The document discusses Virginia Henderson's Need Theory in nursing, outlining her contributions to the field, including her background, career, and the assumptions and concepts underpinning her theory. It emphasizes the 14 basic needs that nurses should address to help patients achieve independence and highlights the theory's strengths and weaknesses. Henderson's approach underscores the importance of individualized care and the nurse's role in fostering patient health and independence.

1. VIRGINIA HENDERSONS -NEED THEORY
By E. Chauluka

2. OBJECTIVES
By the end of the presentation the learners should be able to:
 Know the background of the theorist.
 State the assumptions of the theorist.
 Describe the concepts in the theory.
 Explain the metaparadigms used in the theory.
 Explain the interrelationships of the concepts in the theory.
 Explain how the theory can be applied .
 Discuss the strength and weaknesses of the theory.
 Describe the theory in your own words based on your
understanding.

3. INTRODUCTION
 Virginia Henderson was born on 30th
November,1897 in Kansas city, Missouri.
 She was the daughter of Daniel Brosius
Henderson and Lucy Minor Abbot.
 She died on march 19, 1996.

4. EDUCATION BACKGROUND
 She got her Diploma in nursing from the Army school of
nursing at Walter Reed Hospital Washington DC in 1921.
 In 1923 she entered teachers college at Columbia
University for her Bachelors Degree, and took her Masters
Degree in 1934.
 She received 13 Honorary Degrees, was inducted into
American Association of Hall of Fame and was awarded
the most Prestigious Honor in nursing, the Christine
Reimann prize by the International Council of nurses.
 She is also known as “The first lady of nursing”.

5. CAREER BACKGROUND
 In 1923 she started teaching nursing at the Norfolk
Protestant Hospital in Virginia.
 In 1924-1929 she worked as an instructor and educational
director in Norfolk Protestant Hospital, Norfolk Virginia.
The following year 1930, she was a nurse supervisor and
clinical instructor at outpatient department of Strong
Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New york.

6. Career background cont………
 From 1934-1948, 14 years of her career she worked as an
instructor and associate professor at teaching college,
Columbia University in New york.
 Since 1953, Henderson was a research associate at Yale
University school of Nursing and a research associate
emeritus (1971-1996).
 She wrote and published textbooks throughout her career
as well as the nursing studies index, a 12 year project in
which she covered the first 60 years of nursing.

7. WHAT MOTIVATED HER TO DEVELOP THE
THEORY
 She examined the earlier statements of the nursing function
by American Nurses Association and viewed these
statements as non specific and unsatisfactory definition of
nursing practice, thus in 1966 Henderson’s first definition
of nursing was published in Bertha Harmer’s revised
nursing textbook.
 She participated in revision of a nursing textbook. During
the revision of the “Textbooks of the Principles and Practice
of Nursing” written by Bertha Harmer (1922) Henderson
realized the need to be clear about the functions of the
nurse.

8. Motivation continues…….
 She was also concerned that many states had no provision
of nursing licensure to ensure safe and competent care for
the customers.
 She disliked the basic nursing education by the Army
School of Nursing which emphasized on technical
competency and mastery of nursing procedures, which
viewed nursing as an extension of medical practice and
provided no role model.

9. ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY
 Nurses care for patients until patient can care for
themselves once again.
 Health has a meaning shared by the society at large.
 Patients desire to return to health or peaceful death
and will act in a such a way to achieve this.
 Individual will perform activities leading to health if
they have the knowledge capacity and will.

10. Assumptions cont…
 The 14 basic needs represents nursing functions.
 Individuals goal and nurses goal are congruent
 Nursing goal may be subsumed into medical treatment
plan.
 The nurse is an independent practitioner.

12. THE CONCEPTS OF NEED THEORY
Henderson called her definition of nursing as concepts. She
viewed human being, health, environment, and nursing as
follows;
Human Being
 The patient as an individual who requires assistance to
achieve health and independence or peaceful death.
The mind and the body are inseparable.
The patient and the family are viewed as a unit.

