many articles, publications and maintains a website (http://www.humanistic-nursing.com) on this theory. She is listed as the standard-bearer of Humanistic Nursing Theory as indicated on the website. Check out Humanistic Nursing: The Phenomenological Theory of Paterson and Zderad (1986) published by National League for Nursing (NLN) in Case Studies in Nursing Theory.

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