Virginia

Avenel
Henderson
1897-1996
Army School of Nursing,
Washington, D.C., 1921
Firstfull-time nursing instructor in Virginia
Recipient of the Virginia Historical Nurse Leader
Award
Member of the American Nurses Association Hall
of Fame
Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
Authored one of the most widely used definitions
of nursing
Proposed plan to create districts within the
Graduate Nurses Association of Virginia (now
Virginia Nurses Association)
 Virginia Avenel Henderson's national and
international achievements made her the
quintessential nurse of the twentieth century.
Her professional career was launched in
Virginia where she served as the first full-
time nursing instructor at Norfolk Protestant
School of Nursing and took an active role in
the state nurses association. A pioneer nurse
educator, Henderson was instrumental in
pushing for the inclusion of psychiatric
nursing in educational programs in Virginia.
 FOURTEEN BASIC HUMAN
NEEDS MODEL
“I say that the nurse does for
others what they would do
for themselves if they had
the strength, the will and the
knowledge. But I go on to
say that the nurse makes the
patient independent of him
or her as soon as possible.”

- VIRGINIA
HENDERSON
Henderson’s contribution to the nursing
profession is the identification of the
fourteen (14) basic human needs upon
which nursing care is based.
She viewed the patient as an individual
requiring help toward achieving
independence and has envisioned the
practice of the nursing profession as wholly
independent from the practice of medicine.
Her prior experience in the field of rehabilitation
nursing helped her refine her model of nursing as a
profession with autonomous functions.
She defined Nursing in terms of the function of the
nurse, to wit:
“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. (Harmer and
Henderson, 1955)
 Henderson also specifies the conditions
that need nursing assistance. These
conditions are what she refers to as the
fourteen needs. (Henderson, 1972).
1. Breath normally
2. Eat and drink adequately.
3. Eliminate body wastes.
4. Move and maintain desirable posture.
5. Sleep and rest.
6. Select suitable clothing.
7. Maintain body temperature.
8. Keep body clean and well-groomed and protect the
integument.
9. Avoid environmental dangers and avoid injuring
others.
10. Communicate with others in expressing emotions,
needs, fears, or opinions.
11. Worship according to faith.
12. Play or participate in various forms of recreation.
13. Work at something providing a sense of
accomplishment.
14. Learn, discover, or satisfy curiosity that leads to
normal development and health and use of
the available health facilities.
 Henderson supported emphatic
understanding and believes the nurse
must “get inside the skin” of each
patient in order to know what he
needs. She believes that nurses work
interdependently with other members
of the healthcare team and not just
with the members of the medical
profession.
 Henderson identified three levels of
nurse-patient relationships in which the
nurse acts as any of the following:

1. A substitute for the patient – doing for

the patient (substitutive)
2. A helper to the patient – helping the
patient (supplementary)
3. A partner with the patient – working
with the patient (complementary)
CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
The patient is an individual who requires
help toward independence.
The nurse assists the individual, whether ill
or not to perform activities that will
contribute to health, recovery or peaceful
death that the individual would perform
unaided if he had necessary strength, will
and knowledge.
 Table shows the incorporation of Henderson’s Needs and
Nursing Process as presented by
Torres (1986).

Dominant themes in Henderson’s Concept of nursing; formalization of patient agency them

and subsumption of health themes. From Nursing Development Conference Group –
concept Formalization in Nursing Process and Product (p. 56, Little, Brown, & Co., 1973).
 The process of nursing strives to do
this as rapidly as possible. The goal of
nursing is independence. Central to
nursing that seeks to help patients
toward independence is emphatic
understanding and unlimited knowledge.
Emphatic understanding grounded in
genuine interest will Lead to helping the
family understand what a patient needs.
 Nurses will seek and promote research,
education and work settings that facilitate
this goal. The nurse manages this process
independently of physicians. The nurse is
and should be legally an independent
practitioner and able to make independent
judgments as long as he or she is not
diagnosing, prescribing treatment for
disease or making prognosis. The role and
functions of professional nursing vary with
the situation.
 Theory Assertions
PERSON
◦ Viewed as a holistic being that is composed of physical, psychological,
sociological and spiritual dimensions that are defined by their corresponding
needs.
Physiological needs include –
1. Breath normally
2. Eat and drink adequately.
3. Eliminate body wastes.
4. Move and maintain desirable posture.
5. Sleep and rest.
6. Select suitable clothing.
7. Maintain body temperature.
8. Keep body clean and well-groomed and protect the integument.
9. Avoid environmental dangers and avoid injuring others.
10. Communicate with others in expressing emotions, needs, fears, or
opinions.
Psychological needs of every human include
learning and discovering or satisfying the
curiosity that leads to normal development
and health and using available health
facilities.
Spiritual needs include worshipping
according to one’s faith.
Sociological needs are working in such a
way that there is a sense of accomplishment
and playing or participating in various forms
of recreations.
HEALTH
is viewed based on the individual’s
ability to function independently as
outlined in the 14 components. Nurses
need to stress promotion of health and
prevention and cure of disease. Good
health is considered a challenge and is
effected by age, cultural background,
physical and intellectual capacities and
emotional balance. Various issues can
impact on health.
NURSING
Henderson's classic definition of nursing:
"I say that the nurse does for others what
they would do for themselves if they had
the strength, the will, and the knowledge.
But I go on to say that the nurse makes the
patient independent of him or her as soon
as possible."
 The nurse is viewed as one who serves to
make the patient “complete”, “whole” or
“independent”. Nurses assist physicians in
the implementation of various therapeutic
plans, with consideration of highly
individualized care. Nurses, according to her,
also utilize research to advance their way of
practicing nursing.
ENVIRONMENT
The nurse provided nursing care to
individuals in relation to families.
This is the concept of environment which
functions to support the tasks of private and
public agencies. The society expects nurses
to act for individuals, who are unable to
function independently. Thus, basic nursing
care involves providing conditions under
which the patient can perform the 14
activities unaided or independently.
 Application of the Theory
Henderson’s work is essential to clinical nurse today,
especially within the context of bedside nursing. With the
major shift in emphasis of nursing care today, nurses
should be able to use Henderson’s model in caring for the
patient. The patient’s ability to perform the 14 basic
human needs should be assessed before considering the
kind of nursing care function you will be administering.
It is essential to determine if you will be performing as a
helper, a doer or substitute or a partner. Nursing
interventions are implemented according to the 14 basic
human needs of the patent. The degree of performance,
involvement of the patient and level of nurse activity will
be dependent on the specific role the nurse will be
playing.