A Quadripartite Compass for Holistic Nursing: Philosophy of Science, Islamic Teleology, and Culturally Responsive...

PurposeTo articulate the scholarly status, philosophical coherence, and disciplinary contribution of the Quadripartite Compass for Holistic Nursing.ApproachA comparative hermeneutic analysis places holistic nursing and caring science in dialogue with selected Western philosophical traditions and Islamic teleology.ArgumentThe Compass is a philosophical framework that operates at a metatheoretical level and functions in use as a reflective heuristic. Its four coordinates - ontology, axiology, epistemology, and methodology - are interdependent rather than additive: assumptions about personhood shape values; values influence what counts as knowledge; knowledge and values guide action; and practice may revise prior assumptions. Islamic teleology makes purpose, moral accountability, relational dignity, and spiritual meaning more visible, while holistic nursing constrains teleological interpretation through person-centeredness, noncoercion, and respect for individual variation. Wholeness is therefore understood as irreducible, relational, dynamic, and meaning-laden rather than as a sum of dimensions.ConclusionsThe Compass offers a disciplined vocabulary for theory development, education, reflective practice, and future inquiry. It does not replace nursing theories, evidence, professional ethics, or culturally specific assessment. Instead, it helps nurses examine whether conceptions of being, value, knowledge, and action remain coherent with whole-person care.