Dorothea Orem - Nursing Theorist

The first of these needs are maintenance of an adequate intake of air, food, and water as efficient eliminatory elements of excrements. Orem also identifies the need for a proper balance between solitude and isolation as well as an appropriate balance between activity and rest. Orem finally shows the importance of the promotion of human functioning, well-being, and the prevention of hazards which may be harmful to these natural processes. Since these requisites are required for self-care, it is the nurse that is obligated to fulfill the patients needs if they are unable to do so themself (Alligood & Tomey, 2010). If these needs are not met in a timely manner, the patient's condition will continue to worsen leading ultimately to death.
             Orem's theory articulates the fact that it is the nurse's responsibility to assist the patient in self-care when they are unable to perform such activities resulting in self-care deficit; therefore, when assisting the patient by fulfilling their needs, the nurse is directly progressing the client to reach the overall goal of self-care. The theory is basic and simple. As a nurse, it is important to recognize that all patients vary in their deficiencies and the care given to these patients should be altered accordingly. As a result, each patient may require the nurse to employ various different areas of knowledge and techniques to fulfill the specific needs of the given patient and eventually attain self-care.
             Orem's theory recognizes three nursing systems. These systems can help the nurse in properly fulfilling the patient's needs while promoting the return to overall independence in self-care. These nursing systems include wholly compensatory, partially compensatory, and supportive compensatory. The three nursing systems represent a linear scale of categories in which individual patient placement depends on the level of dependence on nursing technique to ensure self-care or lack of agency by the patient, which is the ability of the patient to fulfill their own needs related to self-care activities.