Virginia Henderson Principles of Basic Nursing Care
About Virginia Henderson
- “The Nightingale of Modern Nursing”
- “Modern-Day Mother of Nursing.”
- “The 20th century Florence Nightingale.”
- Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1897.
- Diploma in Nursing from the Army School of Nursing at Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C. in 1921.
- Worked at the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service for 2 years after graduation.
- In 1923, started teaching nursing at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia
Noting the absence of organized literature upon which to base clinical studies, Ms. Henderson embarked on a project to annotate nursing literature. The four-volume Nursing Studies Index was completed in 1972 and was hailed as her most important contribution to nursing science.
Ms. Henderson started her most important writing project at the age of 75 when she began the sixth edition of the Principles and Practice of Nursing text. The book operates on two levels; individual and global. She argued that health care will be reformed by the individual nurses who will enable their patients to be independent in health care matters when patients are both educated and encouraged to care for themselves. She took this philosophy to new heights by eliminating medical jargon from the text and declaring it is a reference for those who want to guard their own or their family’s health or take care of a sick relative or friend.
A warm and vivacious person, she traveled the world at the invitation of professional societies, universities, and governments. She was a prolific writer who hated to write. She lived long enough to complete a set of widely translated and influential works, the likes of which were last written by Florence Nightingale. She spoke of the necessity of a universal, comprehensive health service for all, the absurdity of for-profit health care, and for patients to keep and contribute to their own health records.
Major Concepts
- Ms. Henderson called the definition of nursing her “concept” (Henderson, 1991)
- She emphasized the importance of increasing the patient’s independence so that progress after hospitalization would not be delayed (Henderson,1991) “assisting individuals to gain independence in relation to the performance of activities contributing to health or its recovery” (Henderson, 1966). Her definition of nursing was:
“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 to 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” (Henderson, 1966).
Ms. Henderson categorized nursing activities into 14 components, based on human needs:
- Breathe normally.
- Eat and drink adequately.
- Eliminate body wastes.
- Move and maintain desirable postures.
- Sleep and rest.
- Select suitable clothes-dress and undress.
- Maintain body temperature within normal range by adjusting clothing and modifying the environment
- Keep the body clean and well-groomed and protect the integument
- Avoid dangers in the environment and avoid injuring others.
- Communicate with others in expressing emotions, needs, fears, or opinions.
- Worship according to one’s faith.
- Work in such a way that there is a sense of accomplishment.
- Play or participate in various forms of recreation.
- Learn, discover, or satisfy the curiosity that leads to normal development and health and use the available health facilities.
Strengths
- Relatively simple yet generalizable.
- Applicable to the health of individuals of all ages.
- can be the basis for hypotheses that can be tested.
- assist in increasing the general body of knowledge within the discipline.
- Her ideas of nursing practice are well accepted.
- can be utilized by practitioners to guide and improve their practice.
Weaknesses
- Lack of conceptual linkage between physiological and other human characteristics.
- No concept of the holistic nature of human beings.
- If the assumption is made that the 14 components are prioritized, the relationship among the components is unclear.
- Lacks inter-relate of factors and the influence of nursing care.
- Assisting the individual in the dying process she contends that the nurse helps, but there is little explanation of what the nurse does.
- “Peaceful death” is a curious nursing role.
Comparison with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need
| Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs | Henderson's 14 Components |
|---|---|
| Physiological needs | Breathe normally Eat and drink adequately Eliminate by all avenues of elimination. Move and maintain desirable posture Sleep and rest Select suitable clothing Maintain body temperature Keep body clean and well groomed Protect the skin |
| Safety Needs | Avoid environmental dangers and avoid injuring others |
| Belonging and Love Needs | Communicate with others Worship according to one’s faith |
| Esteem Needs | Work at something providing a sense of accomplishment Play or participate in various forms of recreation Learn, discover, or satisfy curiosity |
Additional Information & References
- An Outline of the Theory and Concepts
- Biography of Virginia Henderson
- Integrating Nursing Theory and Process into Practice: Virginia’s Henderson Need Theory by Semantics Scholar
- More information by Nursology & Nurses Labs
- Visualizations of Concepts for the Needs Theory by VHenderson2011
