Faye Glenn Abdellah 21 Nursing Problems Theory 1960 (USA)
Faye Abdellah was
one of the first nursing theorists. She earned her bachelor’s
degree, master’s and doctorate of nursing from Colombia University.
She has been awarded many academic honors from civilian and military
sources. Abdellah’s patient centered approach to nursing was
developed inductively from her clinical practice at the age of 41 years and is considered as
human needs theory. It is also relevant to community setting also.
She considered the object of nursing as ‘patient’ rather than
client or consumer. She developed the concept of nursing diagnosis in
nursing care plan.
Abdellah and
colleagues (1960) developed a list of 21 nursing problems.
To maintain good
hygiene and physical comfort
To promote
optimal activity, exercise, rest and sleep
To promote safety
through prevention of accidents, injury, or other trauma and through
the prevention of the spread of infection
To maintain good
body mechanics and prevent and correct deformities
To facilitate the
maintenance of supply of oxygen
To facilitate the
maintenance of nutrition
To facilitate the
maintenance of elimination
To facilitate the
maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance
To recognize the
physiologic responses of the body to disease conditions
To facilitate the
maintenance of regulatory mechanics and functions
To facilitate the
maintenance of sensory function
To identify and
accept positive and negative expressions, feelings and reactions
To identify and
accept the interrelatedness of emotions and organic illness
To facilitate the
maintenance of effective verbal and nonverbal communication
To promote the
development of interpersonal relationships
To facilitate
progress toward achievement of personal spiritual goals
To create and
maintain a therapeutic environment
To facilitate
awareness of self as an individual with varying physical, emotional
and developmental needs
To accept the
optimum possible goals in the light of physical and emotional
limitations
To use community
resources as an aid in resolving problems arising from illness
To understand the
role of social problems as influencing factors in the cause of
illness
They also
identified a list of 10 steps and skills in nursing to be used in
developing nursing care plan.
Know the patient
Differentiate the significant data
Make generalizations from the data
Identify the therapeutic plan
Test the generalizations with the patient and make additional
generalizations
Validate the patient’s conclusions regarding the problem
Frequent evaluation and follow up
Explore the patient and family reaction to therapeutic plan
Identify the nurse’s reaction to patient and family
Develop a comprehensive nursing care plan based on the needs
This patient
centered approach is very useful in nursing practice and education.
She categorized nursing problems based on the individual needs and
developed a typology of nursing care and skills. It is widely
considered as major contributions to nursing into Nightingale’s
ideal of becoming a profession.
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