Self Care Deficit Theory Essay

A Concept Analysis of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit

Introduction

Dorothea E. Orem devoted her life to defining nursing and the nurse’s role in improving the patient’s overall health, which she coined the Self-Care Deficit Theory. Orem’s theory is quite a complex one, which can be simplified by identifying that it is three theories in one: self-care theory, self-care deficit theory and nursing systems theory. In 1959, as Orem first began the evolution of the Self-Care Deficit Theory, she defined the nurse’s role as another self. This nursing theory is the foundation for nursing as it actually defines nursing, the nurse and the nurse’s provision of care through the nursing systems theory. To place in simplistic terms, Orem assumes that all humans

When something happens that does not allow the human to care for self, a deficit occurs. This deficit drives the need for specialized nursing care to restore the human’s health so they can resume self-care. The Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing impacts modern health as well as nursing more so than expected during its creation and evolution. The Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2001) demanded the need for health care to shift from acute care setting management of disease. Consequently, today’s nursing profession is in the midst of a paradigm shift, as it redirects its attention towards patient centered care, disease prevention and wellness promotion, which is a direct reflection of the nursing systems concept which is embedded within the Self-Care Deficit

Orem explained, “I and my colleagues recognized and sought to understand the complexity of nursing. We found as our work progressed that a definitive definition and an expressed general theory of nursing were the intellectual instruments that were helpful for recognizing and dealing with the realities of nursing and its complexity in the world of nurses and their patients” (2011, p. 37). In doing so they created a complex theory that is broken down into three parts: self-care, self-care deficit, nursing systems. Self-care is the individual’s ability to care for self, which includes maintaining life, health, development and well-being. When an individual is unable to meet those needs, a deficit occurs. Once the deficit outweighs the ability to care for self, nursing systems are required. This deficit and desire to restore health and return to health care is the essence of nursing