LEVINE’S THEORY

INTRODUCTION

 This theory was developed by Myro Estrine Levine

 She was born in Chicago, raised with her sister and a brother with
whom she shared a close living relationship. She was also very fond
of her father who was often ill and frequently hospitalized for GI
problems. This was the reason for her to choose nursing as a career.
 She is also called as renaissance women highly principled,
remarkable and committed to patients quality of care
 She died in 1996.
EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

 Diploma in nursing-cook country school of nursing, Chicago ,

1944
 BSN-University of Chicago, 1949.
 MSN- Wague state university, Detroid, 1962.
 Publication – An introduction to clinical nursing 1969,1973,
1989.
 Received honorary doctorate from Loyola University in 1992
ACHIEVEMENTS

>Clinical experience in OT technique and oncology nursing

>Director of nursing at Drexel home in Chicago
>Clinical instructor at Bryan memorial hospital in Lincolu, Nebraska
>Administrative supervisor at university of Chicago
>Chairperson of clinical nursing at Cook country school of nursing
>Visiting professor at Tel Aviv university at Isrel.
Conservation model goal

 To promote adaptation and maintain wholeness using the principles

of conservation.
 Model guides the nurse to focus on the influences and responses at
the organismic level.
 Nurse accomplishes the goal of model through the conservation of
energy, structure and personal and social integrity.
COMPONENTS

 Adaptation
 Conservation
 Wholeness
 Health Person Environment and Nursing
Adaptation

>Adaptation is a process whereby the patient takes integrity within the realities
of the environment.
>Every individual has a unique range of adaptive responses
>The responses will vary based on the heredity, age, gender or challenges of
illness experiences
>The time and manifestation of organismic responses will be unique for each
individual.
>Its an ongoing process of change.
>achieved through the frugal, economic, contained and controlled use of
environmental resources by individual on his or her least interest.
Wholeness

 Exist when the interaction or constant adaptations to the

environment permits the assurance of integrity.
 Promoted by use of conservation principle.
Conservation

 The product of adaptation

 Keeping together of the life system or the wholeness of
the individual.
 Achieving a balance supply of energy and demand that is
within the unique biological realities of the individual.
NURSING PARADIGM

 PERSON:
-A holistic being who constantly serves to preserve
wholeness and integrity
- A unique individual in unity and integrity feeling, thinking
and whole system.
Environment
-competes the wholeness of person
>Internal
homeostasis:a state of energy sparing
homeorrhesis:a stabilized flow rather than a static state.
 External
preconceptual : aspects of the world that individuals are able to
intercept
operational :elements that may physically affect but not
perceived.
conceptual : part of persons envt including cultural patterns
Person and environment

 Adaptation: historicity, specificity, redundancy

 Organismic responses : flight or fight,inflammatoty,
stress , perceptual.
 Conservation:
Nine modes of guided assessment

 Vital signs
 Body movement and positioning
 Ministration of personal hygiene needs
 Pressure gradient system in nursing intervention
 Nursing determination in provision of nutrition needs
 Pressure gradient system in nursing
 Local application of heat and cold
 Administration of medicine
 Establishing an aseptic envt.
Assumptions

 The nurse creates an environment in which healing could occur.

 A human being is more than the sum of the parts.
 Human beings respond in a predictable way
 Human beings are unique in their responses
 Human beings know and appraise objects, condition and situation
 Human beings sense, reflects , reason and understand
 Human beings action are self determined even when emotional
 Human beings are capable of prolonging reflection through such strategies
raising questions
 Human beings make decisions through prioritizing course of action
 Human beings must be aware and able to contemplate objects ,
condition and situations
 Human beings are agents who act deliberately to attain goal
 Adaptive changes involve the whole individual
 A human being has unity in his response to the environment
 Every person possesses a unique adaptive ability based on ones
life experience which creates unique message
 There is an order and continuity to life. Change is not
random.
 A human being responds organismic ally in an ever
changing manner
 A human being is a social animal
 Nursing needs existing and emerging demands of self
care and dependent care
 Nursing is associated with condition if regulation of
exercise or development of capabilities of providing care.
Levine’s work and characteristics of theory:

 Theories can interrelate concepts in such a way as to create

a different way of looking at a particular phenomenon.
 The concept of illness adaptation using interventions and
the evaluation of nursing interventions are interrelated.
 Theories must be logical in nature.
 The nursing care is organised as to be sequential and
logical.
 Theories must be relatively simple yet generalised.
 Levine’s theory is easy to use.
 Its major elements are easily comprehensible.
 Certain aspects of the theory is generalised
 Theories can be the basis for hypothesis that can be tested.
 The principle of conservation is specific enough to be
tested.
 Theories contribute to and assist in increasing the general
body of knowledge within the discipline through the
research implemented to validate them.
 Theories can be utilized by the practitioner to guide and
improve their practise.
 Levine’s idea seem to be consistent with other theories ,
laws and principles particularly those from the humanities
and sciences
CONSERVATIONAL PRINCIPLES

 Conservation of energy
 Conservation of structural integrity
 Conservation of personal integrity
 Conservation of social integrity
Conservation of energy

 Refers to balancing energy input and output to avoid

excessive fatique
 Includes adequate rest , nutrition and exercise
Conservation of structural integrity

 Refers to maintaining or restoring the structures of body

preventing physical breakdown and promoting healing
 Maintainence of patients personal hygiene
Conservation of personal integrity

 Recognises the individual as one who strives for

recognition , respect, self awareness, selfhood and self
determination
Conservation of social integrity

 An individual is recognises as someone who resides

within a family , a community, a religious group, an ethnic
group, a political system and a nation.
Health

 Health is a wholeness and successful adaptation.

 It is not merely healing of an affected part , it is return to
daily activities , selfhood and the ability of the individual
to pursue once more his or her own interest without
constraints.
 Disease: it is an unregulated and undisciplined change and
must be stopped or death will ensure.
Nursing

 Nursing is a profession as well as an academic discipline ,

always practised and studied in concert with all of the
disciplines that together form the health sciences
 The human interaction relying on communication rooted
in the organic dependency of the individual human being
in his relationships with other human beings.
Goal of nursing

 To promote wholeness realizing that every individual

requires a unique and separate cluster of activities
 The individual integrity is his abiding concern and it is the
nurses responsibility to assist him to defend and to seek its
realization.
Nursing process

 Assessment
 Trophicognosis
 Hypothesis
 Interventions
 Evaluation
Conservation models

 Theory of redundancy
 Theory of therapeutic intention
uses

 Critical, acute, long term care units

 Neonate, infant and young children, pregnant, young adult and
elderly care unit
 Primary health care
 OT
 Community settting
 The theory is used in nursing research , nursing education,
nursing administration and nursing practice
Limitations

 Limited attention can be focused on health promotion and

illness prevention
 Nurse has the responsibility for determining the patients
ability to participate in the care and if the perception of
nurse and patient about the patients ability to participate in
the care don’t match , this will be an area of conflict.
 The major limitation is the focus on individual in an
illness state and on the dependency of patient.
THANK YOU