Introduction
The core idea of Orem’s philosophy is that self-care is a skill that all people possess. Orem defined self-care as everyday healthy living activities people engage in (Fernandes et al., 2020). These practices vary throughout life and are influenced by environment, family, age, gender, and pre-existing medical issues.
Orem’s definition of self-care requirements includes general, therapeutic, and developmental components (water and food intake, activity, and rest balance). According to Orem, nursing care is intended to make up for the individual’s lack of self-care to help them reach a desired degree of independence in consciousness.
The approach, therefore, strongly emphasizes the individual and their ability for self-care. The environment is thought to be a factor that might reduce this ability by affecting the individual. Based on this perspective, a person’s ability to care for themselves is influenced by their surroundings. Only when a person is competent and willing to meet all self-care requirements in accordance with age, gender, and developmental stage can ideal health be maintained (Smith & Parker, 2019).
The nursing profession fills the gap in self-care by offering medical care, education, or physical assistance (Fernandes et al., 2020). A lack of self-care may be caused by a person’s physical inability to execute particular tasks, a bad environment, or a lack of information (Fernandes et al., 2020). As a result, the idea establishes the significance of education and prevention in advancing patient health.
The Purpose of the Paper
This paper aims to analyze, discuss, and apply the concepts of Orem’s Self-Care Theory to the clinical nursing practice offered to Rheumatoid arthritis patients. The theory was chosen for this assignment since it may be used in most practical scenarios. Nurse practitioners who operate in different departments might benefit from the nursing theory’s adaptability since it enables them to stick to a single theory throughout their professional practice. This theory may be used in nursing practice in acute care facilities, outpatient clinics, community centers, senior citizen homes, hospices, and rehabilitation facilities (Kim, 2021). As a result, it is a flexible theory that enables patient health promotion in various situations.
The Summary of the Nursing Situation
The nursing situation involves a patient with rheumatoid arthritis at the Sammix hospital. Mary X was admitted to the facility after developing joint complications due to cell inflammation. She was 56 years old, a housewife with no formal education, and a widow.
I was assigned to the facility to attend to her and ensure that she recovered from the disease. After studying her keenly, I applied Orem’s self-care deficit theory. She complained of discomfort in all her joints and stiffness that was worse in the morning and improved with activity. The patient has been receiving therapy at a nearby hospital for similar concerns for the last five years. The patient could complete ADL independently; however, due to her performance and posture, she was more likely to acquire disease-related problems.
Principles and Concepts of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory
Core principles and concepts of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory are nursing, people, the environment, health, self-care, and self-care agency. According to the perspective of this theory, nursing is the art through which healthcare professionals provide specialized help to individuals with a range of impairments to ultimately promote self-care. Additionally, nurses participate in the medical treatment the patient receives from a doctor. A patient is surrounded by a complex environment that includes biological, chemical, physical, community, cultural, and family elements (American Psychological Association, 2019). Self-care includes actions or routines people start and follow to maintain their health, happiness, and quality of life.
Reason for Applying Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory on the Nursing Situation
The selected nursing specialty is that of a healthcare professional. Orem’s self-care deficit theory may be applied to nurse practitioners’ work as it thoroughly explains the nurses’ involvement in treatment, prevention, and care (Smith & Parker, 2019). Therefore, the self-care deficit hypothesis specifies the goal of nursing care as assisting patients to achieve and sustain an appropriate degree of self-care, and it emphasizes the roles and duties of nurses in achieving this goal.
For instance, while caring for elderly patients, nurses must use their expertise to identify the necessary self-care tasks that patients should do. Because the patient may be unable to do any of these actions, the nurse’s job is to determine which option would be the most helpful. The nurse might satisfy the patient’s need for self-care by assisting them in doing some duties if they are physically unable to do so on their own. On the other hand, if the patient requests information or needs guidance, the nurse is obligated to educate the patient.
Application of Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory on a Different Nursing Practice Situation
Another setting that would borrow the idea of Orem’s theory is acute care. This illness requires the nurse to assess the patient’s self-care abilities, pinpoint areas of weakness, and implement the most appropriate interventions (American Psychological Association, 2019). Supposing a patient has an injury that has altered their mental or physical condition, for instance. In that case, the nurse’s goal should be to help the patient minimize the effects of the injury so that the patient may recover more rapidly and resume regular activity (Kim, 2021). Furthermore, the nurse is responsible for guiding how the patient might continue to manage the injury after being released from acute care to maximize the patient’s chances of a successful recovery.
How Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory is Applicable in Nursing Research
The fundamental themes of Orem’s nursing theory are the concepts of clinical research and self-study. As a result, it may provide a suitable foundation for research on people with chronic illnesses. According to this nursing philosophy, self-care is seen as acts individuals do to preserve, repair, or enhance their health (Watson, 2011).
Nurses do not see patients as passive healthcare recipients; rather, they regard patients as active participants in their own healthcare who are strong, trustworthy, responsible, and capable of making choices that may improve their health. Orem classified the nursing profession into three models: fully compensating, somewhat compensating, and supportive-educational (Watson, 2011). When a patient is cognitively capable of learning but needs guidance and help, the nurse performs the roles often associated with a supplementary educational framework.
Conclusion
In general, nursing theory is essential to nursing education and practice since it explains and better understands nurses’ role in delivering patient care. According to Orem’s nursing philosophy, the main objective of nursing is to restore the patient’s ability for self-care while emphasizing the value of health care. It provides a thorough understanding of nursing in modern practice settings relevant to various situations. The work at hand assisted me in comprehending nursing theory and figuring out how to put it into practice. It was very helpful to conduct a thorough investigation of Orem’s self-care deficiency hypothesis since the knowledge I gained from the research has the potential to be used in my future career as a nurse practitioner.
References
American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
Fernandes, S., Silva, A., Barbas, L., Ferreira, R., Fonseca, C., Fernandes, M.A. (2020). Theoretical contributions from Orem to self-care in rehabilitation nursing. In: García-Alonso, J., Fonseca, C. (eds) Gerontechnology. IWoG 2019. Communications in computer and information science, vol 1185. Springer, Cham. Web.
Kim, S. (2021). The effects of self-efficacy on cognitive function in patients with acute stroke: Verifying the medicating effect of family support. American Journal of Nursing Science, 10(3), 173. Web.
Smith, M., & Parker, M. E. (2019). Nursing theories and nursing practice (5th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.
Watson, J. (2011). Human caring science: A theory of nursing (Watson, nursing: human science and human care) (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Publishers.