Dorothea Orem
Dorothea Elizabeth Orem, born in Baltimore, Maryland, was a nursing theorist and creator of the self-care [deficit nursing theory], also known as the Orem model of nursing.
Education
Orem received a nursing diploma from Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Washington, D.C. She also attended Catholic University of America, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education in 1939 and a Master of Science in Nursing Education in 1945.Orem has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from Georgetown University, Incarnate Word College and Illinois Wesleyan University.
Self-care deficit nursing theory
Orem's nursing theory states self-care as a human need, and nurses design interventions to provide or manage self-care actions for persons to recover or maintain health.Nursing diagnosis
Orem was a member of the group of nurse theorists who presented Patterns of Unitary Man , the initial framework for nursing diagnosis, to the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association in 1982.Awards
- 1980: Alumni Achievement Award for Nursing Theory, Catholic University of America