Dr. Hildegard E. Peplau and Her Theory

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Theorist Nursing Background:
Dr. Hildegard E. Peplau, one of the world's leading nurses and theorists who is known to the world as the mother of psychiatric nursing, was born into an immigrant family in Reading Pennsylvania, USA in 1909 ( Sills, 2007). The devastating flu epidemic of 1918 influenced Dr. Peplau’s understanding and the impact of illness and death on families ( Sills, 2007). As a result, Dr. Peplau decided to attend nursing school. In 1931 she received her diploma from Pottstown Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Sills, 2007).Soon after graduation she began her career as a staff nurse in Pennsylvania and New York City (Sills, 2007). After becoming the school nurse at Bennington College in Vermont, Peplau earned her Bachelor’s degree in interpersonal psychology, in 1943 ( Sills, 2007). She then started working in a private psychiatric facility. During the world war second (1943-1945) Dr. peplau served in the Army Nurse Corps and was assigned to the Field Station Hospital in England, where the American School of Military Psychiatry was located ( Sills, 2007). It was during the war that Dr. Peplau enhanced her nursing knowledge and practice through direct participation in both learning and practicing. In 1947 Dr. Peplau received her masters and doctoral degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University ( Sills, 2007). In 1954 she was certified in psychoanalysis by the William Alanson White Institute of New York City ( Sills,2007). In the early 1950s, she developed and taught the first classes for graduate psychiatric nursing students at Teachers College ( Sills, 2007). From 1954- 1974 Dr. Peplau was a member of the faculty of the College of Nursing at Rutgers University ( Sills, 2007).There she created the first graduate ...

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... and Their Works. St. Louis: Mosby.
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Marchese, K. (2006). Using Peplau's theory of interpersonal relations to guide the education of patients undergoing urinary diversion. Urologic Nursing, 26(5), 363-371.

Nursing Theories, (2012). Theorist-Hildegard. E. Pepalu. A Companion to nursing theories and models. Retrieved from: http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/interpersonal_theory.html

Sills, G. (2007). Hildegard Peplau. Hildegard peplau Nursing Theorist Homepage. Retrieved from: http://publish.uwo.ca/~cforchuk/peplau/obituary.html

Gonzalo, A. ( 2011). Hildegard E.Peplau: Theory of Interpersonal Relations. Theoretical Foundations of Nursing. Retrieved from: http://nursingtheories.weebly.com/hildegard-e-peplau.html

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