Dorothea Orem

Dorothea Orem's Self-Care Theory | Dorothea Orem (1914-2007) | | | INTRODUCTION * One of foremost nursing theorists. * Born 1914 in Baltimore. * Earned her diploma at Providence Hospital – Washington, DC * 1939 – BSN Ed., Catholic University of America * 1945 – MSN Ed., Catholic University of America * Involved in nursing practice, nursing service, and nursing education * During her professional career, she worked as a staff nurse, private duty nurse, nurse educator and administrator and nurse consultant * Received honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1976 * Published first formal articulation of her ideas in Nursing: Concepts of Practice in 197, second in 1980, and in 1995.DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY * 1949-1957 Orem worked for the Division of Hospital and Institutional Services of the Indiana State Board of Health. * Her goal was to upgrade the quality of nursing in general hospitals throughout the state. During this time she developed her definition of nursing practice. * 1959 Orem subsequently served as acting dean of the school of Nursing and as an assistant professor of nursing education at CUA. She continued to develop her concept of nursing and self care during this time. * Orem’s Nursing: Concept of Practice was first published in 1971 and subsequently in 1980, 1985, 1991, 1995, and 2001.MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS * People should be self-reliant and responsible for their own care and others in their family needing care * People are distinct individuals * Nursing is a form of action – interaction between two or more persons * Successfully meeting universal and development self-care requisites is an important component of primary care prevention and ill health * A person’s knowledge of potential health problems is necessary for promoting self-care behaviors * Self care and dependent care are behaviors learned within a socio-cultural contextDEFINITIONS OF DOMAIN CONCEPTSNursing – is art, a helping service, and a technology