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CHAPTER 23 Margaret A. Newman 445

MAJOR CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS—cont’d
with its environment (Newman, 1994). Newman contrasting concepts become reconciled and fused.
asserts that understanding of her definition of Movement and rest fuse into one” (p. 67). Absolute
consciousness is essential to understanding the the- consciousness is equated with love, where all oppo-
ory. Consciousness includes not only cognitive and sites are reconciled and all experiences are accepted
affective awareness, but also the “interconnected- equally and unconditionally, such as love and hate,
ness of the entire living system which includes pain and pleasure, and disease and non-disease.
physicochemical maintenance and growth processes Reed (1996) concurred with Newman’s theory that
as well as the immune system” (Newman, 1990a, the phase of evolutionary development is when the
p. 38). person moves beyond a focus on self that is limited
In 1978, Newman identified three correlates of by time, space, and physical concerns suggesting
consciousness (time, movement, and space) as man- transcendence as a process through which the per-
ifestations of the pattern of the whole. The life pro- son moves to a high level of consciousness.
cess is seen as a progression toward higher levels of
consciousness. Newman (1979) views the expansion Movement-Space-Time
of consciousness as what life and health is all about, Newman emphasizes the importance of examin-
and the sense of time is an indicator in the changing ing movement-space-time together as dimensions
level of consciousness. of emerging patterns of consciousness rather than
Newman (1986) integrates Bentov’s (1977) defi- as separate concepts of the theory (M. Newman,
nition of absolute consciousness as “a state in which personal communication, 2004).

Use of Empirical Evidence in terms of theory development, it must have three
Evidence for the theory of health as expanding con- components, as follows: (1) having as its purpose
sciousness emanated from Newman’s early personal the testing of theory, (2) making explicit the theo-
family experiences. Her mother’s struggle with amy- retical framework upon which the testing relies, and
otrophic lateral sclerosis and her dependence on (3) reexamining the theoretical underpinnings in
Newman, then a young college graduate, sparked her light of the findings (Newman, 1979). She believed
interest in nursing. From that experience, the idea that if health is considered an individual personal
that “illness reflected the life patterns of the person process, then research should focus on studies that
and that what was needed was the recognition of that explore changes and similarities in personal mean-
pattern and acceptance of it for what it meant to that ing and patterns.
person” (Newman, 1986, p. 3).
Throughout Newman’s writings, terms such as call to
nursing, growing conscience-like feeling, fear, power, Major Assumptions
meaning of life and health, belief of life after death, rituals The foundation for Newman’s assumptions (M. New-
of health, and love are used, providing a clue concerning man, personal communication, 2000) is her definition
Newman’s endeavors to make a disturbing life experi- of health, which is grounded in Rogers’ 1970 model for
ence logical. Her life experience triggered beginning nursing, specifically, the focus on wholeness, pattern,
maturation toward theory development in nursing. and unidirectionality. From this, Newman developed
Within her philosophical framework, Newman began the following assumptions that support her theory to
to develop a synthesis of disease-nondisease-health as this day (Newman, 2008).
recognition of the total patterning of a person. 1. Health encompasses conditions heretofore described
Research has been conducted on the theoretical as illness or, in medical terms pathology . . .
sources (Newman, 1987b). In 1979, Newman wrote 2. These “pathological” conditions can be considered a
that in order for nursing research to have meaning manifestation of the total pattern of the individual . . .