Nursing Theories Overview

Nursing Theories

• Nursing theories provide a framework for compassionate, effective, and patient-centered care.
• Different theorists offer unique perspectives, focusing on aspects like human needs, relationships, and professional development.

Virginia Henderson

• Earned a nursing diploma in 1921 from Walter Reed Hospital.
• Received a Bachelor's degree in 1932 and a Master's degree in 1934 from Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Published "Basic Principles of Nursing" in 1966 (revised 1972), translated into 27 languages.
• Awarded the prestigious Christiane Reimann prize from the International Council of Nurses (ICN).
• Recognized as "The First Lady of Nursing," among other titles.
• Categorized nursing activities into 14 components based on human needs.
• Died in 1996 at age 98.

Major Concepts of the Nursing Need Theory (Nursing Metaparadigm)

• Individual
• Environment
• Health
• Nursing

Joyce Travelbee

• Known psychiatric nurse, theorist, and author.
• Her work emphasizes human-to-human relationships in nursing.
• She emphasizes the importance of empathy and communication.
• Views nursing as a profession exceeding physical care, prioritizing emotional support.

Margaret Newman

• Studied at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and received a Master's in medical-surgical nursing from the University of California

• Earned her PhD in 1972.

• Articulated a theory of health in 1978.

• Her theory fuses "disease" with its opposite, "non-disease" forming a theory of health.

Dorothea Orem

• One of the foremost nursing theorists.
• Born in 1914, Baltimore, Maryland
• 1939 BSN, Catholic University of America
• 1945 MSN, Catholic University of America.
• Recognized for her self-care theory and self-care deficit theory.

Ida Jean Orlando

• Internationally known psychiatric health nurse, theorist.
• Developed the "Deliberative nursing process theory".
• Her theory allows nurses to create an effective nursing care plan adaptable to complications.
• Validates patient interpretations when developing care plans.
• Theory recognizes that each patient has unique interpretations.

Martha Rogers

• Known as the "Science of the Unitary Human Beings".

• Born on May 12, 1914 in Dallas, Texas and died on March 13, 1994

• Developed the nursing theory to study the relationship between the human and the enviornnment

• Proposed a new concept of health focused on the dynamic relationship between individuals and the environment.

• Her theory considers humans and their environments as energy fields.

Patricia Benner

• Pasadena College
• University of California
• Earned various degrees.
• Her theory focuses from novice to expert.

Dorothy Johnson

• Born August 21,1919, Savannah, Georgia
• Known for her work on the development of the interpersonal theory of nursing and the theory of patient needs.

Imogene King

• Born January 30, 1923 in West Point, Iowa.
• A pioneering and sought-after nursing theorist.
• Her theory describes a dynamic interpersonal relationship.
• She emphasizes the importance of the nurse-patient communication process and mutual goal setting.

Betty Neuman

• Born on September 11, 1924 in Marietta, Ohio and died on May 28, 2022
• Developed the Neuman Systems Model (NSM).
• Her theory utilizes the concept of open systems that views patients as dynamic, open systems responding to internal and external environmental stressors

Sister Callista Roy

• Developed the Adaptation Model of Nursing.
• This model focuses on the patient's ability to adapt to environmental changes.

Carmemcita Abaquin

• Known for her "CARE, CURE, CORE" theory or sometimes known as the Three C's.
• Theory offers a framework for non-pharmacologic/non-surgical care of advanced cancer patients that addresses patients humanity and internal serenity.
• Her work focuses on addressing the needs of cancer patients from an alternative perspective that includes care for patients with internal serenity and meaning-making.

Madeleine Leininger

• Developed the Culture Care Theory to provide culturally sensitive care.

Rosemary Rizzo Parse

• Known for her human becoming theory.
• Her work emphasizes viewing patients as creating their own realities from lived experiences.
• Her theory emphasizes the dynamism of life.

Faye Glenn Abdellah

• Developed the "21 Nursing Problems" theory.
• Her theory focused on patient-centered care and emphasized problem-solving within nursing.

Jean Watson

• Developed the Theory of Human Caring.
• Her work places an emphasis on caring relationships.

Lawrence Kohlberg

• Focused on moral development.
• His work emphasizes the progression through stages of moral reasoning.