Born in 1914 in Baltimore, Maryland, Dorothea Orem received a diploma in nursing from Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, D.C., and later graduated with both a BSN in 1939 and MSN in 1945 through Catholic University of America. During her lifetime, Orem worked as a staff nurse, educator, administrator, and consultant and went on to receive multiple honorary doctorates from Georgetown University, Incarnate Word College, Illinois Wesleyan University, and University of Missouri-Columbia.
Orem first published her Self-Care Theory in Nursing: Concepts of Practice in 1971. Although the theory is primarily illness oriented, the Self-Care Deficit Theory provided a contemporary and comprehensive base to nursing practice and nursing diagnosis. Orem later became a nurse consultant speaking at many conferences and workshops while authoring more works as a leading nursing theorist. Her contributions became much of the foundation for further research and study in nursing.
Dorothea Orem died in 2007 at the age of 92 in Savannah, Georgia where she resided for the last 25 years of her life. She was a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award for Nursing Theory from Catholic University of America in 1980. She was also a member of the group of nursing theorists in 1982 who provided the initial framework for nursing diagnosis to NANDA, aka. The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association.
-Theorist background and site design/layout by Dena Joynes, RN, BSN. Last updated 3/18/2013.
Orem first published her Self-Care Theory in Nursing: Concepts of Practice in 1971. Although the theory is primarily illness oriented, the Self-Care Deficit Theory provided a contemporary and comprehensive base to nursing practice and nursing diagnosis. Orem later became a nurse consultant speaking at many conferences and workshops while authoring more works as a leading nursing theorist. Her contributions became much of the foundation for further research and study in nursing.
Dorothea Orem died in 2007 at the age of 92 in Savannah, Georgia where she resided for the last 25 years of her life. She was a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award for Nursing Theory from Catholic University of America in 1980. She was also a member of the group of nursing theorists in 1982 who provided the initial framework for nursing diagnosis to NANDA, aka. The North American Nursing Diagnosis Association.
-Theorist background and site design/layout by Dena Joynes, RN, BSN. Last updated 3/18/2013.
References
Bunye, R. (2010) Theory of Self Care by Orem. Self-Care Magazine. Retrieved from http://upoun207tfn.blogspot.com/2010/07/theory-of-self-care-deficit-is-core-of.html#!/2010/07/theory-of-self-care-deficit-is-core-of.html
Current Nursing (2012) Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/self_care_deficit_theory.html
Delorme, R. (2007) Dorothea Elizabeth Orem made nursing theory “exciting, realistic and usable.” Southern
Cross. Retrieved from http://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8726p03.pdf
Medical Archives of the John Hopkins Medical Institutions (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/papers/orem.html
Bunye, R. (2010) Theory of Self Care by Orem. Self-Care Magazine. Retrieved from http://upoun207tfn.blogspot.com/2010/07/theory-of-self-care-deficit-is-core-of.html#!/2010/07/theory-of-self-care-deficit-is-core-of.html
Current Nursing (2012) Retrieved from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/self_care_deficit_theory.html
Delorme, R. (2007) Dorothea Elizabeth Orem made nursing theory “exciting, realistic and usable.” Southern
Cross. Retrieved from http://diosav.org/sites/all/files/archives/S8726p03.pdf
Medical Archives of the John Hopkins Medical Institutions (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu/papers/orem.html