Nursing Theories

Nurse Theories

A nursing theory is a innovative product of nurses who seek thoughtfully to explain the aspects of nursing in ways that could be studied, assessed, and used by other nurses (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010). Nursing theorists are people who are, or have been, nurses who have reflected about how one might describe the phenomenon of nursing (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010). Each theorist has then tried in their own way to document their thoughts and observations based on professional and personal experiences (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010). Theories are significant in the sense of providing structure and order for guiding and improving professional practice, teaching, learning activities and research (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010). Each theory is as unique as the individual(s) who developed it (Sitzman & Eichelberger, 2010). In this paper, nursing theorists Martha Rogers and Dorothea Orem are analyzed within the context of the their theory, questions, major assumptions and the four key concepts of the metaparadigm of nursing - person, environment, health and nurse (Meleis, 2011a). Each theorist will then be compared on similar and dissimilar components to their theory.

Martha Rogers

Theory Description. Martha E. Rogers, one of nursing’s leading analysts, was a loyal advocate for nursing as a fundamental science (Parker, 2001b). Rogers is known for the paradigm she introduced to nursing called, “The Science of Unitary Human Beings (SUHB)” (Parker, 2001b). The SUHB provided a revolutionary vision of nursing reality (Rogers, 1970). According to Rogers (1970), her framework provided a structure for nursing practice, education and research that promises a move away from the previously predominant medical model approa...

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... 2005).

Health. When addressing health, Orem stated health is “a state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (p. 184, cited in Foster & Bennett, 2001). When referring to health, Orem uses the terms health, health state, and well-being (Fawcett, 2005)
 Nursing. Nursing, as art through which the practitioner of nursing gives specialized assistnace to persons with disabilities of such a character that greater than ordinary assistance is necessary to meet daily needs for self care and to intelligently participate in the medical care they are recieving from the physician” (Orem, as cited by McLaughlin-Renpenning, 2002). It is actions deliberately selected and performed by nurses to help individuals or groups untruth their care to maintain or change condition in themselves or their environments (Hartweg, 1991).