Dorothea Orem’s Self-care Concept

“Nursing is an art that renders a personal service to patients” (McLaughlin Renpenning & Taylor, 2003, p. 3), regardless of age, sex, race, culture etc. Children are diagnosed everyday with diseases that cause chronic illness forcing these children to mature much faster in order to become an active participant in the care and maintenance of their illness. Take Diabetes Mellitus for example. Children who are newly diagnosed with this usually adapt quickly in knowing they need to stay on top of proper maintenance. They learn very quickly how they feel when they are sick and how they feel when they are well. “When [Diabetes Mellitus] has its onset in childhood, assisting children to develop a sense of responsibility for self-management is a primary concern” (Dashiff, McCaleb, & Cull, 2006, p. 222). This is most successfully accomplished through patient teaching at a gradual rate appropriate for the child in question. It is very important to use Dorothea Orem’s self-care model so that these children are taught from the beginning about the importance of proper care and control in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.

A case that comes to mind is a young girl, 9 years of age. This child is now very aware of her illness. This young girl was diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus at the age of 3. Since then, she has been on a roller coaster with her illness. She has been in and out of hospital several times over the past 6 years. 3 years after her diagnosis, she had a major setback when she lost her mother to cancer. Now she has become so aware of her own body and the differences between being well and being unwell, that she is afraid to go anywhere for an extended period of time without her dad. She is afraid that other people will not b...

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Blanson Henkemans, O. A., Hoondert, V., Schrama-Groot, F., Looije, R., Alpay, L. L., & Neerincx, M. A. (2012). “I just have diabetes”: children’s need for diabetes self-management support and how a social robot can accommodate their needs. Patient Intelligence, 51-61. http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.dol.org/10.2147/PI.53847

Dashiff, C. J., McCaleb, A., & Cull, V. (2006, June). Self-care of young adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 21, 222-232. http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2005.07.013

McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2011). Theoretical basis for nursing (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

McLaughlin Renpenning, K., & Taylor, S. G. (Eds.). (2003). Self-care theory in nursing: Selected papers of Dorothea Orem. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.