MAR G AR E T A .

NE W M A N
G CO NS CIO US N ESS
HEALTH AS EXPANDIN
BIOGRAPHY
BIOGRAPHY

• 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.
BIOGRAPHY

• 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.
BIOGRAPHY
• 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
THEORETICAL SOURCES
THEORETICAL SOURCES
• THE THEORY OF HEALTH AS EXPANDING CONSCIOUSNESS EMANATED FROM NEWMAN’S EARLY PERSONAL
FAMILY EXPERIENCES

• (1970) ROGERS’ SCIENCE OF UNITARY HUMAN BEINGS AND HER ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING WHOLENESS,
PATTERNS, AND UNIDIRECTIONALITY ARE FOUNDATION TO NEWMAN’S THEORY.
THEORETICAL SOURCES

• (1977) BENTOV’S EXPLANATION OF LIFE AS THE PROCESS OF EXPANDING CONSCIOUSNESS PROMPTED

NEWMAN TO ASSERT HER CONCEPT OF HEALTH AS THE PROCESS OF EXPANDING CONSCIOUSNESS.

• (1976) YOUNG’S
MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS
• HEALTH ENCOMPASSES CONDITIONS HERETOFORE DESCRIBED AS ILLNESS, OR,
IN MEDICAL TERMS, PATHOLOGY 

• THESE PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS CAN BE CONSIDERED A MANIFESTATION OF

THE TOTAL PATTERN OF THE INDIVIDUAL

• THE PATTERN OF THE INDIVIDUAL THAT EVENTUALLY MANIFESTS ITSELF AS

PATHOLOGY IS PRIMARY AND EXISTS PRIOR TO STRUCTURAL OR FUNCTIONAL
CHANGES

• REMOVAL OF THE PATHOLOGY IN ITSELF WILL NOT CHANGE THE PATTERN OF

THE INDIVDUAL 

• IF BECOMING ILL IS THE ONLY WAY AN INDIVIDUAL'S PATTERN CAN MANIFEST

ITSELF, THEN THAT IS HEALTH FOR THAT PERSON 

• HEALTH IS AN EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE THEORY
• “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” (NEWMAN, 2010).
• HUMANS ARE OPEN TO THE WHOLE ENERGY SYSTEM OF THE UNIVERSE AND
CONSTANTLY INTERACTING WITH THE ENERGY. WITH THIS PROCESS OF
INTERACTION HUMANS ARE EVOLVING THEIR INDIVIDUAL PATTERN OF WHOLE.

• ACCORDING TO NEWMAN UNDERSTANDING  THE PATTERN IS ESSENTIAL. THE

EXPANDING CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE PATTERN RECOGNITION.
• THE MANIFESTATION OF DISEASE DEPENDS ON THE PATTERN OF INDIVIDUAL
SO THE PATHOLOGY OF THE DISEASES EXISTS BEFORE THE SYMPTOMS
APPEAR SO REMOVAL OF DISEASE SYMPTOMS DOES NOT CHANGE THE
INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURE.

• NEWMAN ALSO REDEFINES NURSING ACCORDING TO  HER NURSING IS THE

PROCESS OF RECOGNIZING THE INDIVIDUAL IN RELATION TO ENVIRONMENT
AND IT IS THE PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
• THE NURSE HELPS TO UNDERSTAND PEOPLE TO USE THE POWER WITHIN TO
DEVELOP THE HIGHER LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

• THUS IT HELPS TO REALIZE THE DISEASE PROCESS, ITS RECOVERY AND

PREVENTION.

• NEWMAN ALSO EXPLAINS THE INTERRELATEDNESS OF TIME, SPACE AND

MOVEMENT.

• TIME AND SPACE ARE THE TEMPORAL PATTERN OF THE INDIVIDUAL, BOTH
HAVE COMPLEMENTARY RELATIONSHIP.

• HUMANS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE AND IT

SHOWS UNIQUE PATTERN OF REALITY.
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”