Nursing Process Discipline and Independent Nursing

Nursing process discipline is a nursing theory developed by nursing theorist, Ida Jean Orlando. This theory, one of the first written about the nursing process, was written to help establish nursing as an independent function in providing health care for a patient. Through this independent nursing function, Orlando developed her theory on the concept of the nurse-patient interaction. During that interaction the nurse recognizes a patient behavior as an “… immediate need for help” (George, 2011, p. 165). This “immediate” need must be correctly identified by the nurse, so the nurse may provide care to relieve the need for help experienced by the patient. Orlando’s creation of the nursing process discipline helped to further establish nursing as a profession and aimed to “…recognize the pivotal importance of the patient participation and intelligent nurse deliberation in the nursing process” (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2011, p. 118). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the basic concepts of Ida Jean Orlando’s nursing theory and the working correlation between patient behavior and the nurse reaction to that behavior.

Initial Concept, Recognizing Patient Behavior

Patient’s behavior is the initial concept of Orlando’s nursing discipline process. The nurse has to learn to recognize the different behaviors of the patient and apply nursing concepts to that behavior. Patient behavior is characterized by both verbal and non-verbal behavior. Verbal behaviors as discussed by George (2011) include “… all of patients use of language” (p. 166). Ida Jean Orlando’s examples of this, listed by George (2011) are “complaints…, requests…., questions…, refusal…, demands…, and…comments or statements” (p. 166). Non-verbal behavio...

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...rofession. A continuum of assessing the patient as an individual is the foundation for nursing and Ida Jean Orlando’s nursing process theory.

Works Cited

American Nurses Association. (2009, July 8). The nursing process: A common thread amongst all nurses. Nursing world: Caring for those who care. Retrieved from: http://nursingworld.org/especiallyforyou/studentnurses/thenursingprocess.aspx

George, J. B. (2011). Nursing process discipline: Ida Jean Orlando. In J. B. George (Ed.), Nursing theories: The base for professional nursing practice. (6th ed., pp. 162-180). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Sitzman, K. L., & Eichelberger L. W. (2011) Ida Jean Orlando-Pelletier’s nursing process theory. In A. Sibley, P. Donnelly, & R. Shuster (Eds.), Understanding the work of nurse theorists: A creative beginning (pp.117-122). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.