Theoretical Foundation in Nursing

Chapter 9
Dorothea Orem’s Self – Care Deficit Nursing Theory
History and Background
 Dorothea Elizabeth Orem was born in Baltimore, Maryland
on July 15, 1914. She earned her BSN education in 1939
and Master of Science in Nursing in 1945.
 She received her honorary Doctor of Science in Nursing
Education in 1939 and Master of Science in Nursing in 1945
and many other Honorary Doctorate degrees thereafter.
 She published first formal articulation of her ideas in
“Nursing Concept Practice” in 1971, second in 1980, and
finally in 1995.
 Orem developed the Self – Care Deficit Nursing Theory
(1959-2001). Her many papers and presentations provide
insight into her views on nursing practice, nursing
education, and nursing science.
 Orem died at the age of 92 in Savannah, Georgia on June
22, 2007.s
Theoretical Sources
 The primary source for Orem’s ideas of nursing was her
experiences in nursing along with her knowledge in
contemporary nursing literature and thought.
 She recognized that if nursing was to advance as a field of
knowledge and as a field of practice, a structured,
organized body of nursing knowledge was needed.
 Orem’s familiarity with literature in other disciplines also
reflects her ideas and positions.
 Fundamental to Orem’s SCDNT is the philosophical system
of moderate realism. The position of moderate realism
states that there is a world that exists independent of the
thoughts of the knower. The nature of the world is not
determined by the thoughts of the knower, although it is
possible to obtain knowledge about the world.
 Orem’s statements and phrase reflect a moderate realist
position, such as (1) person in space-time localizations, (2)
attribute or properties of these persons, (3) motion of
change, (4) products brought into being.