[A concept analysis of health]

Health, the reason for the nursing profession's existence, is the core purpose behind all nursing knowledge. The nature of nursing care is determined by the appreciation of health concepts. For a long time, the multidimensional, complex and changing characteristics of health have not been completely analyzed in Taiwan. The purpose of this article is to define health in terms of the concept analysis method of Walker and Avent (1995). The results show that: health is a process and outcome that involves subjectivity, individuality, objectivity, culture, dynamics, self-control, external control, changeability, and development. The clarification of health concepts will be important and useful to the theoretical basis of nursing practice, to the development of both theory and research, and especially for the development of instruments.