Introduction
Healthcare theories form the core of nursing. The purpose of nursing is to provide wholesome care to the patients entrusted to a nursing practitioner so as to ensure a smooth and total recovery. Most of the nursing theories focus on the process involved in the treatment of a patient a...
Healthcare theories form the core of nursing. The purpose of nursing is to provide
wholesome care to the patients entrusted to a nursing practitioner so as to ensure a smooth and
total recovery. Most of the nursing theories focus on the process involved in the treatment of a
patient and the interactions between the various factors and entities that affect the outcome of the
treatment (Nicely, 2011). There are many nursing theories that have been proven to be invaluable
in guiding the conduct of nurses in their interactions with their patients. Virginia Henderson’s
nursing need theory is one such amalgamation of concepts, assumptions, definitions, and
procedures that are globally recognized within the profession for its focus on the overall well-
being of the patients.
Virginia Henderson
Virginia Henderson is commonly referred to as the first lady of nursing based on her
contributions to the practice of nursing. Over the course of her life, she worked as both a nurse
and an educator at Ivy League schools such as Columbia University and Yale where she held
emeritus status (Ahtisham, 2015). She also traveled a lot for research and educational purposes
leaving a lasting impact on nurses and healthcare workers wherever she went. Her need theory is
of particular interest because it is credited with shifting the focus of nursing away from the
nurses themselves to the impact that nurses could have on patient’s lives. Nursing theorists are
classified into three schools of thought namely; need theorists, interaction theories and outcome
theories. Henderson’s theory falls under the first classification along with Dorothea Orem’s self-
care theory.
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