13. Concepts cont…..
Health
She viewed health in terms of patients ability to perform
unaided the 14 components of nursing care.
She says it is “the quality of the health rather than health
itself, that margins of mental physical vigor that allows a
person to work most effectively and to reach his highest
potential level of satisfaction in life.”(Tomey, 1989,p.83)
as cited from several definitions of health from various
sources including the one from the charter of the World
Health Organization.

14. Concepts continues………..
Environment
She used Webster dictionary which defines environment
as “the aggregate of all the external conditions and
influences affecting the life and development of an
organism .”

15. Concepts cont….
Nursing
In 1966, Henderson ultimate statement definition of
nursing was published of her ideas, it reads as follows
“the unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual
(sick or well) in the performance of those activities
contributing to health or its recovery or peaceful death that
he would perform unaided if he had the necessary
strength, will or knowledge. And to do this in such a way
as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible.”

16. METAPARADIGM OF THE THEORY
1. Individual
 Have basic needs that are components of health
 Requires assistance to achieve health and independence or
peaceful death.
 Mind and body are inseparable and interrelated
 Considers the biological, psychological, sociological and
spiritual components.
 The theory presents the patient as a sum of parts with bio
psychosocial needs.

17. 2. Environment
 Settings in which an individual raise unique pattern of
living.
 All external conditions and influences that affect life and
development .
 It views individual in relation to their families and
minimally discusses the impact of the community on the
individual and the family
 Basic nursing care involves providing conditions under
which the patient can perform 14 activities unaided.

18. 3. Health
 Definition based on individual ability to function
independently as outlined in the 14 components
 Nurses needs to stress promotion of health, prevention and
cure of disease.
 Because good health is a challenging goal for individuals, she
urged that it is difficult for the nurse to help the patient reach it
 Good health is affected by age, cultural background, physical,
intellectual capacities and emotional balance, and these affects
an individuals ability to meet the 14 needs independently

19. 4. Nursing
 Temporarily assisting an individual who lacks the
necessary strengths, will, and knowledge to satisfy one or
more of the 14 basic needs.
 Assist and support the individual in life activities and
attainment of independence
 The nurse serves to make patient in “complete” “whole”
“and “independence.”

20. Continues…….
 The nurse is expected to carry out physicians
therapeutics plans, individualized care is the result of
the nurse’s creativity in planning the care.
 “Nurse should have knowledge to practice
individualized and human care and should be a
scientific problem solver.”
 In the nature of nursing, nurse role is “to get in side
the patient skin and compliment his strength will or
knowledge according to his needs.

21. Interrelationship of nursing concept
Individual / environment/health
 Environment encompasses any place where there is
therapeutic relationship between patient and nurse
(Catalama, 2009). As illness occurs , the ability of the person
to control his environment will diminish. It is the duty of the
nurse to manage the patients surrounding to protect patients
from any harm or injuries.
 Other components states that maintain body temperature
within normal range by adjusting clothing and modifying.
Incase of patient having fever, windows are opened, linen is
reduced

22. Another component states that avoid
dangers in environment and avoid
injuring others. For example eclampsia
client, bed rails are raised to prevent her
from falling.

23. Man and nursing
• The aim of nursing is to help the individual regain his
independence as soon as possible.
• The nurse can either be substitute, supplement or
complement.
• In supplement the nurse helps the patient do the activities.
• In complement the nurse works with the patient, for
patient to gain much independence as possible.
• In substitute, the nurse works as a substitute for patients
(doing something for the patients).

24.  All these roles are to help the patient become
as independent as possible to achieve the 14
components on his or her own.

25. Nursing and health
• Nursing has viewed health as a continuum. Henderson
views health as the quality of life and is the basis for the
individual to perform the 14 components independently.
• Apart from basic nursing care, nurses play an important
role in promotion of health and prevention of illness
through health education.
• Age, culture, physical and intellectual capacities and
emotional balance can affect health.

