Application to Nursing Practice Henderson’s theory emphasizes the importance of increasing the patient’s independence with a goal toward wellness. She believed that there are 14 core components, based on human needs, required for effective nursing care. Henderson described nursing roles as assisting with essential activities to maintain health, to recover, or to achieve peaceful death (Henderson, 1991). In practice today, nurses use this theory to ensure that the physical needs, as well as psychological, spiritual, and social needs of the patient are met. Nurses willingly give time and dedication to care for basic needs, along with recognition of the holistic needs of the patient. When all of these needs are effectively addressed, the patient will be able to progress to wellness more easily. An effective way for nurses to practice this theory in patient care is to apply it when utilizing the nursing process as a logical approach (George, 2010). On assessment, the nurse can identify all of the unique needs of the patient based on the physical diagnosis. The nursing outcomes, care plan, and implementation of goals should be centered and focused on promoting independence of the patient. The overall evaluation should look at how successful both the patient and nurse were in building a plan together toward wellness and independence. By carefully working through the steps in the nursing process, holistic needs of the patient will be met and the nurse will have helped the patient return to caring for themselves which is the ultimate goal of most patients.
References
George, J.B. (2010). Nursing theories: The base for professional nursing practice (5th ed.). Norwalk, Appleton & Lange.
Henderson, V. (1991). The nature of nursing: Reflections after 25 years. New York: National League for Nursing