Nursing Theory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nursing Theory

Student’s Name

University Affiliation

 

 

Faye Abdellah’s Twenty-One Nursing Problems Theory

Introduction

Without an iota of doubt, many nurses use Florence Nightingale’s nursing philosophies to develop their nursing careers. However, a recently updated patient-focused theory can be used to identify all aspects of patient care. Faye Abdellah’s Twenty-One Nursing Problems Theory has had a significant impact and influence on the nursing profession. Her nursing theory was quite dynamic for that period of time. It alluded to a nursing analysis during an era in which nurses were made to believe that diagnosis was not part and parcel of their job description inpatient care. This paper is geared towards exploring the Twenty-One Nursing Problem theory and how it can be applied in inpatient care (Abdellah, 1980).

Background

Faye Abdella was born in the year 1919 in New York. Her family later moved to New Jersey, where she joined high school. Years later, Faye Abdellah experienced something that inspired her to join the nursing profession. On May 6^th, 1937, Faye Abdellah and her brother experienced Hindenburg’s explosion, a hydrogen-fueled airship. The explosion took place in Lakehurst, New Jersey. At this juncture, Abdellah and her brother witnessed people jumping from the airship. Some of them had serious fire injuries. The scene was horrific, and she felt so helpless. She vowed never again to be helpless when people needed assistance (Fagin et al., 1973).

In 1942, Abdellah earned a nursing diploma from Ann May school of nursing. Later on, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in science. At this juncture, Abdellah wanted to pursue her education further. She earned a Master of Arts degree and Doctor of Education at Columbia University. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in Physiology. With all her academic achievements, Abdellah had the opportunity to become a doctor, but she was particularly interested in nursing. Therefore, she became a researcher and nursing instructor (Fagin et al., 1973).

Her research transformed the nursing profession from a disease-focused profession to a patient-centered profession. Her research contributed greatly to expanding nurses’ role to include both family care and care for the elderly. She also established the foundation for what is now known as progressive patient care. Progressive patient care involved treating critical patients in an intensive care unit, and thereafter, transitioning to immediate care, and eventually, home care. Abdellah was also in charge of developing the first nationally tested and approved coronary care unit (Abdellah,1980).

Abdella’s theory emphasized that every nursing action should focus on the treatment of the patient’s complete health and not just the disease. Her research started in the year 1950, when nursing was gradually becoming accepted as a profession in America. However, at that time, nursing did not possess an organized and established education system. Therefore, there were no training modules or standardized principles. Faye Abdellah created the theory of the Twenty-One Nursing Problems theory in the hope of enhancing nursing education by developing a guide to nursing care. Faye Abdella’s theory of nursing was categorized into three classes:

1.  The physical, emotional, and sociological needs of the patient.
2. The type of nurse-patient interpersonal relationships.
3. The common elements of patient care.

Before looking into the main concepts of Abdellah’s theory, several imperative concepts need to be defined.

Person: Abdellah identifies that people have a physical, emotional, and sociological need that is usually missed and misperceived. In her theory, Abdellah insists that the patient is the only reason why nurses exist.

Health: Abdellah’s theory describes health as a state of being mutually exclusive to illness. However, she highlights that there should be an emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation, with wellness being the ultimate goal.

Environment: Abdellah defines the environment as the community or home in which a patient come from. Although the society is a component in planning for optimal health, Abdellah insisted that the focus of nursing is an individual.

Nursing: Abdellah defines nursing as a service to people families and therefore, to the society as a whole. She further insisted that nursing is an art that molds nurses’ attitudes and technical skills into a continuous desire and ability to attend to people in need of care. Abdellah’s theory recognizes that a comprehensive nursing service includes:

1. Identifying the nursing problems of the patient.
2. Coming up with the appropriate actions to take about nursing principles.
3. Offering continuous patient care by addressing the individual’s total health needs.
4. Giving continuous care with the goal of relieving pain and discomfort, and also providing the patient with security.
5. Adjusting the nursing care plan to meet the patient’s needs.
6. Assisting the patient in attaining and maintaining a healthy state of body and mind.
7. Giving clear instructions to the nursing personnel and family to assist the patient do for himself what he can despite his limitations.
8. Assisting patients adjust to both their limitations and emotional problems.
9. Working together with other health professionals in planning for optimum health on both local, state, national, and international needs.
10. Continuous evaluation and research are geared towards improving and developing new nursing techniques to meet patients’ health needs (Abdellah, 1980).

