Betty

Neuman
"Neuman
Systems
Model"
Presented by: Alexa Contreras
 History and
Background
• Born in Lowel, Ohio in September
11,1924
• Died in May 28, 2022 (age 97 years)
1947 • Receive RN diploma from People's
Hospital School of Nursing, akme
Ohio
• Moved to California and gained
experience as a hospital, staff, and
head nurse; school nurse and
industrial nurse; and as a clinical
instructor in medical-surgical,
critical care and communicable
disease nursing.
1957 •
Attended University of California at Los
Angeles(UCLA) with double major in
psychology and public health.
• Receive BS jn Nursing from UCLA
1966 • Receive Masters degree in Mental Health,
Public Health Consultation from UCLA
• Recognize as pioneer in the field of nursing
involvement in community mental health
• Began developing her model while lecturing
in community mental health at UCLA
1972 • Her model was first published as a "Model
for Teaching Total Preson Approach to
Patient Problems" in Nursing Research

1985 • Receive Doctorate in Clinical

Psychology from Pacific Western
University
1998 • Receive secondary honorary doctorate -
this one from Grand Valley State
University, Allendale, Michigan
What is the Neuman Systems
Model?
• Betty Neuman describes the Neuman Systems Model
as “a unique, open-system-based perspective that
provides a unifying focus for approaching a wide
range of concerns.
• A client system in interaction with the
environment delineates the domain of nursing
concerns.”
• A system acts as a boundary for a single client, a
group, or even several groups; it can also be
defined as a social issue.
 Assumptio
ns
The following are the assumptions or “accepted truths” made
by Neuman’s Systems Model:
• Each client system is unique, a composite of factors and
characteristics within a given range of responses.
• Various stressors, known and unknown, can disrupt a
client's stability. Client variables and their
interrelationships impact how well the client is protected
by the flexible line of defense against stress reactions.
• Each client/system has a normal line of defense
as a standard for measuring health deviation.
• When the flexible line of defense is breached by an
environmental stressor, it overcomes the normal line of
defense.
• The client's wellness or illness is a dynamic interplay of
variables, with wellness existing on a continuum of
energy levels to maintain optimal system stability.
• Implicit internal resistance factors within client systems,
known as lines of resistance, stabilize and realign clients
to their usual wellness state.
• Primary prevention involves using general knowledge
to assess and intervene with clients to identify and
reduce risk factors from environmental stressors to
prevent adverse reactions.
• Secondary prevention involves addressing symptoms
post-stress reaction, prioritizing interventions, and
reducing their harmful effects.

• Tertiary prevention involves reconstitution and

maintenance factors guiding the client towards
primary prevention.

• The client as a system is in dynamic, constant

energy exchange with the environment.
 Major Concepts
of Neuman
Systems Model
• This section will define the nursing
metaparadigm and the major concepts
in Betty Neuman’s Neuman Systems
Model.
 Human being
• The human body is an open system influenced by
internal and external factors, constantly changing towards
stability or varying degrees of illness.

Environment
• The environment is crucial to the system's function,
encompassing factors that impact and are impacted by
the system. Neuman Systems Model recognizes three
environments: internal, external, and created.
• The internal environment: is contained within the client system
and comprises all forces and influences within its boundaries.
• The external environment: exists outside the client system.
• The created environment: is unconsciously developed and is
used by the client to support protective coping.
Health
• Health is seen as a continuum from wellness to
illness, with optimal wellness when needs are met
and illness when they are not. Death occurs when
there is a lack of energy to sustain life.
 Nursing
• Nursing focuses on defining appropriate actions for stress-
related situations and client reactions to stressors.
Interventions help clients adapt to stress, maintain stability,
and conserve energy.
Open System
• In a continuous flow system, input, process, output,
and feedback interact within an organized
complexity.
 Basic Stricture
and Energy
Resources
• The basic structure, or central core,
comprises those basic survival factors
common to the species.
• These factors include the system
variables, genetic features, and strengths
and weaknesses of the system parts.
 Client Variables
• The individual client holistically and considers the
variables simultaneously and comprehensively.
• The physiological variable
• The psychological variable
• The sociocultural variable
• The developmental variable
Flexible line of
• The spiritual variable

defense
• A protective accordion-like mechanism that
surrounds and protects the normal line of
defense from invasion by stressors.
 Normal line of
defense
• An adaptive health level established over time as
the norm for an individual or system, serving as a
basis for assessing wellness.
Lines of resistance
• When stressors breach the normal defense,
protection factors are activated, leading to
reaction symptomatology.
 Subconcepts of
Neuman Systems
Stressor Model
s
• A stressor is any phenomenon that might
penetrate both the flexible and normal lines of
defense, resulting in either a positive or
negative outcome.
• Intrapersonal stressors
• Interpersonal stressors
• Extrapersonal stressors
 Stability
• A state of balance or harmony achieved through energy exchanges to manage stressors

for optimal health and system integrity.

Degree of Reaction
• The amount of system instability resulting from stressor invasion of the

normal line of defense.

Entropy
• A process of energy depletion and disorganization moving the system

toward illness or possible death.

 Input/Output
• The matter, energy, and information exchanged between the client

and environment entering or leaving the system at any point in

time.

Reconstitution
• Following treatment of stressor reaction, the return and

maintenance of system stability may result in a higher or lower

wellness level.
 Prevention as Intervention
• Basis for health promotion
• Nursing is prevention as intervention encompass

three dimensions:

• Primary Prevention
• Secondary Prevention
• Tertiary Prevention
Strengths and Weaknesses
• Betty Neuman's nursing model, although designed for

nursing, can be utilized by other health disciplines, with

the advantage of promoting consistency in client care but

the drawback of potentially blurring the distinction

between nursing and other disciplines.

 Strengths
• The Neuman Systems Model is a flexible nursing approach applicable across
various areas. It can be used for individuals, families, communities, etc. The
model emphasizes primary prevention and health promotion, with a logically
consistent diagram. It offers simple definitions of its components once
understood.

Weaknesses
• The model's weakness is the unclear terms used, and there should be a clearer

distinction between interpersonal and extrapersonal stressors.

 Neuman's nursing
process:
Nursing Nursing Nursing
Diagnosis Goal outcomes