Name Margaret Newman | Role Author | |
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Books Health as expanding consciousness, Theory development in nursing |
Margaret A. Newman (born October 10, 1933) is an American nurse, university professor and nursing theorist. She authored the theory of health as expanding consciousness. Newman has been designated a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing.
Biography

Newman earned a degree in home economics and English from Baylor University. After taking care of her mother during a terminal illness, she decided to become a nurse. She graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, then earned a master's degree at the University of California, San Francisco and a PhD in nursing from New York University (NYU). Early in her academic career, she held teaching positions at Tennessee, NYU and Pennsylvania State University.

Newman taught at the University of Minnesota until her 1996 retirement. Her theory of health as expanding consciousness was presented at a nursing theory conference in the late 1970s. She expanded the theory by studying its use in cardiac disease and cancer from 1986 to 1997. The theory is based on the science of unitary human beings written by Martha E. Rogers.

In 2008, the American Academy of Nursing recognized Newman as a Living Legend, an honor which is awarded to a small group of nurses "in honor of their extraordinary contributions to the nursing profession, sustained over the course of their careers."
