The Holistic Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms

This article describes a holistic revisioning of symptom theory for nursing practice. The Holistic Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms (HTOUS), informed by the Science of Unitary Human Beings, describes the complexity of symptom experience and how nursing actions can be associated with its transformation. Existing theories of unpleasant symptoms which broadly describe the antecedents, characteristics, and consequences of symptoms, have been reconceptualized from holistic and integral perspectives. Applying integral concepts such as human energy field and pattern manifestation expands understanding of both symptom experience and the nurse’s response to it. Spirituality is an addition to symptom theory, being seen as a characteristic of Human Energy Field pattern manifestations. The theory’s major concepts are symptom experience manifestations and wellbecoming manifestations. Concepts of the sustaining presence of the nurse and voluntary mutual patterning are explored. Pain, nausea, dyspnea, anxiety, despair, and other symptoms are discussed. Because HTOUS is acausal and nonlinear, it is widely applicable to creative, theory-directed nursing practice and research. Recommendations are made for practice, research, and further theory development.