Abstract
PURPOSE
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the level of maturity of the concept of health in the nursing discipline.
METHOD
The four principles of Morse and colleagues were used to evaluate the level of maturity of the health concept-epistemological, logical, pragmatical, and linguistical.
FINDINGS
This evaluation suggests that the concept of health in nursing is immature, defined inconsistently, and with different instruments.
CONCLUSION
Health is a central concept for nursing. Additional concept development and clarification are needed.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
For the concept of health to be conceptualized, it is important that nurses have consensus regarding the definition of health. The nursing discipline should define health in a manner that is consistent with its philosophical presuppositions. Further, it should be measurable, empirically based, and capture the outcomes that are sensitive to the nursing interventions.
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