Virginia Henderson’s Need Theory

Virginia Henderson’s Need Theory

Briana Alise Payne

Lander University

Virginia Henderson’s Need Theory

Virginia Henderson was a nurse theorist and educator who made an impact on the nursing profession.  Virginia Avenel Henderson was born on November 30, 1897 in Kansas City, MO.  Henderson graduated from the Army School of Nursing in Washington, DC in 1921.  After graduating she started working with the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service in New York.  She later became a research associate at Yale University School of Nursing.  In 1955, a couple of years later, Henderson’s definition of Nursing were printed in The Principles and Practice of Nursing.  Throughout the rest of her life Virginia Henderson had many achievements, some of which she is still known for today.  Virginia Henderson died on March 19, 1996 at the age of 98 (Anderson, 1999).

        Virginia Henderson was widely known for her definition of nursing and need theory.  Henderson defined nursing in practical terms:

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 a 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. (1966)

Her definition of nursing makes the patient the primary concern.  This definition is basically saying that nurses should care for their patients by helping them reach their goals. This will ultimately lead to their independence.  Henderson’s need theory focuses on four major concepts which are the individual, environment, health, and nursing.  The individual is the patient and their ability to achieve wholeness.  The environment aspect means the atmosphere that the individual is in in regards to their recovery.  The health concept is based on the individual’s ability to meet Henderson’s 14 basic needs.  The nursing concept involves the nurse’s role in assisting the individual in their recovery.  Henderson’s need theory emphasizes the significance of patient independence based on their ability to meet her 14 components of basic needs.  The 14 basic needs can be categorized as psychological, social, physiological, and spiritual (Anderson, 1999).  All of these components and concepts of Henderson’s need theory are essential to the patients care, treatment, and recovery.

        A study called “Sleep and Rest Needs of Seniors: A Study Grounded in the Work of Henderson”, was performed by Clares, Freitas, Galiza, and Almeida (2012).  This study used Henderson’s theory as a framework to identify the sleep and rest needs of the elderly population.  Data was gathered by using a form comprised of questions, which addressed the 14 basic needs mentioned in the theory.  Additional focus was put on the questions about sleep, which is the fourth need in the theory. They discovered that the main issue related to sleeping problems was that most of the elderly were getting less than 4 hours of sleep a night.  Interpreting these results, Clares et al. (2012) said that “Nurses should be attentive to the complaints of users and be prepared to intervene preventively and therapeutically, according to individual needs…considering the impact of problems resulting from these unmet needs in the routine of seniors.”  Henderson’s theory was a good framework for this research study because one of the 14 needs is not being met.  This means that the health of the elderly who are affected, will not be as good as it could be.

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