Each person has the potential to think, feel, reason, interact and make decisions. Each has the right to autonomy including making decisions affecting health. Individual needs, values, beliefs and culture influence perceptions of reality. Persons have the potential for rational, healthy, and intelligent relationships. People, individually and as members of families and communities, are major foci of nursing.
Persons exist and are influenced by a dynamic, complex, and multidimensional environment.
There are reciprocal interactions between persons and their environment. Imbalances in this relationship may cause alterations in health. Professional nursing focuses on environments which enhance health and the quality of life. Health is dynamic, characterized by unity between person and environment. Health can be affected by an individual's genetic predisposition, lifestyle, position in the life cycle, and by the health behavior choices the individual makes.