Finding Patterns of Meaning: Margaret Newman's Theory of Health as Expanding Consciousness

Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of Margaret Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness, through a literature review, to determine its usefulness for nursing practice and research. The evaluation illustrates that Newman's theory is valuable for guiding various aspects of nursing practice, education, and research. However, its use had been limited to spiritual, psychological, and social aspects of nursing care and needs to be further evaluated for its significance in acute care settings. Most of the studies that use Newman's theory are from the past, with limited studies conducted in recent years, indicating the need for further research.

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“…Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness underpinned this study's application of the RCI. Newman's theory purports people continually interpret information encountered during the wholeness of their lived experience, and acquire new perspectives with expanded consciousness (Alligood, 2017; Endo, 2017; Newman, 1997; Rosa, 2016; Younas & Parveen, 2017). Consciousness was operationalized as a person's ability to interpret and experience stimuli within their environment as a subjective form of reality (Bentov, 1988).…”