BIOGRAPHY OF NOLA PENDER

THEORIST NAME, BIRTHDATE AND PLACE

Nola Pender was born in Lansing, Michigan on

the 16th of August, 1941 to a couple who strongly
advocated for education for women. Nola’s interest in
nursing was piqued at an early age of 7 when she
witnessed the kind of care nurses gave her aunt who
was hospitalized. Upon witnessing the service
rendered by these nurses to her aunt, she had the
desire to also do the same; to care for other people.
(Gonzalo, 2021)

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Nola Pender’s parents were very supportive of
her dream to become a nurse. She studied in a
nursing school at the West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois and she finished her
studies there in 1962. Three years later, she completed her master’s degree in human
growth and development from the same university and then proceeded to get a Ph.D. in
psychology and education in 1969 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
During her studies, she did a dissertation research that investigated the developmental
changes in the encoding process of short-term memory in children. She then finished
her master’s-level work in community health nursing at Rush University, years
afterwards. (Gonzalo, 2021)
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Nola Pender worked in a medical-surgical unit in 1962 and afterward, in a
pediatric unit in Michigan hospital. She also taught for 40 years at the Michigan State
University. She was also very active in nursing research, directing many studies on her
Health Promotion Model along with other adolescents and adults because of this she
was able to develop the program called Girls on the Move, which was a research unit
that studies and measures intervention results as it applies to use the model to motivate
young people to engage into more active lifestyles. Nola Pender’s passion for nursing is
unending, from before until present, she still support nursing organizations, and over the
years has accumulated plenty of positions in different organizations; from 1985 to 1987,
she was the president of the Midwest Nursing Research Society. In the year 1991 until
1993, she also become the American Academy of Nursing President and was also a
member of Research America’s Board of Director. And from 1998 to 2022, she was a
member of the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. She also was an Associate
Dean for Research at the University Of Michigan School Of Nursing from 1990 to 2001;
she also served as a trustee of the foundation of Midwest Nursing Research where the
co-founder is since 2009. At present, she is already retired, but she still remained
passionate about nursing research and currently devotes her time as an adviser for
health research. She is still alive, continuing to make efforts to improve the nursing
profession further. Other than being a dedicated researcher, Nola Pender has also
written and authored many works, mostly about exercise, behavior change and
relaxation training. She has also become an editor of journals and books. (Gonzalo,
2021)

As a result of Nola Pender’s dedication to nursing, she has been honored with
many recognition and awards which include the 1972 Distinguished Alumni Award from
Michigan State University School of Nursing, 1988 Midwest Nursing Research Society’s
Distinguished Contributions to Research Award, she has also received an Honorary
Doctorate of Science degree from Widener University, Chester, Pennsylvania in the
year 1992. In 1997, the American Psychological Association gave her the Distinguished
Contributions to Nursing and Psychology Award. The year after that, she was awarded
the Mae Edna Doyle Teacher of the Year Award from the University of Michigan School
of Nursing. In 2005, she was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Midwest Nursing Research Society which she co-founded. And she was recognized as
a Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing in 2012 which is an award
distinctively given to nurses who have made outstanding contributions to nursing.
(Gonzalo, 2021)
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY
Nola Pender’s Health Promotion Model or “HPM” assumes the following: First,
individuals strive to control their own behavior. Second, individuals work to improve
themselves and their environment. Third, health professionals comprise the
interpersonal environment which impacts individual behaviors and last, it is essential for
an individual to have the initiative to change their own, as well as the environment’s
characteristics in order to successfully change their behavior. Theoretically, the Health
Promotion Model also assumes that families, peers, health care providers can influence
the increase or decrease of an individual’s commitment to engaging in health-promoting
behavior. The theory also assumes that individuals holistically interact with their
environment and transform alongside it while also being transformed by other influential
actors. (Psych-Mental Health Hub, n.d.)

METAPARADIGM
Nola Pender did not formally define the major components of the nursing
metaparadigm but she did establish that in her model, there are 5 key sections that
were looked into namely: person, environment, health, wellness and nursing. In the
model, the person is viewed as a biophysical organism that is constantly interacting and
transformed by the environment but at the same time is also shaping the environment
around them to realize their own full potential. By this definition, the relationship of the
person and environment can therefore be viewed as reciprocal; the environment shapes
the person’s behaviors through experiences and the person shapes their environment
through their characteristics. The environment is described as the surrounding context
wherein life happens. It is all social, cultural and physical aspects that affect the person.
And as mentioned, can be manipulated by the person in order to create a place that
would facilitate health-promoting behaviors. Health is the actualization of full human
potential through health-promoting behaviors. It is the achievement of holistic wellness.
And nursing is defined as a collaboration among patents, families and communities to
create an environment providing the best conditions to express optimal health and
wellness. Nola Pender also defined the concept “illness” as events in life that can hinder
wellness. (Nursing Theory, 2020) In addition to these key concepts, Nola Pender also
mentioned specific areas into which the model focuses on, and these are: The
Individual Characteristics and Experiences of a person which included prior-related
behavior and personal factors such as biological factors, psychological factors, and
socio-cultural factors. The behavioral specific cognitions and its effects which included
the perceived benefits of the action, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, activity-
related affect, interpersonal influences and situational influences and finally, the
behavioral outcomes which are the results of implementing the behavioral changes
which include the commitment to the plan of action, immediate competing demands and
preferences and most importantly, health promoting behavior. (Gonzalo, 2021)

THE HEALTH PROMOTION MODEL: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The Health Promotion Model by Nola Pender mainly focuses on helping people
develop health-promoting behaviors and implementing them into their lives, with the
goal of obtaining and maintaining optimal health and wellness. In addition to this, it is
also the goal of this model to educate and teach patients how they can prevent and
avoid illnesses and diseases, still respecting their beliefs and principles.