Biography of Virgia Henderson

 “The Nightingale of Modern Nursing”

 “Modern-Day Mother of Nursing.”
 "The 20th century Florence Nightingale."
 Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1897.
 Diploma in Nursing from the Army School of Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C.
in 1921.
 Worked at the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service for 2 years after graduation.
 In 1923, started teaching nursing at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia
 Died: March 19, 1996.

Nursing Need Theory

 She emphasized the importance of increasing the patient’s independence so that progress after
hospitalization would not be delayed (Henderson,1991)
 "assisting individuals to gain independence in relation to the performance of activities contributing
to health or its recovery" (Henderson, 1966).
 She categorized nursing activities into 14 components, based on human needs. 
 She described the nurse's role as substitutive (doing for the person), supplementary (helping
the person), complementary (working with the person), with the goal of helping the person
become as independent as possible.
 Her definition of nursing was:

"The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of
those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform
unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge. And to do this in such a way as to
help him gain independence as rapidly as possible" (Henderson, 1966).

THE FOURTEEN COMPONENTS OF THE NURSING NEEDS THEORY

1. Breathe normally
2. Eat and drink adequately
3. Eliminate body wastes
4. Move and maintain desirable postures
5. Sleep and rest
Physiological Components
6. Select suitable clothes – dress and undress
7. Maintain body temperature within normal range by adjusting clothing
and modifying environment
8. Keep the body clean and well groomed and protect the integument
9. Avoid dangers in the environment and avoid injuring others
10. Communicate with others in expressing emotions, needs, fears, or
Psychological Aspects of
opinions.
Communicating and
14. Learn, discover, or satisfy the curiosity that leads to normal
Learning
development and health and use the available health facilities.
Spiritual and Moral 11. Worship according to one’s faith
Sociologically Oriented to 12. Work in such a way that there is sense of accomplishment
Occupation and 13. Play or participate in various forms of recreation
Recreation
 Assumption

The major assumptions of the theory are:

 "Nurses care for patients until patient can care for themselves once again. Patients desire to
return to health, but this assumption is not explicitly stated.

 Nurses are willing to serve and that “nurses will devote themselves to the patient day and night” A
final assumption is that nurses should be educated at the university level in both arts and
sciences.

Henderson’s Theory and the Four Major Concepts

 Have basic needs that are component of health.

 Requiring assistance to achieve health and independence or a peaceful death.
 Mind and body are inseparable and interrelated.
Individual
 Considers the biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual components.
 The theory presents the patient as a sum of parts with biopsychosocial needs

 Settings in which an individual learns unique pattern for living.

 All external conditions and influences that affect life and development.
 Individuals in relation to families
Environment  Minimally discusses the impact of the community on the individual and family.
 Basic nursing care involves providing conditions under which the patient can
perform the 14 activities unaided

 Definition based on individual’s ability to function independently as outlined in the

14 components.
 Nurses need to stress promotion of health and prevention and cure of disease.
Health  Good health is a challenge -affected by age, cultural background, physical, and
intellectual capacities, and emotional balance Is the individual’s ability to meet
these needs independently.

 Temporarily assisting an individual who lacks the necessary strength, will and
knowledge to satisfy 1 or more of 14 basic needs.
 Assists and supports the individual in life activities and the attainment of
independence.
 Nurse serves to make patient “complete” “whole", or "independent."
 The nurse is expected to carry out physician’s therapeutic plan Individualized
Nursing
care is the result of the nurse’s creativity in planning for care.
 “Nurse should have knowledge to practice individualized and human care and
should be a scientific problem solver.”
 In the Nature of Nursing Nurse role is,” to get inside the patient’s skin and
supplement his strength will or knowledge according to his needs.”
Henderson’s Theory and the Nursing Process
.
Summarization of the stages of the nursing process as applied to Henderson’s definition of
nursing and to the 14 components of basic nursing care.

Nursing Process Henderson’s 14 components and definition of nursing

Nursing  Henderson’s 14 components
Assessment
Nursing Diagnosis  Analysis: Compare data to knowledge base of health and disease.
Nursing plan  Identify individual’s ability to meet own needs with or without assistance, taking
into consideration strength, will or knowledge.
Nursing  Document how the nurse can assist the individual, sick or well.
implementation
Nursing  Assist the sick or well individual in to performance of activities in meeting human
implementation needs to maintain health, recover from illness, or to aid in peaceful death.
Nursing process  Implementation based on the physiological principles, age, cultural background,
emotional balance, and physical and intellectual capacities.
 Carry out treatment prescribed by the physician.
Nursing evaluation  Henderson’s 14 components and definition of nursing
 Use the acceptable definition of ;nursing and appropriate laws related to the
practice of nursing.
 The quality of care is drastically affected by the preparation and native ability of
the nursing personnel rather that the amount of hours of care.
 Successful outcomes of nursing care are based on the speed with which or
degree to which the patient performs independently the activities of daily living

Comparison with Maslow’s Hierarchy of

Maslow's Henderson
 Breathe normally
 Eat and drink adequately
 Eliminate by all avenues of elimination
 Move and maintain desirable posture
Physiological needs
 Sleep and rest
 Select suitable clothing
 Maintain body temperature
 Keep body clean and well groomed and protect the integument

Safety Needs  Avoid environmental dangers and avoid injuring other

  Communicate with others
Belongingness and love needs
 worship according to one's faith

 Work at something providing a sense of accomplishment

Esteem needs  Play or participate in various forms of recreation
 Learn, discover, or satisfy curiosity

Characteristics of Henderson’s Theory

Three Levels Compromising the Nurse-Patient

 The nurse as a substitute for the patient.

o Doing for the patient (Substitutive)
 The nurse as a helper to the patient.
o Helping the patient (Supplementary)
 The nurse as a partner with the patient.
o Working the patient (Complementary)

Limitations

Strengths
 Virginia Henderson’s concept of nursing is widely accepted in nursing practice today.
 Her theory and 14 components are relatively simple, logical, and can be applied to individuals of all
ages.

Weakness

 There is an absence of a conceptual diagram that interconnects the 14 concepts and subconcepts
of Henderson’s theory.
 On assisting the individual in the dying process, there is a little explanation of what the nurse does
to provide “peaceful death.”

Application of the Need Theory

 Henderson’s Needs Theory can be applied to nursing practice as a way for nurses to set goals
based on Henderson’s 14 components.
 Meeting the goal of achieving the 14 needs of the client can be a great basis to further improve
one’s performance towards nursing care.
 In nursing research, each of her 14 fundamental concepts can serve as a basis for research
although the statements were not written in testable terms.

Conclusion