Orem’s self-care deficit theory
Orem’s self-care deficit theory
The identified framework is Orem’s self-care deficit theory. This theory helps assists nurses to discover which sides of the patient care they need to target in a particular circumstance, and it emphasizes the importance of maintaining their patients’ independence on self-care activities (Regis College, n.d.). Orem’s self-care deficit theory proposes that maintaining some independence in own health care is beneficial to promote health (Regis College, n.d.). Thus, in accordance with this theory, the goal of nursing is to assist patients to reach their maximum level of independence.
Not only physical limitation but also inadequate knowledge can be the reason for self-care deficits. Physical limitation can be addressed by supportive or medical interventions that can promote independence. Inadequate knowledge and lack of health information can be another barrier to self-care activities, and patient education can be an effective nursing intervention to promote patient knowledge. After all, patient education is one of the most important aspects of nursing services.
The application of patient education can be easily found in all nursing fields. An example of this application is outpatient dialysis. An effective and appropriate educational program in the disease process and hemodialysis can reduce the treatment nonadherence in hemodialysis patients. Concept A is an effective and appropriate educational program in the disease process and hemodialysis, and concept B is the treatment nonadherence in hemodialysis patients. The proposition is “can reduce” which ties together two concepts.
According to Alikari et al. (2021), patient knowledge has a significant impact on treatment adherence. Patient knowledge can be promoted by an effective and appropriate patient education program. The treatment nonadherence in hemodialysis patients is measured by the number of missed treatments in one month period and three consecutive months period in an outpatient dialysis setting. Inkeroinen et al. (2021) stated that patient education promotes treatment adherence of chronic kidney patients, however, patient knowledge of their own medical condition is typically inadequate. As such, hemodialysis patients need to be regularly reeducated on how to adequately address the complex dynamics of their condition.
