Grand Nursing Theorist Assignment # 2

Grand Nursing Theorist Assignment # 2
Descriptive Analysis
For this assignment, I chose to study grand nursing theorist Dorothy Orem and the nursing concept she introduced, the self-care deficit theory (also known as the Orem model of nursing). I chose to study Dorothy Orem because she is well known in Indiana, the state in which I reside. Orem’s grand nursing theory “was developed between 1959 and 2001…[and] is particularly used in rehabilitation and primary care settings where the patient is encouraged to be as independent as possible” (Orem & Taylor, 2011).
Background of Theorist
“Dorothy Orem was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1914. She received her diploma in nursing in 1934 from Providence Hospital School of Nursing, Washington, D.C. Orem received her bachelor of science in nursing education in 1939 and a master of science in nursing education in 1945 from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. She had a varied background in clinical practice: OR, pediatrics, adult med-surg, private duty, and ER supervisor. She taught biological sciences, served as a director of nursing service and director of the school of nursing at Providence Hospital, Detroit, Michigan. In 1949, she went to the Indiana State Board of Health, Hospital Division, where she worked to help upgrade the nursing services in general hospitals in Indiana” (Hartweg, 1991).
“As part of her master’s degree work, Orem had to formulate a definition of nursing. During 1958-59, she worked as a consultant to the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Washington and participated in a project to improve practical nurse training. This work stimulated her to seek to identify the condition or circumstances under which a decision is made that nursing care is needed. Her answer encompassed the idea that a nurse is ‘another