Faye Glenn Abdellah

Twenty-One Nursing Problems

Faye Glenn Abdellah is recognized as a leader in the development of nursing research and nursing as a
profession within the Public Health Service (PHS) and as an international expert on health problems. She
was named a “living legend” by the American Academy of Nursing in 1994 and was inducted into the
National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000 for a lifetime spent establishing and leading essential health care
programs for the United States. In 2012, Abdellah was inducted into the American Nurses Association Hall
of Fame for a lifetime of contributions to nursing (ANA News Release, 2012). Abdellah has been active in
professional nursing associations and is a prolific author, with more than 150 publications. During her 40-
year career as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service (1949 to 1989), she served as Chief
Nurse Officer (1970 to 1987) and was the first nurse to achieve the rank of a two-star Flag Officer
(Abdellah, 2004) and the first woman and nurse Deputy Surgeon General (1982 to 1989). After retirement,
Abdellah founded and served as the first dean in the Graduate School of Nursing, GSN, Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Abdellah considers her greatest accomplishment being able to
“play a role in establishing a foundation for nursing research as a science” (p. iii). Her book, Patient-
Centered Approaches to Nursing, emphasizes the science of nursing and has elicited changes throughout
nursing curricula. Her work, which is based on the problem-solving method, serves as a vehicle for
delineating nursing (patient) problems as the patient moves toward a healthy outcome. Abdellah views
nursing as an art and a science that mold the attitude, intellectual competencies, and technical skills of
the individual nurse into the desire and ability to help individuals cope with their health needs, whether
they are ill or well. She formulated 21 nursing problems based on a review of nursing research studies
(Box 5-2). She used Henderson’s 14 basic human needs (see Box 5-1) and nursing research to establish
the classification of nursing problems. Abdellah’s work is a set of problems formulated in terms of nursing-
centered services, which are used to determine the patient’s needs. Her contribution to nursing theory
development is the systematic analysis of research reports and creation of 21 nursing problems that guide
comprehensive nursing care. The typology of her 21 nursing problems first appeared in Patient-Centered
Approaches to Nursing (Abdellah, Beland, Martin, & Matheney, 1960). It evolved into Preparing for
Nursing Research in the 21st Century: Evolution, Methodologies, and Challenges (Abdellah & Levine,
1994). The 21 nursing problems progressed to a second-generation development referred to as patient
problems and patient outcomes. Abdellah educated the public on AIDS, drug addiction, violence, smoking,
and alcoholism. Her work is a problemcentered approach or philosophy of nursing. Abdellah’s papers are
available at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ manuscripts/msc.html.