26.  The 14 basic component functions as a guide to the nurses
in health education.
 Promotion of health is more important in caring for the
sick.

27. Diagram

28. APPLICATION OF THE THEORY
A). NURSING PRACTICE
The nurse can help the patient move to an independence
state by;
I. Assessment- assess the patient for the 14 fundamental
needs and determine what are lacking.
II. Planning- plan to meet the needs fit to the nursing plan.
III. Implementation- uses the 14 basic needs in answering
the factors contributing to the illness. Assist the sick or
well individual to maintain health or recover for illness.

29. iv. Evaluation phase- decide whether goals are
met or not.
. Provides a rational for collecting reliable and
valid data about the health status of the client.
. Help build a nursing terminology with other
health professional.

30.  B). EDUCATION
 Development of three phases of curriculum development
that students should progress in their learning.
 The focus in all three phases remains the same and these
are ;
i. Assisting the patients when he needs strength, will or
knowledge in performing his daily activities or in
carrying out prescribed therapy with the intimae goal of
independence.

31. ii. Develop a habit of inquiry ; take course in
biological, physical and social sciences and in
humanities; study with students in other fields,
observe effective care, and give effective care in
variety of settings.
iii. Involve students in the complete study of the
patients and all his needs

32. Application cont..
 C. MANAGEMENT
The theory gives nurses a sense of
identity and help nurse managers and
other health care professionals to
recognize the unique contribution that
nurses make in health care services.

33. Application cont….
D.RESEARCH
• Research questions arise from each of the 14
components of basic nursing care.
• Henderson concluded that no profession,
occupation or industry in this age can evaluate
adequately or improve its practice without
research.
• It offers flamework for generating knowledge and
new ideas.

34. STRENGTH OF THE THEORY
 Henderson definition of nursing and 14
components of basic nursing care are logical
and simple to understand
 It act as a guide for the patient and nurse to
reach the chosen goal
 Henderson's idea of nursing are well accepted
as a basic for nursing care throughout the
world
 Her idea of nursing practice can be applied to
the well being of an individual of all ages

35. WEAKNESSES OF THE THEORY
 Lack of conceptual linkage between
physiological and other human characteristics.
 No concept of holistic nature of human being
 Lacks interrelation of factors and the influence
of nursing care
 Little explanation of nurses role when it says “
helps in dying process”
 No clear relationship among the 14 components

36. DESCRIBING THE THEORY IN OUR OWN
UNDERSTANDING
 The theory tells us that a human being can not leave
without the 14 components, a health human being has the
capability to accomplish the 14 components with no aid
on daily basis and when a human is not well he or she
needs the nurse to aid him or her to attain the activities of
daily living.
 The theory made nursing to be an independent unit.{not
under medical}.
 In nursing there should be no limit in education hence
promoting hardworking spirit in nurses.

37.  The theory also helps us to practice nursing in safe
environment when providing care to patients to
facilitate healing and prevent introducing infections
to our patients as related to component #9, avoiding
dangers in the environment and avoiding injuries.
 It also helps in giving systematic approach in
rendering care to patients using the nursing process.

38. References
Henderson, V. (n.d.). The nature of nursing; A definition
Implication practice and research. New York: Macmillan
company
https://gallery.library.vcu.edu/items/show/77970
Kozier B.J, Erb, G, Berman. A, Synder. S, Lake. R &
Harvey. S (2008).Fundamentals of Nursing: concepts,
process & practice. Harlow; Pearson Education.

39. Reference cont……
McEwen, M & Willis, E .M(2007). Theoretical basics for
nursing, (2nd
Ed). Philadelphia; Lippincot.
https;//Nurses labs.com/virginia-henderson-need-theory/?
amp
http;//vnherson2011.blogsport.com/p/majorconcepts.html?
m=l
Julia,B. & George.(2002).Nursing theories; The base for
professional nursing practice. Library of congress catalogin-
in; United States of America