Analysis of the Self-Care Deficit Theory

There is a superb focus of Orem’s work which is self-care. Even though there is a wide range of scope
seen in the encompassing theory of nursing systems, Orem’s goal of letting the readers view nursing
care to assist people was apparent in every concept presented.

From the definition of health which is sought to be rigid, it can now be refined by making it suitable to
the general view of health as a dynamic and ever-changing state.

The role of the environment in the nurse-patient relationship, although defined by Orem, was not
discussed.

Orem set nurses’ role in maintaining health for the patient with great coherence following every
individual’s life-sustaining needs.

Although Orem viewed the parent’s or guardians’ importance in providing for their dependents, the
definition of self-care cannot be directly applied to those who need complete care or assistance with
self-care activities such as the infants and the aged.
The figure below demonstrates the conceptual system that provided “one
approach to studying systems as a whole rather than as isolated parts of a
system” and was “designed to explain the organized wholes within which nurses
are expected to function.”

King has interrelated the concepts of interaction, perception, communication,

transaction, self, role, stress, growth and development, time, and space into a
goal attainment theory. Her theory deals with a nurse-client dyad, a relationship
to which each person brings personal perceptions of self, role, and personal
growth and development levels. The nurse and client communicate, first in
interaction and then in the transaction, to attain mutually set goals. The
relationship takes place in space identified by their behaviors and occurs in
forward-moving time.

She believed that her “framework differs from other conceptual schemas in that it
is concerned not with fragmenting human beings and the environment but with
human transactions in different kinds of environments.”