The following are the twenty-one nursing problems identified by Abdellah. Examining these problems or areas would definitely improve patient care.

1. Maintaining good hygiene and physical comfort.
2. Promoting optimal activity.
3. Promoting safety by preventing accidents, trauma, or injury, and also preventing the spread of infection.
4. Maintaining good body mechanics by preventing and correcting deformities.
5. Facilitating the continuous supply of oxygen to all body cells.
6. Maintaining the nutrition of all body cells.
7. Facilitating the maintenance of elimination.
8. Facilitating the maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance.
9. Recognizing the physiological responses to various diseases: Physiological, pathological, and compensatory.
10. Facilitating the maintenance of regulatory functions and mechanisms.
11. Identifying and accepting positive and negative feelings, expressions, and reactions.
12. Facilitating the maintenance of sensory functions.
13. Identifying and accepting the interrelatedness of organic illness and emotions.
14. Facilitating the maintenance of effective nonverbal and verbal communication.
15. Promoting the development of productive interpersonal relationships.
16. Facilitating progress geared towards achieving spiritual goals.
17. Creating and maintaining a therapeutic environment.
18. Facilitating self-awareness with varying emotional, physical, and development needs.
19. Accepting optimum goals in light of physical and emotional limitations.
20. Using community resources to aid in resolving issues arising from illness.
21. Understanding the role of social problems as influencing factors in case of illness (Abdellah, 1990).

The relevance of the theory to health care

Abdellah’s theory is geared toward improving nursing education. She believed that by improving nursing education, the nursing practice would also improve. Transforming the nursing practice from a disease-centered profession to a patient-centered profession is the greatest impact Abdellah’s theory has had on nursing. The patient-centered strategy has brought structure and organization to previously a disorganized number of nursing care experiences. Her theory categorized nursing problems based on people’s needs and developed measures of treatment and nursing goals. The twenty-one nursing problems were essential in making nurses take a closer look at patient’s problems with a goal of coming up with a thorough and organized nursing plan. Abdellah’s theory argued that if all twenty-one problems were thoroughly examined, the patient would efficiently assess thus giving nurses an opportunity to organize necessary nursing strategies. The twenty-one nursing problems have currently been updated to concentrate on the patient and nursing diagnosis. Abdellah’s nursing theory has enhanced critical thinking among nurses thus contributing to an improvement in job satisfaction (Abdellah, 1980).

 

 

Summary

Abdellah’s theory has several strengths. It can easily be applied by practitioners and other health care professionals. Considering that the theory is presented in a way that is easily understandable, nurses at different levels of expertise can use it in their practice. The theory can also be used to address the needs of patients with special health needs. However, the theory also has some weaknesses. The theory is inconsistent in regards to the concept of holism, which might lead to overlooking potential issues because the patient is not recognized in a particular stage of the illness. The theory also has a light emphasis on what the patient is set to achieve from using the theory (Fagin et al., 1973)

In conclusion, Abdellas’s theory provides a platform for developing and organizing nursing care. The twenty-one problems provide nurses and other health care professionals a basis for developing and using efficient nursing strategies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Abdellah, F. (1980). Better Patient Care through Nursing Research. Nursing Research, 29(4), 255. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-198007000-00020

Abdellah, F. (1980). Faye Abdellah Sees Bright Future for Nurses. AJN, American Journal Of Nursing, 80(9), 1671. https://doi.org/10.1097/00000446-198009000-00044

Abdellah, F. (1990). Annual Review of Nursing Research. Military Medicine, 155(9), A29-A29. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/155.9.a29a

Fagin, C., Abdellah, F., Beland, I., Martin, A., & Matheney, R. (1973). New Directions in Patient-Centered Nursing. The American Journal Of Nursing, 73(8), 1439. https://doi.org/10.2307/3422875