Applying Orem's theory to care for patients with neurogenic bladder INTRODUCTION The core of nursing is theory guided practice. Nurses uses concepts, principles and theories of nursing to meet the health needs of the patients. Nursing practice is the art and science of caring and healing. In order to provide holistic and effective interventions, nurses use the theories to develop plan of care. Nursing is a combination of theories and it always guides practice. Theory-based nursing practice is the “application of various models, theories, and principles from nursing science and the biological, behavioral, medical and sociocultural disciplines to clinical nursing practice” (Kenney, 2013, p. 333). As one of the oncology and rehab nurse we come across many patients who suffer from neurogenic bladder problems. The importance of this paper is to educate about self-care for the patients with neurogenic bladder, with emphasis on Orem’s theory. The intent of this paper is to show how nurses use the theoretical principles in practice. Neurogenic bladder problems are seen in spinal cord injury patients. An article from the Journal of Nursing stated that each year about 11,000 people are affected by spinal cord injuries in United States. A number of cases have spinal tumors which may cause compression of the spinal nerves and cancer patients who have undergone sacrectomies, all end up with neurogenic bladder. This neurogenic bladder problems may be temporary or a permanent problem with lifelong intervention so as to prevent complications like the urinary tract infections and sepsis. As this is one of the major concerns among the rehabilitation group of spinal cord injury patients, creating awareness and helping the nurses understand its importance helps in providing the patients with