Self care Deficit Theory

Patient-centered care also is key in ensuring patients adhere to discharge care plans and reduced readmission rates (Bell, 2014). To achieve this, Dorothea Orem’s Self-car deficit theory is integral in my nursing practice. This assignment aims at exploring the rationale of choosing to apply the self-care deficit theory in practice describing the approach of incorporating the theory in practice and the potential barriers to its implementation as well as identifying ways of overcoming the barriers to implementation. The rationale for selecting the self-care deficit theory is that the theory identifies the patient as being central to care delivery and emphasizes the distinctive nature of individuals. Through this definition, the theory identifies and guides the delivery of nursing care from a patient perspective allowing for the delivery of patient-centered care and incorporation of teams as well as patient’s family in care.

The self-care deficit creates the need for nursing support. The extent of the limitation is variant depending on the extent of the disease process. According to Orem’s general theory of nursing hence a patient can be completely unable to meet their needs requiring complete nursing care support (fully compensatory) for example, the bedridden, partially able to meet their daily needs with assistance (partial compensatory) for example in post-surgical patients or those needing basic support in meeting the needs such as patients requiring insulin injection education (Didisen, Binay & Yardimci, 2017). The nursing process is described as the process through which the patient needs can be met through the identification of patient needs, identifying their priority needs and identifying interventions that are patient-centered to enable the patient to meet their needs of care.

The implementation of the self-care deficit nursing theory into my practice will involve the initially identifying and communicating the need for the approach to the unit’s team lead. To mitigate this challenge, I will ensure a continuous monitoring of the implementation to ensure effective adherence to the nursing care process. Another approach to mitigating this will be utilization of using mentors or champions to promote effective application of the theory into practice. Another barrier to the implementation of the theory in practice will be the possible resistance by nurses to apply the theory in practice due to its complexity or existence of other nursing care theories in use. In mitigating the barrier, it will be crucial to receive buy-in for the application of the theory from the hospital administration to ensure that the utilization of the theory is both accepted and standardized in care settings.