Application of Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory in Healthcare Settings

This report provides an overview of Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory, a grand nursing theory that emphasizes the importance of patient independence in self-care for faster and more holistic recovery. The report includes a biography of Dorothea Orem, detailing her education and contributions to nursing theory. It explores the integration of the theory into healthcare settings, particularly in rehabilitation and primary care, where patients are encouraged to participate actively in their own care. The report also discusses factors influencing self-care abilities, such as age, gender, and culture, and provides examples of how the theory can be applied in specific cases, such as managing children with disabilities and asthma. The report concludes by highlighting the theory's continuous evolution and its international impact on nursing practice, noting its potential as a basis for nursing information systems.

Running head: GRAND NURSING THEORIST REPORT 1
Grand Nursing Theorist Report
Name
Date of Submission

GRAND NURSING THEORIST REPORT 2
Introduction
The self-deficit nursing theory was developed by Dorothea Oream, and originates from
totality of a paradigm that is based on the ability of human beings to adapt to an environment
(Wong et al., 2015). This theory has been commonly used in nursing and has led to improved
quality health care provision according to findings from the randomized controlled trials. This
theory is commonly used in primary health care and rehabilitation programs and the patients is
asked to remain independent. This theory is based on the belief that when patients are involved
in their own care, they are likely to achieve a fast recovery which is also holistic (Wong et al.,
2015). The main aim of this essay is to address the use of the Grand Nursing Theorist Report,
explore the biography of its theorist Dorothea Oream, and explore the health setting from which
this theory has been applied.
Theorist biography
This theorist was born on 15th July 1914 and died on 22nd June 2007, whereby he lived in
Baltimore in Maryland. He was a theorist in the field of nursing, with the most significant theory
being the self-care deficit theory. Dorothea Oream was trained in diploma in nursing at the
Providence hospital school if nursing at the Washington DC, United States. Additionally, she
went to the Catholic University in United States for the bachelor of science in Nursing Education
in the year 1939, and later a Master’s degree in Nursing Education in the year 1945. She has
received honorary doctoral degrees from many universities such as Incarnate world college,
Illinois Wesleyan University, and Georgetown University.
Theory integration
According to this theory, if the patients are allowed to perform their own care, they can
recover well. Thus, this theory aims at establishing the relationship between humans and

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practice. In health care, there are some cases whereby the patients are needed to bring the best
out of them without stressing that they are unwell (Shah et al., 2015). This is common especially
in the rehabilitation areas whereby the patients are more independent following receiving care
from nurses and physicians. According to this theory, for human beings to be alive and
functional, they need to communicate constantly with themselves as well as their environment.
In some instances, human beings experience privations in the action of care of self while other
need to make function regulating decisions. Here, self-care becomes very important since
patients perform a range of activities on their own in order to maintain health, wellbeing and
maintain life. Nursing care comes in when the self-care needs exceeds the ability for patients to
take care of themselves (Hartweg & Pickens, 2016). A.). The common methods of self-care
include acting for one another, offering physical and psychological help, offering guidance,
provision and maintenance of an environment which supports individual development.
According to Green (2013), there a number of factors such as age, gender, social, culture
and genetics, which needs to be conditioned in order to improve health care services (Santos, B.,
Ramos, A., & Fonseca, C. (2017). These are very important to the nurses when performing
clinical investigations and developing nursing plans. For instance, taking an example of children
with disabilities, this theory can be applied in a number of ways. Children are termed as being
vulnerable to many risks because of their high dependency on adults. According to Green (2013),
the self-care deficit theory can be practically applied for the case of school children suffering
from various disabilities. Initially, school nursing requires both individual and multiperson forms
of care. This is because the main goal of a school nurse is to promote the wellbeing of the whole
school, which is made up of individual learners (Green, 2013). For instance, in order to adopt a

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comprehensive immunization program among tis special population, there needs to be provision
of physical factors and environment to support this intervention.
Another example, is when taking care of children suffering from asthma, whereby the
supportive care is offered. This involves teaching families and asthmatic children on recognizing
the early symptoms of asthma to other issues for such patients to be educated on include
interpreting the peak meter readings and following preventive medications among others
(Mohammadpour et al., 2015). If this process is done frequently, by the time such a child gets to
middle should, they have a clear understanding about asthma. Though this theory is critical for
the parasitizing theory, the theorists invites other scholars to making the understanding of ways
in which it can be applied.
Conclusion
this theory has been commonly used in nursing practice by clinicians in many settings. In
most instances, this theory can be used as a basis for nursing information systems. However, this
theory is in a continuous evolving process and its impact is international.

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References
Green, R. (2013). Application of the Self Care Deficit Nursing Theory: The Community Context.
Self-Care, Dependente-Care & Nursig.
Hartweg, D. L., & Pickens, J. (2016). A concept analysis of normalcy within Orem’s self-care
Deficit Nursing Theory. Self-Care, Dependent-Care & Nursing, 22(1), 4-13.
Mohammadpour, A., Rahmati Sharghi, N., Khosravan, S., Alami, A., & Akhond, M. (2015). The
effect of a supportive educational intervention developed based on the Orem's self‐care
theory on the self‐care ability of patients with myocardial infarction: a randomised
controlled trial. Journal of clinical nursing, 24(11-12), 1686-1692.
Shah, M., Abdullah, A., & Khan, H. (2015). Compare and Contrast of Grand Theories: Orem’s
Self-Care Deficit Theory and Roy’s Adaptation Model. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF NURSING, 5(1).
Wong, C. L., Ip, W. Y., Choi, K. C., & Lam, L. W. (2015). Examining self‐care behaviors and
their associated factors among adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea: An application of
Orem's self‐care deficit nursing theory. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 47(3), 219-227.