untitled

p. 81) in a process that corrects and expands her
own angular view. This is the pattern of the dialectic
process, which is reflected throughout Humanistic
Nursing Theory. In the dialectic process there is a
repetitive pattern of organizing the dissimilar into a
higher level (Barnum, 1990, p. 44). At this higher
level, differences are assimilated to create the new.
This repetitive dialectic process of humanistic
nursing is an approach that feels comfortable and
natural for those who think inductively.
The pervasive theme of dialectic assimilation
speaks to universal interrelatedness from the sim-
plest to the most complex level. Human beings, by
virtue of their ability to self-observe, have the
unique capacity to transcend themselves and reflect
on their relationship to the universe. This dialectic
process has a pattern similar to that of the call-and-
response paradigm of Humanistic Nursing Theory.
This paradigm speaks to the interactive dialogue
between two different human beings from which a
unique yet universal instance of nursing emerges.
The nursing interaction is limited in time and
space, but the internalization of that experience
adds something new to each person’s angular view.

Neither is the same as before. Each is more because

of that coming together. The coming together of

the nurse and the patient, the between in the lived

world, is nursing. Just as in the double helix of the

DNA molecule (where this interweaving pattern is

what structures the individual), in the fabric of

Humanistic Nursing Theory this intentional inter-

weaving between patient and nurse is what gives

nursing its structure, form, and meaning.

THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY

The definition of community presented by Drs.

Paterson and Zderad is: “Two or more persons

The definition of community presented

by Drs. Paterson and Zderad is: “Two or

more persons struggling together toward

a center.”

struggling together toward a center” (1976, p. 131).

In any community there is the individual and the

collective known as the “community.” Plato points

to the microcosm and the macrocosm and pro-

poses that the one is reflective of the many.

Humanistic Nursing Theory similarly proposes

that the interaction of one nurse is a reflection of

the recurrent pattern of nursing and is therefore

worth reflecting upon and valuing. According to

Humanistic Nursing Theory, there is an inherent

obligation of nurses to one another and to the com-

munity of nurses. That which enhances one of us,

enhances all of us. Through openness, sharing, and

caring, we each will expand our angular views, each

becoming more than before. Subsequently, we take

back into our nursing community these expanded

selves, which in turn will touch our patients, other

colleagues, and the world of health care.

PART TWO

Applications

NURSE’S REFLECTION ON NURSING

These descriptive explorations illuminate the

concepts of empathy, comfort, and presence

CHAPTER 11 Josephine Paterson and Loretta Zderad’s Humanistic Nursing Theory and Its Applications 133

Subjective Objective

Synthesizes

sudden insights

Noetic Loci

"knowing place"

Dialectic

a new overall grasp

FIGURE 11–6 Nurses complementarily synthesizing knowing
others.