Created Environment: Evolution of a Neuman Systems Model Concept

Abstract

In this essay, we trace the evolution of the definition of the Neuman systems model concept of created environment from its inception in 1989. The created environment is one of three categories of environment in the Neuman systems model; the other two are the internal environment and the external environment. The most recent definition of created environment is offered in this essay as the following: The created environment is a synthesis of the internal and external environments that encompasses the client system’s ever-changing awareness of the physiological, psychological, sociocultural, developmental, and spiritual variables, and the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and extrapersonal stressors as beneficial or noxious. As a protective shield, the created environment represents the client system’s perceptions and understanding of what is real and what is safe, as discussed with the nurse.