Answering the Challenge of Globalized Health Care to the Work of Imogene King

Abstract

<p>This philosophical presentation will outline the potential need (and progress the discussion) of a change in Imogene King’s Conceptual Systems and metaparadigm concepts that ground her nursing theory of Mutual Goal Attainment. It was proposed at the 2015 conference that the contemporary globalization of health care requires nurses to be able to include in their assessment political, economic, local health, safety, and cultural issues. A fourth, Global System, was proposed by this author. The members from Japan objected that Dr. King would not accept this and that her concept Environment could be expanded in scope to include these parameters. Last summer discussion was continued on this topic through e-mail that included our Japanese partners. (Dr. King had worked in Japan with the development of a nursing curriculum using her systems, concepts, and theory.) Additionally, documents were received from Pat Messmer that contain relevant content. These were scanned by staff at Wheeling Jesuit University and made available on the King web site by Christina Sieloff. <br />This presentation would provide background and information for understanding King’s Conceptual Systems and the potential proposed fourth system, The Global, added to Personal, Interpersonal, and Social systems. The metaparadigm concepts of nursing, health, person, and environment would be defined as used by King in her 1981 text, A Theory for Nursing. After a discussion of these, it will be argued that a deepening of the concept of environment is more appropriate than a fourth system as this concept, the time-space framework where nursing occurs, is within each of the current conceptual systems. King’s systems all relate to personal and interpersonal phenomena and form the dynamic setting for nursing. The nurse uses the metaparadigm concepts to organize practice. There will be an exposition of the concept of Environment from King’s 1981 text, extant documents, and the discussion last summer. The overarching question of this presentation is, will a deeper understanding of the concept of environment accommodate the extended global community, negating the need for a fourth system. It is expected that this is the case.</p>