The U.B.C. Model for Nursing: Direction for Nursing Practice

Abstract

A model for nursing, a conceptual framework, is a mental image which provides a means for viewing the phenomena about which nursing is concerned: man and the ways in which nursing cares for man. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explain the direction the model gives for nursing practice, specifically, the provision of direct nursing care to patients. The beliefs about nursing and its practice, assumptions about man, and assumptions about man as a behavioural system form the framework. This framework identifies for whom, when, why, where and how nursing functions in a unique way. The definition of nursing explicitly answers the following questions. Who receives nursing care? Man. When does nursing provide care? During critical periods of man's life cycle. Why is nursing care required? So that man may develop and utilize a range of coping behaviours which permit him to satisfy his basic human needs and thereby move toward optimal health. Implicit in the framework is the indication of where and how nursing functions in a unique way. Nursing provides care in a variety of settings. This implication is derived from the belief that man encounters critical periods and the inference is that critical periods may be encountered in any setting.