THE THEORY OF

FAYE GLENN
ABDELLAH
BIOGRAPHY

• Born on March 13, 1919 In New York City

• She graduated magna cum laude from Fitkin Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Neptune,
New Jersey in 1942 (now Ann may School of Nursing).
• She obtained her Bachelor in Science in 1945, her Master of Art in 1947, her Doctor of education in
1955 from the Teachers colleges at Columbia.
• She was appointed Chief Nurse Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) in 1970 and
serve that position in 17 years.
• First women to serve as Deputy Surgeon General of the United States
• She was inducted in the US National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2000 due to her contribution in the
field of Education and Nursing Research
• She has been a staff nurse, Head nurse, a faculty member at Yale University and
Columbia University.
• A public health nurse, and an author of more than 150 articles and books.
• She has been a research consultant to the World Health Organization.
• She is a recipient of more than 79 academic honors and professional award in her
excellence in nursing.
• She develop a list of 21 unique nursing problems related to human needs.
ABDELLAH’S THEORY AND NURSING

Although Abdellah's writings are not specific as to a theoretical statement ,

such a statement can be derived by using her three major concept of health,
nursing problems , and problem solving.
Abdellah's theory would state that nursing is the use of the problem solving
approach with key nursing problems related to health needs of people. Such
a statement maintains problem solving as the vehicle for the nursing
problems as the client is moved toward health- the outcome.
METAPARADIGM

Person - the beneficiary of care as individuals.

- one who has Physical, emotional or social care need
Health - Although abdellah does not give a definition of health, she speaks to “total health
needs” and a healthy state of mind and body
Environment- planning for optimum health on local, state,national, and international levels.
Includes room , home and community.
Nursing - helping profession
- comprehensive service to meet patients needs
- increases or restores self-help activity
TWENTY ONE
NURSING PROBLEMS
(CATEGORIZED ACCORDING TO NEEDS)
• Basic to all patients
1. To promote good hygiene and physical comfort
2. To promote optimal activity, exercise, rest and sleep
3. To promote safety through prevention of accident, injury or other trauma
and through the prevention of the Spread of infection
4. To maintain good body mechanics and prevent and correct deformities
• Sustenal care need
5.To facilitate the maintenance of a supply of oxygen to all body cells
6.To facilitate the maintenance of nutrition of all body cells
7. To facilitate the maintenance of elimination
8. To facilitate the maintenance of Fluid and electrolyte balance
9.To recognize the Physiologic responses of the body to decease condition
10. To facilitate the maintenance of Regulatory mechanism and Function
11. To facilitate the maintenance of sensory function
• Remedial Care needs
12. To identify and accept positive and negative expression, feelings and reactions
13. To identify and accept the interrelatedness of emotions and organic illness
14. To facilitate the maintenance of effective verbal and nonverbal communication
15.To promote the development of productive interpersonal relationships
16. To facilitate progress toward achievement of personal spiritual goals
17. To create and maintain therapeutic environment
18. To facilitate awareness of self as an individual with varying physical, emotional and
developmental needs
19.To accept the optimum possible goals in light of physical and emotional limitations
• Restorative care needs
20.To use community resources as an aid in resolving problems that arise
from an illness.
21.To understand the role of social problems as influencing factors in the
cause of illness.
THE TEN STEPS ARE:

Learn to know the patient.

Sort out relevant and significant data.

Make generalizations about available data concerning similar nursing problems

presented by other patients.

Identify the therapeutic plan.

Test generalizations with the patient and make additional generalizations.

1. Validate the patient’s conclusions about his nursing problems.
7. Continue to observe and evaluate the patient over a period of time to identify any
attitudes and clues affecting his or her behavior.

8. Explore the patient and their family’s reactions to the therapeutic plan and involve
them in the plan.

9. Identify how the nurses feel about the patient’s nursing problems.
10. Discuss and develop a comprehensive nursing care plan.
THE 11 NURSING SKILLS ARE:

observation of health status

skills of communication

application of knowledge

the teaching of patients and families

planning and organization of work

1. use of resource materials
7. Use of personnel resources

8. problem-solving

9. the direction of work of others

10. therapeutic uses of the self

11. nursing procedure
PATIENT-CENTERED APPROACHES TO NURSING

• Faye Abdellah’s work is a set of problems formulated in terms of nursing-centered

services used to determine the patient’s needs. The nursing-centered orientation to
client care seems contrary to the client-centered approach that Abdellah professes to
uphold. The apparent contradiction can be explained by her desire to move away
from a disease-centered orientation. In her attempt to bring the nursing practice to
its proper relationship with restorative and preventive measures for meeting total
client needs, she seems to swing the pendulum to the opposite pole, from the disease
orientation to nursing orientation, while leaving the client somewhere in the middle.
 THE NURSING PROCESS

• ASSESSMENT
• NURSING DIAGNOSIS
• PLANNING
• IMPLEMENTATION
• EVALUATION
In the assessment phase, the nursing problems implement a standard procedure for data collection. A principle
underlying the problem-solving approach is that for each identified problem, pertinent data is collected. The
overt or covert nature of problems necessitates a direct or indirect approach, respectively.
The outcome of the collection of data in the first phase concludes the patient’s possible problems, which can be
grouped under one or more of the broader nursing problems. This will further lead to the nursing diagnosis.
After formulating the diagnosis, a nursing care plan is developed, and appropriate nursing interventions are
determined. The nurse now sets those interventions in action, which complete the implementation phase of the
nursing process.
The evaluation takes place after the interventions have been carried out. The most convenient evaluation would
be the nurse’s progress or lack of progress toward achieving the goals established in the planning phase.
 ANALYSIS

With Faye Abdellah’s aim in formulating a clear categorization of

patient’s problems as health needs, she rather conceptualized
nurses’ actions in nursing care, which is contrary to her aim.
Nurses’ roles were defined to alleviate the problems assessed
through the proposed problem-solving approach.
STRENGTHS

The problem-solving approach is readily generalizable to the client with specific health
needs and specific nursing problems.

With the model’s nature, healthcare providers and practitioners can use Abdellah’s problem-
solving approach to guide various activities within the clinical setting. This is true when
considering a nursing practice that deals with clients with specific needs and specific
nursing problems.

The language of Faye Abdellah’s framework is simple and easy to comprehend.

• The theoretical statement greatly focuses on problem-solving, an activity that is
inherently logical in nature.
WEAKNESSES

The major limitation to Abdellah’s theory and the 21 nursing problems is their robust nurse-centered
orientation. She rather conceptualized nurses’ actions in nursing care which is contrary to her aim.

Another point is the lack of emphasis on what the client is to achieve was given in client care.

The framework seems to focus quite heavily on nursing practice and individuals. This somewhat
limits the generalizing ability, although the problem-solving approach is readily generalizable to
clients with specific health needs and specific nursing.
• Also, Abdellah’s framework is inconsistent with the concept of holism. The nature of the 21 nursing
problems attests to this. As a result, the client may be diagnosed with numerous problems leading to
fractionalized care efforts. Potential problems might be overlooked because the client is not deemed
to be in a particular illness stage.
CONCLUSION

• Abdellah’s typology of 21 nursing problems is a conceptual model mainly

concerned with patient’s needs and nurses’ role in problem identification
using a problem analysis approach.