Critique of “Virginia Henderson’s” Nursing Theory Paper Essay Example
Critique of “Virginia Henderson’s” Nursing Theory Paper Essay Example

Critique of “Virginia Henderson’s” Nursing Theory Paper Essay Example

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  • Pages: 7 (1795 words)
  • Published: May 9, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Nursing has been one of the oldest professions and yet as a scientific discipline it is still in the process of building knowledge and theories. One of the most important of which is coming up with a concept of nursing that would help define and standardize the profession.

Many theorists have come up with conceptual models that tried to define and explain nursing, one of which is by Virginia Henderson (1966). In this model, she stated that “The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or peaceful death) that he/she would perform unaided if he/she had the necessary strength, will or knowledge. And to do this in such a way as to help him/her gain independence as rapidly as possible.”This paper is presents an analysis and eval

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uation of Henderson’s nursing theory using Fawcett`s framework of analysis and evaluation of conceptual models of nursing (2000).

In doing so, the reader would be able to assess for themselves the veracity and aptness of Henderson’s theory.

Analysis

Henderson came up with a definition of nursing because of the observed differences in how nursing is defined, both by society and the nurses themselves. She felt it was necessary for nurses to have at leads a guiding principle of what to them is nursing and act accordingly to that principle. Moreover, during that time, nurses functions were not identified programs for skills training and even education varied from school to school, to countries and even in hospitals. There were also legal barriers to how nurses should carry out their duties, which made the profession’s positio

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in healthcare ambiguous and misunderstood. The conceptual model of nursing developed by Henderson followed the humanistic approach, in which it emphasized the caring of the sick, the incapable and even the dying.

It stressed more on what the nurses should do and who should they take care of and thus belongs to the reciprocal interaction world view category.The functions of nurses were to give intimate care to people who cannot function effectively on their own. It also emphasized that nurses be thought the skills and knowledge that would enable them to help their patients. The model also stressed that as soon as the patients are able; nurses should be able to assist them in their recovery and if not to care for them in regaining their dignity and basic functioning.

The person as defined in Henderson’s model is all encompassing; it applies to the sick, the well and the dying. It may be old, young, newborn, and children, normal, abnormal, male, and female, of different races and cultures and religion. For Henderson, the person is alive, breathing, needs to be loved and cared for, to be talked to and listened to.The environment of the person is described as limiting and keeps him/her from living a normal healthy life.

For the nurses, their functions are also limited by the consent of the patient or of the guardians (children, unconscious etc.), they can only give care and service if the concerned agrees with it. Generally, though it is open, it is limited only by the skills and convictions of the nurse and may include screening patients, administering medicines etc if the situation warrants it. Health is defined

as the ability of the person to take care of him/her self and to be able to perform basic life functions without the help of other people, thus it precludes the absence of illnesses, physical/genetic deformities, pain and even psychological disorders. Wellness is the presence of physical strength; intelligence and soundness of mind of the individual, while a person without these faculties can be considered as ill.

Nursing is foremost, helping people. it means that the primary goal of nursing is to help people become physically well, and this would entail the act of caring for them. The nursing process in this model begins with the identification of the needs and conditions of the patient, and the nurse is then able to give the appropriate care or service that the patient needs. Caring would include a genuine interaction with the patient, being a source of comfort and strength, and when the patient is well, the nurses must make sure to empower the patients to take care of themselves.

Nursing is primarily helping people in performing basic bodily functions that they are able to do if they are well and to provide this care and help in a limited time only.The model is concerned with addressing the issues of defining what nursing is and what nurses do. It is also a reaction to the lack of the unified definition of nursing and why it is not understood by many.  The problems raised by the model came from the views of the public and of the government and the educational system of the profession of nursing.

Evaluation

The model clearly is a reaction against the popular view of nursing as

a profession that is not academically challenging and even that has of little value in the healthcare industry. When it says that nursing is primarily helping people, it stressed that nursing is a noble profession and one that is important in the society, for without nurses, who would care for the sick? Likewise, the model also gave importance to the role and duties of the nurse in taking care of people (sick and well), it has to be done only temporarily because it is carried out in the hospital or medical facilities which sets them apart from the companions and the nannies of the past.

Furthermore, the model does not give a complete description of the essential concepts of nursing, however one can intuitively understand that the model defined nursing and emphasized the roles and duties of the nurse, and in under what conditions nurses should give their services.  The basic assumption of the model is that nursing is synonymous with helping, and thus in some way it ties up all the concepts in nursing. In order to help people, a nurse should first be trained, learn skills, assist patients in their difficulties and in their recovery, at the same time maintaining a positive relationship with the patient. The model is logical and consistent in its definition of nursing, as it gives weight to the qualities that the nurse must possess to carry out her duties effectively it also precludes that the nurse have a more human and personalized way of dealing with their patients. The model is also internally strong in a sense that one can readily understand and believe that this is what

nursing is and should be.Henderson’s conceptual model of nursing is reflective of its category type; it basically supports the holistic view of man.

Man is breathing, living and organized system that cannot be broken into parts but should be regarded as a separate functioning individual that interacts and is capable of taking care of themselves once they have regained their strength, will and knowledge that might have been limited by their illness. The model is open-ended and is flexible enough to become a universal definition of nursing, although it does not stress much of the environment that nursing could be applied but it does give detailed instances when and who needs nursing, like it gives equal weight to the possibility that even sick or well people may need some for of nursing, it also indicates that young and old, man or woman of different religions and culture has the same basic need of being taken care of when they are not able to do so.The model to some degree is socially congruent in the sense that it tries to correct the misconceptions about nursing that the society had for the profession. The model tried to espouse a nursing theory that would initiate changes in the social roles that nurses took upon as their duties and in a sense widened their functions in terms of caring for the physical, mental and emotional needs of the client. It enumerates the nursing activities that are often expected of nurses; it includes helping clients, interacting with them sincerely and respectfully and also acting in their behalf if they are not able to. Even Henderson herself said that these roles

are what every one of us would want to have in a nurse, thus in a sense it is also a cause for changing the way nurses feel and think about their jobs, if all nurses would take this view, then the model may have started changes within the profession.

I believe that Henderson’s concept of nursing has been socially significant. At a time when almost all of those involved in the health care profession did not have a clear understanding of nursing and what it is they do, the model gave them a different perspective on how to define nursing. Although, the model may be simplistic and too emotional for some, it nonetheless touched many of those who held the same views of nursing, especially the nurses themselves.The model concerns it self with the definition of nursing as primarily giving care to patients, and it follows a normative position that after the treatment of the illness, the patient would become better, however it stresses that without the nurse to take care of the needs of the patients, treatment would not be possible. Thus it follows, that nurses do significantly impact the health condition of the patients in coordination with medical treatment but it is not clearly stated in the model, it is rather implied.

The conceptual model is useful because it is able to provide guides for nursing practice by stating the roles and functions of nurses, by emphasizing their roles within the medical profession. It also gives a guide in the educational training and preparation of nurses as competent nurses must be able to display the skills and knowledge that would help them become

more efficient in answering the different needs of different patients. It is limited in a sense that it does not concerns itself with how nursing research should be accomplished and how it would benefit the profession. The definition of nursing by Henderson is inspiring and is a response to the situational conditions at that time, however its conceptions have not been tested and very few empirical studies have used her model to explain nursing. Henderson’s definition of nursing contributed to the growing awareness of the need to have guidelines and professional standards in the field of nursing, as well as to bring to the public’s consciousness the important roles that nurses play in the health care profession. 

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