Virginia Henderson:

Definition of Nursing
 Background:
 Born 1897 in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in Virginia (Black, 2014)
 Considered as the Florence Nightingale of the 20th century
 Studied at the Army School of Nursing in Washington in 1918 and
graduated in 1921.
 Pursued continuing education at Columbia university teachers and
completed her B.S. and M.A. degree in Nursing Education in 1926.
 She was a teaching supervisor in the clinics of Strong Memorial
Hospital in Rochester, New York in 1929
 She rewrote the fourth edition of Bertha Hamer’s Textbook of the
Principles and Practice of Nursing and published it in 1939.
 When the fifth edition of the textbook was published, Henderson gave
her own definition of nursing in 1955. This definition is adopted by the
WHO.
 Henderson directed the Nursing Studies Index Project from 1959 to
1971
 Her pamphlet, Basic Principles of Nursing was published in 1960 and
translated into more than 20 languages.
Empirical Evidence
Virginia Henderson incorporated physiological and
psychological principles into her personal concept of
nursing. She asserted that ‘A definition of nursing
should imply an appreciation’ of the principles of
physiological balance.
A co-relation with Abraham Maslow’s Hierachy of
Needs is seen in Henderson’s 14 components of
nursing care which begin with physical needs and
progress to the psychological components.
Virginia Henderson: 14 Areas of Assessment

“The unique function of the nurse is to assist the

individual sick or well in the performance of those
activities contributing to health or its recovery or to
peaceful death that he would perform unaided if he
had the necessary strength, will or knowledge”
The nurse as a
substitute for the
patient.
The nurse as a
helper to the
patient.
The nurse as a
partner with the
patient.
 
It helps the nurses to help the
patient move to an independent
state by assessing, planning,
implementing and evaluating
each of 14 components of basic
nursing care.

 It helps the nurses to help the

patient perform activities to
maintain heath, to recover from
illness or to aid in peaceful
death.
 
The book “Principles
Click icon
and practice of to add pic
nursing” gives ture
definition to nursing
and this book been
used as a basic text in
many schools of
nursing.
It gives curriculum for
nursing
It gives a source for educational research.
Her basic needs serve as a source for the
nursing research.
It helps to formulate the questions in
nursing research
Further
development

 Henderson has no
plans to further develop her
definition of nursing. Neither
does she anticipate any
further revisions of the text
‘Principles and Practice of
nursing’. She stressed
continued assessment of
the patient’s needs and
continued revision of the
patient’s needs as patient’s
condition and goals
changes. Henderson
encourage the nurse to
identify new needs beyond
the 14 she recommended.
 
 Metaparadigm
 
Nursing is defined as Health is viewed as
‘the unique function of the “the individuals ability to
nurse to assist the individual, function independently
sick or well, in the in relation to 14
performance of those activities
components basic
contributing to health or its
recovery or peaceful death
nursing care which
that he/she had necessary defined as the domain
strength, will or knowledge’ of nursing requires
And to do this in such a way strength, will or
as to help him/her to gain knowledge.”
independence as rapidly as
possible.
 Metaparadigm

Environment as Person is
“the aggregate of all the an individual who
external conditions and requires assistance to
influences effecting the achieve health and
life and developments independence or
of an organism. peaceful death. The
mind and body are
inseparable. The person
and family are viewed
as unit.