Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NUR/513
Rebecca Toothaker
Core concepts embody a theory creating the bases for the theory or model. In nursing,
concepts help in the development of theories. Theorists have developed different models or
theories but have common core concepts. This paper will identify a core concept that several
theorists have in share compare and analyze the concept definitions among the selected theories,
Common Concept
The core concept common to two or more theories is nursing. Dorothea Orem’s and
Virginia Henderson’s use the nursing concept in their theory to define the role of nursing. Orem
defines nursing as the “actions deliberately selected and performed by nurses to help individuals
or groups under their care to maintain or change conditions in themselves or their environments”
(Current Nursing, 2010, para. 4). Henderson defines nursing as nurses assisting the individual,
ill or healthy, in the performing activities that contribute to the individuals health or recuperation
(even a peaceful death) that the individual performs without help if armed with strength, resolve
or information (Current Nursing, 2010, para. 6). The concepts are common in that nursing
support the patient in recovering their optimal health. An individual that is experiencing
difficulties or self-care deficit Orem defined need nursing interventions. The difference in
Henderson and Orem’s nursing concept is that Henderson’s concept determines that nursing is
needed when the individual is healthy or sick. In contrast, Orem’s nursing concept requires a
patient to have a self-deficit for nursing support. The concepts are applicable in different nursing
Dorothea Orem Self-care model uses the meta-paradigms of nursing, person, health, and
environment. Orem claimed a philosophy of modern realism and her self-care theory was that of
logical positivism. The Self-care Model is comprised of self-care, self-care deficit, and nursing
system. Self-care is the “practice of activities that individual initiates and performs on their own
behalf in maintaining life, health and well-being” (Current Nursing, 2010, para. 4).
Self–care deficit requires nursing action. According to Fitzpatrick & Whall (2005),
“nursing is needed when persons are unable to provide for themselves the amount and quality of
self-care needed to regulate their own functioning and development because of personal health
problems” (p. 104). Nursing system delineates how the nurse, patient, or both meet an
individual’s self-care needs. In clinical practice self-care is the ability for an individual to
to maintain health experiences self-care deficit. Now nursing action is necessary. Nurses
recovering from illness or injury” (Taylor, LeMone, Lillis, & Lynn, 2008, p. 86). In essence,
nursing meets the needs of the individual through teaching, support, and environmental changes
The common concept discussed in this paper was nursing, which is essential to
Henderson and Orem’s theory. Nursing provides the actions taken to promote, maintain and
recover an individual’s health. Orem’s Self-care Model demonstrated the role of nursing in
caring for an individual. Nursing provides the interventions required to help an individual back
http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/self_care_deficit_theory.html
http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Henderson.html
Fitzpatrick, J. J., & Whall, A. (2005). Conceptual Models of Nursing: Analysis and Application
Taylor, C. R., LeMone, P., Lillis, C., & Lynn, P. (2008). Fundamentals of Nursing; The art and
science of nursing care (6 ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.