[Environment as a dimension in nursing metaparadigm]

The concept of Environment was incorporated in the metaparadigm of Nursing. The other three main concepts, better known by nurses, were more analysed and investigated. The environment interferes in each one of them and, although it has been mentioned usually, it needs to be more clarified. In this article, the main goal is to analyse and to understand the Concept of Environment in Nursing, its importance and implications for the Patient and for the Nurse and how the Nurse may participate in the complex interdependence Person/Environment. This polysemic word with etymologic and historic evolution, Environment, is mentioned in different dimensions, in the optic of the "Ordem dos Enfermeiros"' in the International Classifications of Nursing Practice, in the context of clinical practice and also in an ethical view.