Rosemarie Rizzo Parse’s Theory of Human Becoming
About Dr. Parse
- Educated at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
- MSN and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh
- Published her theory of nursing, Man-Living-Health in 1981
- Name changed to Theory of Human Becoming in 1992
- Editor and Founder, Nursing Science Quarterly
- Has published eight books and hundreds of articles about Human Becoming Theory
- Professor and Niehoff Chair at Loyola University, Chicago
Concepts of The Human Becoming Theory
- Human Becoming Theory includes Totality Paradigm; Man is a combination of biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual factors
- Simultaneity Paradigm; Man is a unitary being in continuous, mutual interaction with the environment
- Originally Man-Living-Health Theory
Nursing Paradigms
- Person: Open being who is more than and different from the sum of the parts.
- Environment: Everything in the person and his experiences and inseparable, complementary to, and evolving with.
- Health: Open process of being and becoming. Involves synthesis of values.
- Nursing: A human science and art that uses an abstract body of knowledge to serve people.
Strengths
- Differentiates nursing from other disciplines
- Practice – Provides guidelines of care and useful administration
- Useful in Education
- Provides research methodologies
- Provides a framework to guide inquiry of other theories (grief, hope, laughter, etc.)
Weaknesses
- Research considered to be in a “closed circle”
- Rarely quantifiable results – Difficult to compare to other research studies, no control group, standardized questions, etc.
- Does not utilize the nursing process/diagnoses
- Negates the idea that each person engages in a unique lived experience
- Not accessible to the novice nurse
- Not applicable to acute, emergent care
Additional Information & References
- A Human Becoming perspective on the quality of life
- About Dr. Parse by Discovery International Online
- Dr. Parse’s own website (founder) of Human Becoming
- Diagram and Models of the Human Becoming Theory and from Nursology
- Feeling respected: a Parse method study
- Human becoming criticism–a critique of Florczak’s study on the lived experience of sacrificing something important
- On joy-sorrow: a paradoxical pattern of human becoming
- The lived experience of suffering: a parse research method study
- Slide and online notes of Dr. Parse’s theory
