VIRGINIA HENDERSON

prepared byMr.N.SRIRAM

Virginia Henderson Army School of Nursing in Washington in 1918 and

graduated in 1921. She began the continuation of her education at

Columbia university teachers and completed her B.S. and M.A. degree in nsg. Education in 1926.

Henderson served as a teaching supervision in the clinics of strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester , Newyork in 1929.

She rewrote the fourth edition of Bertha Hamer’s Textbook of the Principles and Practice of nsg. and published in 1939.

The fifth edition of textbook was published and continued Henderson’s own definition of nsg. in 1955.

Henderson directed the Nursing Studies Index Project from 1959 to 1971.

Her pamphlet , Basic Principles of Nursing was published in 1960 and translated into more than 20 languages.

credential

Her book ‘The Nature of Nursing’ of Nursing was published in 1966.

She remained active as a Research Associate Emerious throught 1980s.

She received sigma Theta Tan International ‘s Mary Tolle Wright Foundation Award for Leadership in 1983.

She received Special citation of honour for her lifelong contributions to nsg. research, education and professionals in 1988.

Theoretical Sources For Theory Development

Annie .W.Goodrich –Dean of Army School of nsg. Dr. Eward Thorndike- Research on fundamentals

need of man. Maslow –Maslow’s hierrarchy of needs. Ida Orlando-Concepts of nurse patient relationship. Ernestine Weidenbach-Goal directed and deliberate

nsg approach need for health. Jean Broadhurst- Importance of hygiene and asepsis. Dr. George Deaver- The goal of the rehabilitation

efforts rebuilding the pat ient’s independence. Bertha Harmer- Textbook of the Principles and

Practice of nsg.

Empirical Evidence

Virginia Henderson incorporated physiological and psychological principles into her personal concept of nsg. Virginia Henderson concluded that ‘A definition of nursing should imply an appreciation’ of the principles of physiological balance. From Bernard’s theory , she also gained an appreciation for psychosomatic medicine and its implications for nsg.

A coorelation with Abraham Maslow’s Hierrachy of Needs is seen in Henderson’s 14 components of nsg. care which begin with physical needs and progress to the psychological components.

MAJOR CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONSNursingNursing is defined as ‘The unique function of the nurse to assist the individual, sick or well , in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery or peaceful death that he/she had necessary strength, will or knowledge’ And to do this in such a way as to help him/her to gain independence as rapidly as possible.

Health

‘Health is viewed as “The individuals ability to function independently in relation to 14 components basic nursing care which defined as the domain of nursing requires strength, will or knowledge.”

She says ,it is the quality of health rather than life itself, that margin of mental physical rigor that allows a person to work effectively and to reach his highest potential level of satisfaction.

Needs

Breathe normally. Eat and drink adequately. Eliminate body waste. Move and maintain desirable position. Sleep and rest. Select suitable clothes, dress and

undress. Maintain body temp. Within normal range

by adjusting clothing and modifying the environment.

needs

Keep the body clean and well groomed and protect the integument.

Avoid dangers in the environment and avoid injuring others.

Worship according to one’s faith. Work in such a way that there is sense of

accomplishments. Play participates in various forms of recreations. Communicate with others in expressing emotions,

needs, fears or opinions. Learn, discover or satisfy the curiosity that leads to

normal development and health use the available health facilities.

ENVIRONMENT

Environment as “the aggregate of all the external conditions and influences effecting the life and developments of an organisms

Person

Virginia Henderson views the patient as an individual who requires assistance to achieve health and independence or peaceful death. The mind and body are inseparable. The patient and family are viewed as unit

Major AssumptionsNURSING

The nurse has a unique function to help well or sick individuals.

The nurse functions as a member of medical team. The nurse functions independently of the physician but

promotes his or her plan, if there is physician in attendance.

Henderson stressed that the nurse e.g. nurse midwife can function independently and must if he or she is the best prepared health worker in the situation. The nurse can and must diagnose and treat if the situation demands it.

The nurse is knowledgeable in both biological and social sciences.

The nurses can asses basic human needs. The 14 components of nsg. care encompasses all possible

functions of nursing.

Person

The person must maintain physiological and emotional balance.

The mind and body of person are inseparable.

The patient requires help toward independence.

The patient and his family are a unit. The patient’s needs are

encompassed by 14 components of nursing.

Health

Health is a quality of life. Health is basic to human functioning. Health requires independence and

interdependence. Promotion of health is more

important than care of sick. Individuals will achieve or maintain

health if they have the necessary strength, will or knowledge.

Environment

Health interfere with that ability. Nurses should have safety education. Nurses should protect patients from mechanical injury. Nurses should minimize the chances of injury through

recommendations regarding construction of buildings, purchase of equipment and maintenance.

Doctors use nurse’s observations and judgments upon which to base prescriptions for protective device.

Nurses must know about social customs and religious practices to asses dangers.

She expects society to contribute to nursing education for preparation of good nurses to society.

Theoretical AssertionsThe Nurse-Patient Relationship

The nurse as a substitute for the patient.

The nurse as a helper to the patient. The nurse as a partner with the patient.

Logical Form

Henderson appears to have used the deductive form of logical reasoning to develop her definition of nsg. She deduced her definition of nsg. and 14 needs from physiological and psychological principles. One must study the assumptions of Henderson’s definition to assess logical adequacy.

Many of the assumptions have validity because of their high level of agreement with the literature and research conclusions of scientists in other fields .e.g. her 14 basic needs correspond closely to Maslow’s widely accepted human needs hierarchy, even through they were listed before she read Maslow’s work.

Acceptance By The Nursing Community

Practice

It helps the nurses to help the patient move to an independent state by assessing, planning, implementing and evaluating each of 14 components of basic nsg. care.

It helps the nurses to help the patient perform activities to maintain heath, to recover from illness or to aid in peaceful death.

Nursing Education

The book “Principles and practice of nsg.” gives definition to nsg. and this book been used as a basic text in many schools of nsg.

It gives curriculum for nsg. Her curriculum helps in structured

learning experiences which are goal directive.

It helps the nurses in creative thinking.

Nursing Research

It gives a source for educational research.

Her basic needs serve as a source for the nsg. research.

It helps to formulate the questions in nsg. research

Further Development

Henderson has no plans to further develop her definition of nursing. Neither does she anticipate any further revisions of the text ‘Principles and Practice of nursing’. She stressed continued assessment of the patient’s needs and continued revision of the patient’s needs as his condition and goals changes. Henderson encourage the nurse to identify new needs beyond the 14 she recommended.

Critique

Simplicity

Complex rather than simplistic. Contains many variables and several descriptive and explanatory relationships. Not associated with structural organizations within a framework or model form to enhance simplicity.

Generality

Its generable because it is broad in scope. It attempts to include the function of all nurses and all patients in their various interrelationships and interdependence.

Derivable Consequences

Henderson’s perspective has been useful in promoting new ideas and in furthering conceptual development of emerging theorist. She has discussed the importance of nag’s interdependence from and interdependence with, other branches of health care field. Her theory is helpful in curriculum development and made great contribution in promoting the importance of research in the clinical practice of nsg.

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