The Neuman Systems Model Assignment

The Neuman Systems Model Assignment

The Neuman Systems Model Assignment

Grand Theories

How can something abstract be useful in nursing practice?

Let’s first consider the level of abstraction and how it applies to the scope of a theory. Take a moment a look into the following picture.

https://lms.courselearn.net/lms/CourseExport/files/663217a4-28fb-4ba6-a471-75983f537998/images–W4_Topic1.jpg

Image Description (Links to an external site.)

How many objects do you see?

The first time you read a grand nursing theory with its high level of abstraction, the words may seem fuzzy and unclear. But as you peer into the words more closely, the theory along with its concepts becomes discernible and comprehensible, similar to the picture (Parker & Smith, 2015).

A grand theory uses a high level of abstraction so that its scope or picture of the nursing profession is very broad and generalized. Only by being abstract, ideal, visionary, and even transcendental is a grand nursing theory able to address all of the variables that a professional nurse may encounter while providing care to individuals, families, groups, and communities (Parker & Smith, 2015).

By definition, a grand theory must consider all of the concepts of a profession. Remember, for the profession of nursing, the metaparadigm concepts are person, health, environment, and nursing itself (Parker & Smith, 2015). So the question becomes: How can something abstract be useful in nursing practice? Without careful thought, the initial answer may be: “It can’t be used, because it is abstract.”

Actually, grand nursing theories are too broad to orchestrate direct patient-care activities, but they are useful in nursing practice because more specific theories (i.e., middle-range, practice) can be derived from the grand theories.

Examples of Grand Theories

Previous

Betty Neuman: The Neuman Systems Model Assignment

Since the 1960s, Betty Neuman has been recognized as a pioneer in nursing, particularly in the specialty area of mental health. She developed her model while lecturing in community mental health at UCLA. The model uses a systems approach that is focused on human needs and protection against stress. Neuman believed that stress can be modified and remedied through nursing interventions (McEwen & Wills, 2010).

She emphasized the need for humans to maintain a dynamic balance that nurses can provide to patients by assisting them to identify problems and agreed-upon mutual goals. The environment component of Neuman’s model is both the internal and external forces surrounding the client and can be influenced or changed at any time. Neuman identified five variables of her theory: physiological, sociocultural, psychological, developmental, and spiritual (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Virginia Henderson: The Principles and Practice of Nursing

In 1937, Virginia Henderson and other scholars developed a nursing curriculum for the National League of Nursing in which the education was focused on patient-centered care and nursing problems. Thus, her theory was derived from her practice and education. The major assumption of Henderson’s framework is that nurses care for patients until patients can care for themselves. For patients, the desire is to return to a state of wellness and health.

The major concepts of the theory relate to the nursing metaparadigm (i.e., patient, nursing, health, and environment). Henderson believes that the unique function of the nurse was to assist the patient during illness and assist in performing those activities that restore the patient to health. She defined the patient as someone who needs nursing care but not limited to illness (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Faye Abdellah: Patient Centered Approaches to Nursing

Faye Abdellah was one of the first major nursing theorists. Her nursing theory was developed inductively form her practice and considered a human-needs framework. Abdellah and her colleagues developed a list of 21 nursing problems and 10 steps in identifying patient problems. They also identified 10 nursing skills to be used in developing treatment typology. Furthermore, her team distinguished between nursing diagnosis and nursing functions. Diagnoses were a determination of the nature and extent of the patient problems. Other concepts central to her work were: healthcare team, professionalization of nursing, patient, and nursing (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Dorothea Orem: The Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory

Dorothea Orem is well recognized for her conceptual framework of self-deficit nursing theory. Between 1971 and 1995, several revisions have been made to the model, but the premise underlying her theory is the individual and the idea of nursing as a system. The paradigms supporting her theory include: nursing meets the needs of patients for self-care; humans are defined as men, women, and children; the environment has a physical and chemical component; and health is defined as beings structurally and functionally whole (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Orem felt that humans engage in continuous interaction between themselves and the environment to remain well and live. Human agency is exercised and discovered by developing, engaging, and transmitting with others in a way that provides meaning to oneself. Self-care requisites are common to all humans, as is growth and development and deficits. Nurses play a major role in assisting patients with healthcare deficits. Orem’s theory has been adopted by many nursing school curriculums (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Betty Neuman: The Neuman Systems Model Assignment

Since the 1960s, Betty Neuman has been recognized as a pioneer in nursing, particularly in the specialty area of mental health. She developed her model while lecturing in community mental health at UCLA. The model uses a systems approach that is focused on human needs and protection against stress. Neuman believed that stress can be modified and remedied through nursing interventions (McEwen & Wills, 2010).

She emphasized the need for humans to maintain a dynamic balance that nurses can provide to patients by assisting them to identify problems and agreed-upon mutual goals. The environment component of Neuman’s model is both the internal and external forces surrounding the client and can be influenced or changed at any time. Neuman identified five variables of her theory: physiological, sociocultural, psychological, developmental, and spiritual (McEwen & Wills, 2014).

Virginia Henderson: The Principles and Practice of Nursing

In 1937, Virginia Henderson and other scholars developed a nursing curriculum for the National League of Nursing in which the education was focused on patient-centered care and nursing problems. Thus, her theory was derived from her practice and education. The major assumption of Henderson’s framework is that nurses care for patients until patients can care for themselves.

For patients, the desire is to return to a state of wellness and health. The major concepts of the theory relate to the nursing metaparadigm (i.e., patient, nursing, health, and environment). Henderson believes that the unique function of the nurse was to assist the patient during illness and assist in performing those activities that restore the patient to health. She defined the patient as someone who needs nursing care but not limited to illness (McEwen & Wills, 2014). The Neuman Systems Model Assignment.