NURS 1310

Conceptualising Nursing Practice

Study Guide

Unit 3: Biomedical Model and Nursing Implications

Objectives

Upon completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• define the biomedical model
• discuss nursing’s allegiance to the biomedical model
• identify and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the biomedical model

Required Readings

1. Capra, F. The turning point. The biomedical model. Chp.5. Retrieved: January 10th
2005 from http://www.wplus.net/pp/Julia/Capra/Cpt5.htm

2. Pearson, A., Vaughan, B. & FitzGerald, M. (2005). Nursing models for practice.
(3rd. Ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann: China. Chp. 5.
Welcome to Unit 3

In this unit, you will examine the traditional model or better known as the biomedical
model and how this model has influenced nursing practice. You will decide if this
influence is good or not. This model has been criticizsed by many over the years.
However, it is still very dominant in medical schools and healthcare organizsations.
Malaysia is one of the countries that patronise this model.

The original role of the nurse was primarily to care for the patient as prescribed by a
physician. This evolved into the biomedical model of nursing care which still strongly
influences nursing practice today. The biomedical model focuses heavily upon
pathophysiology and altered homeostasis but fails to identify individual differences and
whilst it works well for traditional medical and physical care, it focuses solely on the
treatment of disease, making little account of psychological, sociocultural, or
politcoeconomic differences between individuals. The Biomedical Model essentially
views all patients with the same disease as the same problem regardless of their religion,
culture, or ethnicity. This is in contrast to the social model of healthcare that places
emphasis on changes that can be made in society and in people's own lifestyles to make
the population healthier.

The first theorist to clearly articulate athe role of nurses as distinct from the medical
profession was Florence Nightingale. Her theories were developed during the Crimean
War and published in Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not in 1859.
Nightingale's model is based on the idea that the nurse manipulates the environment to
promote the patient's well being.

Nurses quickly realised that treating patients based upon their disease rather than making
a holistic assessment was not a satisfactory way of attending to patient care.

Readings
Please read F. Capra, chp.5, pp. 1-5

You would now have a fair idea of the beginnings of the biomedical model. The 17 th
century saw the dominance of the biomedical model and it resulted in society’s total
dependence on this model. However there were advantages to this. Had health care
benefited from this model?
Readings Let’s move on to the relationship between the biomedical model
and ‘health’.

Please read F. Capra, chp. 5. pp. 7- 10.

Is it possible to look at the individual’s disease separate from the

society he/she lives in? As nurses, you can clearly see that it is not
possible.

There are disadvantages of the biomedical model for patients /

Activity clients.

Write very briefly these disadvantages in the Note book.

You will now look at the biomedical model and its influence on nursing.

Please read

Readings 1. Pearson, Vaughan & FitzGerald chp.5, pp.41-45, to further

understand the beliefs, values and goals of this model.

2. Pearson, et el, chap. 5, pp. 45-55.

You will be able to see the influence the biomedical model had and
still has on nursing. Nursing all over the world is embedded in this
culture.
 Do you think the biomedical model has influenced your nursing
practice?
Reflection
Are there advantages and disadvantages of this influence to nursing
today?

Write your thoughts in your Note book

Conclusion

The biomedical model has been the model for practice in nursing for centuries. However,
with the emergence of nursing theorists and a strong foundation of nursing knowledge,
there is a paradigm shift in nursing. The profession is now moving away from the
biomedical model and is now embracing a new one. Nursing is now a discipline that has
its own nursing models to provide holistic care to meet the health care needs of theirits
patients / clients.

In Tthe next unit, you will be looking closely at the works of nursing theorists and how
these theories have become part of your nursing practice.

See you then!