The Intersystem Model: Integrating Theory and Practice

Introducing the reader to one of the most provocative conceptual models in nursing today, The Intersystem Model demonstrates how components of the Intersystem Model can be used to develop a conceptual framework to guide research, practice, and education. Beginning with an overview of the Intersystem Model as a tool for defining and measuring its systems elements, the contributors explore the developmental and situational environments that form a backdrop for the model. Subsequent chapters discuss the theoretical frameworks for the biological, psychosocial, and spiritual subsystems, as well as the assessment and interactions of the family, institution, and community as clients. The concluding chapters present a curriculum outline for the model; learning theories involved in applying the model in education, practice, and mutuality in clinical practice; the delegation of nursing decision making; examples of research testing the theoretical concepts of the model; and the experience of giving spiritual care. The Intersystem Model breaks new ground not only in its presentation of the Intersystem Model but also in its in-depth treatment of the spiritual subsystem as an intrinsic part of the biological-psychosocial-spiritual triad. Instructors and students alike will appreciate the clarity with which the authors have introduced the model and clinicians will find case examples and concrete tools for applying the model and incorporating it into their personal and conceptual framework of practice.