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Characteristics Of A Nurse Patient Relationship

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Theories are a fundamental component in nursing as they provide a foundation on which to base nursing practice. Virginia Henderson, the mother of modern nursing, developed the ‘Henderson Model’. The four major concepts of her model include the individual, the environment, health, and nursing. There are fourteen components of the model, which embrace the physiological, psychological, spiritual or moral, and sociological needs of patients. These components are crucial to nursing practice today as they incorporate all areas in which nurses must focus their care. Henderson also provides a concrete definition of nursing care that is widely accepted in the nursing community. I will discuss the assumptions, major concepts and the fourteen components of Henderson’s model in further detail throughout the body of this paper. I will relate Henderson’s theory to the nursing process and the importance of good nurse-patient relationships. I will then explain how I can use the concepts explored in this paper to benefit my practice as a nurse in the future. Virginia Henderson: A Brief History Virginia Henderson was “born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1897” (Gordon, Touhy, Gesse, Dombro, & Birnbach, 2010, p. 55). Two of her brothers served in World War I and due to a critical nursing shortage, she enrolled in the Army School of Nursing (Gordon et al., 2010). “This wartime experience forever influenced her ethical understanding of nursing and her appreciation of the importance and complexity

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