Human Needs Theory: “The human-needs nursing theories were among the earliest of
Human Needs Theory: “The human-needs nursing theories were among the earliest of the nursing theories. In general, these theories followed the philosophical school of thought of the time by considering the person to be a biopsychosocial being and focusing on meeting the individual’s needs.” (McEwen & Wills, 2023, p.160) The concept of the human needs theory was that patients should be cared for until they are able to care for themselves. The assumptions are that human, environment, health, and nursing are an important part of healing patients.A healthy environment, nutritious food, and accurate observations are a must for patients to heal. The implication is that if you are around an unhealthy environment, you will not heal. This was tested as when Florence Nightingale provided a clean and healthy environment during the Crimean War. Casualties went down to 2 percent. This is a most basic theory that cleanliness will decrease infection, healthy food will nourish the body to help it heal, and that educating the patients will increase compliance.
Interactive Nursing Theory: This theory has a belief that humans are holistic beings who interact with, and adapt to, situations in which they find themselves. The concept is that people have biologic, psychosocial, and spiritual subsystems that needs to be addressed holistically. The assumption is that “The nurse focuses on all aspects of the total person, systematically noting the interrelations of the systems and the relationships of the systems to time and environment.” (McEwen & Wills, 2023, p.166) The implication of interactive nurse theory is that you must care for all aspect of patients not only the disease process. In interactive nursing theory we can see that the relationship between the nurse and patient is important. “A transpersonal caring relationship connotes a spirit-to-spirit unitary connection within a caring moment, honoring the embodied spirit of both practitioner and patient within a unitary field of consciousness.” (McEwen & Wills, 2023, p.186) This type of theory takes into account the spirit when it comes to end-of-life care since we are treating patient holistically.
Reference
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2023a). Theoretical basis for nursing. Wolters Kluwer.
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