Orem's Self Care Theory

Dorothea Orem published Nursing Concepts of Practice in 1971, in which she explained her theory of nursing the Self-Care Theory. Self-Care Theory established Orem’s as the leading theorists in nursing practice and education. Orem’s has published many other paper, spoke at conferences and workshops around the world, and received many awards for her contributions. Orem’s was inducted into American Academy of nursing and nursing honor society. Orem’s believed that people have natural ability to self-care and nurses need to focus on promoting these abilities. Although there are many theorist that have influenced nursing Orem’s theory of Self-Care helps maintain patient’s abilities to stay in their own homes. Dorothea Orem was born

This focuses on patient’s actions to meet their own self-care demands. Orem’s used these assumptions and evaluations to build the frame work of her nursing career. Orem’s initial definition of nursing concerns included “man’s need for self-care action and the provision and management and health, recover from disease or injury and cope with their effects” (Orem, 1959, p.3). Orem’s basic definition of nursing goals was “overcoming human limitations” (Orem, 1959, p.4). Orem’s theory of self-care is made up of three related theories; 1.) Theory of self-care, 2.) Theory of self-care deficit, and 3.) Theory of nursing systems. According to Orem’s “the three part theory focuses not on individual, but on persons in relations. Each of the three theories has as its focus a specific dimension of the person: the theory of self-care focuses on the self, the I, the theory of self-care deficit on you and me, the theory of nursing systems on we, persons in community (Orem, 1990, p.49). The self-care theory assess the ability to engage in self-care by assessing age, gender, developmental stage,

Orem’s theory is significate in that it shows that all patients want to care for themselves, making recovery more quickly, preforming their own self-cares as much as they can. Assessing the universal, developmental, and health deviation requisites ensures that each patient is receiving individual cares and achieving patient appropriate outcomes. Orem’s theory utilize the assessment, diagnosis, implementation, and evaluation that is used in all health care settings to promote health maintenance. Although there are many theories that have influenced the nursing process, Orem’s self-care theory is straight forward but generalized enough to apply to a wide variety of