Critical Analysis of the Nursing Metaparadigm in Spanish-Speaking Countries Is the Nursing Metaparadigm Universal?

This critical analysis examines the definitions of concepts in the nursing metaparadigm presented in English language literature in relation to the perspective of published Spanish-speaking nurse researchers in Spanish-speaking countries. Because language shapes our understanding, nurses who are taught in Spanish to become nurses possess a distinctive disciplinary perspective, based on the notion of nursing as the science of caring. This article is intended to facilitate an awareness with which researchers can overcome language barriers in theoretical development. For settings in which English-speaking and Spanish-speaking nurses must work together, sensitivity to differences in linguistic nuances is important.