Abstract

Well-being has been considered to be an important nursing concept. However, there is no agreement among nurse researchers as to a conceptual definition of well-being and a similar concept to well -being. Clarification of the concept, well-being in nursing, is necessary to promote communication among nurses and to efficiently apply nursing intervention. This research was designed to analyze the concept and to make a definition of well-being in the lives of Korean Elderly. The study used the concept analysis approach developed by Walker and Avant(1995), and interviews. Firstly, well-being was defined as the balance and harmony of the internal and external environments and as the pursuit of improvement. Attributes of well-being were defined as follows: 1) homeostasis 2) harmony 3) fulfilment 4) pursuit of improvement And empirical referents were followed as: 1) health status, degree of activities of daily living, 2) degree of happiness, degree of satisfaction, 3) self-efficacy, self-esteem, 4) support, interpersonal relationships, social-leisure activity, 5) economic status, 6) degree of belief, 7) space and facilities Consequently, this study has identified the definition and attributes of "well -being" and has located empirical referents through concept analysis and interviews.