Newman's Theory of Health As Expanding Consciousness

“Newman’s
Theory of Health
as Expanding
Consciousness”
Biography and Career of Margaret A.
Newman
• Margaret A. Newman was born on October 10,
1933. She earned her Bachelor's degree in
1962 from the University of Tennessee and her
Master's degree in 1964 from the University of
California. While working toward her graduate
degree, Newman served as a Joint Director of
Nursing of a clinical research center, as well as
an assistant professor of nursing at the
University of Tennessee in Memphis.
• She received a doctorate from New York University in 1971.
Newman then taught at New York University until 1977. In the
fall of 1977, she accepted the position of professor-in-charge of
graduate study in nursing at Penn State University. In 1984,
Newman began working as a nurse theorist at the University of
Minnesota, and she retired from teaching in 1996.
• Newman is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She

has been honored as an outstanding alumna by both the
University of Tennessee and New York University. She received
the Distinguished Scholar in Nursing Award from New York
University, the Founders Award for Excellence in Nursing
Research from Sigma Theta Tau International, and the E. Louise
Grant Award for Nursing Excellence from the University of
Minnesota.
“Health
is the expansion of
consciousness.”
– Newman, 1983
INTRODUCTION
The theory of health as expanding
consciousness stems from Roger’s theory of
unitary human beings.
Martha Rogers
• Martha Roger’s theory of Unitary Human
Beings was the main basis of the development
of her theory, Health as Expanding
Consciousness
• “The theory of health as expanding consciousness (HEC)
was stimulated by concern for those for whom health as
the absence of disease or disability is not possible.
Nurses often relate to such people: people facing the
uncertainty, debilitation, loss and eventual death
associated with chronic illness. The theory has
progressed to include the health of all persons regardless
of the presence or absence of disease. The theory
asserts that every person in every situation, no matter
how disordered and hopeless it may seem, is part of the
universal process of expanding consciousness – a process
of becoming more of oneself, of finding greater meaning
in life, and of reaching new dimensions of connectedness
with other people and the world”
ASSUMPTIONS
1. Health encompasses conditions heretofore described as illness, or,
in medical terms, pathology
2. These pathological conditions can be considered a manifestation
of the total pattern of the individual
3. The pattern of the individual that eventually manifests itself as
pathology is primary and exists prior to structural or functional
changes
4. Removal of the pathology in itself will not change the pattern of
the individual
5. If becoming ill is the only way an individual's pattern can manifest
itself, then that is health for that person
6. Health is an expansion of consciousness.
NURSING PARADIGMS
Health
• “Health and illness are synthesized as health - the fusion
on one state of being (disease) with its opposite (non-
disease) results in what can be regarded as health”.
Nursing
• Nursing is “caring in the human health experience”.

• Nursing is seen as a partnership between the nurse and
client, with both grow in the “sense of higher levels of
consciousness”
Human
• “The human is unitary, that is cannot be
divided into parts, and is inseparable from the
larger unitary field”
• “Persons as individuals, and human beings as a
species are identified by their patterns of
consciousness”…
• “The person does not possess consciousness-
the person is consciousness”.
• Persons are “centers of consciousness” within
an overall pattern of expanding consciousness”
Environment
• Environment is described as a “universe of

open systems”
CRITIQUE
Clarity
• Semantic clarity is evident in the definitions, descriptions, and
dimensions of the concepts of the theory.
Simplicity
• The deeper meaning of the theory of health as expending
consciousness is complex.
The theory as a whole must be understood, nut just the isolated
concepts.
Generality
• The theory has been applied in several different cultures
It is applicable across the spectrum of nursing care situations.
Generality
• The theory has been applied in several different
cultures
• It is applicable across the spectrum of nursing
care situations.
Empirical Precision
• Quantitative methods are inadequate in
capturing the dynamic, changing nature of this
theory.
Derivable Consequences
• Newman's theory provides an evolving guide for
all health-related disciplines.

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What is Newman's theory of health as expanding consciousness?

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“Newman’s

• Newman is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She

• Nursing is “caring in the human health experience”.

• Environment is described as a “universe of

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