An Integral Nursing Education: Exploration of the Wilber Quadrant Model

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for a transformative shift in undergraduate nursing curricula. By examining typical Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum, via Ken Wilber’s integral quadrant model, it becomes apparent that nursing students are highly prepared to address the medical-technical needs of their patients. However, it is also evident that students are under-prepared to address the complex emotional, social, and spiritual challenges that their patients face on a daily basis. A proposed shift in nursing curricula would utilize Wilber’s model to address nursing students’ integral educational needs in an effort to create nurses who are capable of caring deeply for patients, acting as agents of change, and who experience the art of nursing as a potentially transformative experience.