THE DIFFUSION OF AN INNOVATION: THE HOLISTIC PARADIGM IN NURSING.
Contributors: University of Minnesota.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 140
Subjects: Education, Health.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Nursing today is being affected by a change in the beliefs and values underlying the delivery of health care services. This change, or shift in the underlying paradigm of the field is from a traditional medical model, in which individuals are seen in terms of disease processes needing treatment, to a viewpoint which emphasizes wellness and self care. This new viewpoint, labeled by many as the holistic paradigm of health, is a major innovation in today's rapidly changing health care system.

This thesis investigates the process of paradigm change within the nursing field using a bibliometric analysis of the nursing journal literature. In this analysis, paradigm change is viewed as an innovation based on the framework of diffusion theory which describes the process by which innovations are communicated over time among members of a social system. The investigation focuses on four elements of the diffusion process as sources of evidence for paradigm change namely, the innovation, communication channels, time, and the social system.

A MEDLINE search of the nursing journal literature covering the years 1966 to 1987 was conducted using words identified by a national sample of practicing nurses. Results of the search indicate a convergence on a group of key words that describe holistic health. An analysis of journals from the MEDLINE search using these words showed a dramatic rise in the number of articles in which they appeared from 1976 to 1987. The growth in articles occurred principally in practice oriented journals, with little increase in nursing research or nursing education journals. The majority of the articles on holistic health were written as a one time project by their authors.

Evidence from the present study suggests that the holistic paradigm of health may be appearing as an innovation directly in the delivery of nursing services rather than appearing as a shift in beliefs and values based on data from research studies as has been more typical in other fields.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2119.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, 1988.

School code: 0130.