BETTY NEUMAN

I. BACKGROUND OF THE THEORIST

1. Ohio
2. Peoples Hospital School of Nursing
3. Public Health and
4. Psychology

What are the Professional Background of Betty Neuman?

Neuman moved to California and worked in a variety of roles that included hospital nurse, school
nurse, industrial nurse, and clinical instructor at the University of Southern California Medical
Center.

Neuman completed her initial nursing education with double honors at Peoples Hospital School of
Nursing. She earned a baccalaureate degree in public health and psychology with honors (1957) and
a master’s degree in mental health, public health consultation (1966), from the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Neuman completed a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at
Pacific Western University in 1985 (B. Neuman, personal communication, June 3, 1984).

Neuman, personal communication, June 3, 1984). Neuman was a pioneer of nursing involvement in
mental health. She and Donna Aquilina were the first two nurses to develop the nurse counselor
role within community crisis centers in Los Angeles (B. Neuman, personal communication, June
21, 1992).

She developed, taught, and refined a community mental health program for post–master’s level
nurses at UCLA.

Neuman published the Neuman Systems Model. Neuman first published her model during the early
1970s (Neuman & Young, 1972; Neuman, 1974). T he first edition of The Neuman Systems Model:
Application to Nursing Education and Practice was published in 1982; further development and
revisions of the model are illustrated in subsequent editions (Neuman, 1989, 1995, 2002b, 2011b).

She is a Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and of the American
Academy of Nursing. She taught nurse continuing education at UCLA and in community agencies
for 14 years and was in private practice as a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist, with
an emphasis on pastoral counseling.

II. PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF THEORY

Betty Neuman's work is based on general system theory because it accurately depicts the nature of
living beings as open systems in constant interaction with one another and with their environment.
III. MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS, CONCEPTS, AND RELATIONS
1. 1. Physiological
2. Psychological
3. Sociocultural
4. Developmental
5. Spiritual
2. 1. Nursing diagnosis
2. Nursing goals
3. Nursing outcomes

DIRECTIONS:

1. D
2. F
3. E
4. G
5. J
6. B
7. I
8. A
9. C
10. H

IV. MODEL/DIAGRAM/PARADIGM

1. Lines of resistance
2. Normal line of defense
3. Flexible line of defense
4. Normal temperature range
5. Genetic structure
6. Response pattern
7. Organ strength
8. Weakness
9. Ego structure

V. USEFULNESS, TESTABILITY, PARSIMONY VALUE IN EXTENDING NURSING SCIENCE

1. The family system comprises of physiological and psychological.  Physiologically, because
Martina's health is deteriorating, and psychologically, because she is always thinking about their
situation and suffers from depression, which may have an effect on her mental and emotional
state.
2. Their Anglo culture in a system includes developmental, because they must develop their
situations as well as develop and increase their English language skills.
3. Martina's family is threatened by a stressor that is both intrapersonal and extrapersonal. The
stressor is intrapersonal because it contains Martina's emotions and feelings, and extrapersonal
because Martina's job is not well paying, and then her financial pressure is because that is not
enough to them.
4. Physical and psychological are systems included in this category. Her family's health is excellent,
but her own is indeed not, as she suffers from hypertension, arthritis, and depression, all of
which require immediate treatment.