MAJOR CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
The self-care deficit nursing theory is a general theory composed of the following four related theories:
The theory of self-care, which describes why and how people care for themselves
The theory of dependent-care, which explains how family members and/or friends provide dependent-care for a person who is socially dependent
The theory of self-care deficit, which describes and explains why people can be helped through nursing
The theory of nursing systems, which describes and explains relationships that must be brought about and maintained for nursing to be produced
Basic nursing systems.
Self-care
Self-care comprises the practice of activities that maturing and mature persons initiate and perform, within time frames, on their own behalf in the interest of maintaining life, healthful functioning, continuing personal development, and well-being by meeting known requisites for functional and developmental regulations (Orem, 2001
Dependent-care
Dependent-care refers to the care that is provided to a person who, because of age or related factors, is unable to perform the self-care needed to maintain life, healthful functioning, continuing personal development, and well-being.
Self-care requisites
A self-care requisite is a formulated and expressed insight about actions to be performed that are known or hypothesized to be necessary in the regulation of an aspect of human functioning and development, continuously or under specified conditions and circumstances.
A formulated self-care requisite names the following two elements:
The factor to be controlled or managed to keep an aspect of human functioning and development within the norms compatible with life, health, and personal well-being
The nature of the required action
Universal self-care requisites
Universally required goals are to be met through self-care or dependent care, and they have their origins in what is known and what is validated, or what is in the process of being validated, about human structural and functional integrity at various stages of the life cycle
Eight self-care requisites common to men, women, and children are suggested:
Maintenance of a sufficient intake of air
Maintenance of a sufficient intake of food
Maintenance of a sufficient intake of water
Provision of care associated with elimination processes and excrements
Maintenance of balance between activity and rest
Maintenance of balance between solitude and social interaction
Prevention of hazards to human life, human functioning, and human well-being
Promotion of human functioning and development within social groups in accordance with human potential, known human limitations, and the human desire to be normal; normalcy is used in the sense of that which is essentially human and that which is in accordance with the genetic and constitutional characteristics and talents of individuals (Orem, 2001, p. 225)
Developmental self-care requisites
Provision of conditions that promote development
Engagement in self-development
Prevention of or overcoming effects of human conditions and life situations that can adversely affect human development (Orem, 1980,