Despairing women and healing outcomes: a unitary appreciative nursing perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explicate unitary appreciative nursing and the emergence of healing outcomes associated with despairing women. Unitary appreciative nursing was derived from the science of unitary human beings, informed by the participatory worldview of cooperative inquiry, and shaped by the voices and perspectives of despairing women. It integrates 3 strands of responsiveness (unitary, appreciative, and participatory) to the chosen focus of practice. Healing outcomes for despairing women reflect a conceptualization of healing that involves realizing, knowing, and appreciating the wholeness of life, clarifying understandings of life patterning, and elucidating potentials and opportunities for the betterment of life-a journey toward human flourishing.