DOROTHEA ELIZABETH OREM

Born: July 15, 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland

Died: June 22, 2007 in Savannah, Georgia

- American nursing theorist

- Developed the ‘Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory’ known as the ‘Orem Model of Nursing’
- She worked as a staff nurse, private nurse, nurse educator and administrator, and nurse
consultant.

 Her clinical practice included staff nurse in the operating room, pediatrics and adult medical
surgical units.
 She also did private-duty nursing in private homes and the hospital and was an emergency room
supervisor.
 She occupied important nursing positions, like the directorship of both the nursing school and
the nursing department at Providence Hospital, Detroit, from 1940 to 1949
 She also taught biological sciences and nursing from 1939 to 1941
 She served as Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of America from 1959 to 1964,
Associate Professor from 1964 to 1970, and Dean of the School of Nursing from 1965 to 1966.
 She also served as curriculum consultant to the Office of Education, United States Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, Practical Nurse Section in 1958, 1959, and 1960, to the Division
of Hospital and Institutional Services, The Indiana State Board of Health from 1949 to 1957, and
to the Center for Experimentation and Development in Nursing, The Johns Hopkins Hospital,
1969-1971, and to the Director of Nursing, Wilmer Clinic, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1975-
1976.

EDUCATION:

 In the early 1930’s she earned her nursing diploma from the Providence Hospital School of
Nursing in Washing ton D.C.
 She attended Seton High School in Baltimore and graduated in 1931.
 She received a diploma from Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Washingtom, D.C. in
1934.
 Received several honorary degrees
 1939 – she completed Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education from Catholic University of
America Washington D.C.
 1945 – Master of Science in Nursing Education from Catholic University of America Washington
D.C.
 1958 – she was the consultant to the office of education where she began working on her self-
care theory.
 1976 – honorary Doctorate of Science from Georgetown University.
 1980 – Incarnate Word College
 1988 – honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Illinois Wesleyan University
 1998 – Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Missuori in Columbia
AWARDS:

 1980 – The Catholic University of America Alumni Achievement Award for Nursing Theory
 1991 – she received Linda Richards Award from National League for Nursing
 1992 – received honorary fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
 She also received accolades for her contributions to nursing, including honorary degrees from
Georgetown University, Incarnate Word College, Illinois Wesleyan University, and the University
of Missouri-Columbia.
 She was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing and received awards from the National
League for Nursing and the Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society.


PUBLICATIONS:

 1959 – first published her theory “Guidelines for Developing Curricula For the Education of
Practical Nurse”.
 1962 – The Hope of Nursing
 1971 – Nursing: Concept and Practices
 1972 – Concept Formalization in Nursing: Process and Product.
 1979 – Levels of nursing education and practice.

 The second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth edition of Nursing: Concepts of practice were published
in 1980,1985, 1991. 1995, and 2001 respectively.

1st edition: focus on individual. (1971)

2nd edition: include multiperson units (families, groups, and communities). (1980)
3rd edition: Orem’s general theory of nursing, comprised of three related theoretical constructs:
self-care, self-care deficit, and nursing system. (1985)
4th edition: fully developed the ideas presented. (1991)
5th edition: provided an increased emphasis on multiperson situation. (1995)
6th edition: continued development of Orem’s ideas (2001)

Orem’s General Theory of Nursing in three related C parts:

- Theory of self-care
- Theory of self-care deficit
- Theory of nursing system

Orem’s Self-Care Model:

 THEORY OF SELF-CARE
 Self-care
 Self-care agency
 Self-care requisites
 Therapeutic self-care demand
 THEORY OD SELF-CARE DEFICIT
  5 assumptions of self-care deficit
 THEORY OF NURSING SYSTEM
 Wholly compensatory
 Partially compensatory
 Supportive-educative