Virginia Henderson

Virginia Henderson

Introduction

Virginia Henderson was born in 1897 in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. She was fifth child in a family of eight children. In 1921, she graduated from the Virginia Army nursing school in Washington. She then graduated from Teachers College, Columbia University with a Masters in nursing education, and began teaching activities in the year 1948. Henderson is known for her definition of nursing (Bensing, 2009). According to her, the unique function of a nurse is to assist the individual, sick or healthy, in the performance of such activities that contribute to the maintenance or restoration of health. Nurses can provide patients with the necessary strength, will, and knowledge in order to help speed up the healing process (Blais et.al, 2010). All of the ideas given by Henderson can be transformed in nursing today because of technological advancements. Despite several nursing theories, Virginia Henderson's theories are valued by nurses and healthcare institutes worldwide due to their acceptance by several senior nurses.

Discussion

In 1918, Henderson began training in the care of Army School of Nursing in Washington, DC (military nursing school of the Army), and then in 1921 completed her diploma in nursing (Futton, J. S., 1987). She then worked for two years as a community nurse, first in the Henry Street Visiting Nurse Service Association New York, then to 1924, again in Washington, DC, also as a Visiting Nurse Service Association. From 1924 to 1929, Henderson also taught nursing at the Norfolk Protestant Hospital in Virginia, where she was the Educational Director (Yong, 2011). The variety of experience both at work and school gave her the required knowledge to transform nursing. This would have not been possible without the vast experienced she possessed.

Applying the concept of nursing theory of Virginia Henderson

I currently work at a Long term care nursing organization in the United States of America that provides care to underprivileged people, ones who are not able to pay the expenses of health care for their chronic health issues. Previously, we have been experiencing a lot of difficulties in the functioning of the organization (Li, 2011). However, the implementation of Virginia Henderson's theories proved to be immensely beneficial for the functioning of the organization, as it has improved the overall care methods used by the organization. Of the wisdom that can be collected from the theory of Virginia, the most important is the welfare of patients which is always the topmost priority of every nurse.

The behavior of nurses is directly related to the wished of patients. It is important for every nurse to fulfill the wishes of patients by providing them care, and treating ten as a member of their own family. While caring for patients, nurses also have to limit their interaction with them and help them to be independent. The rate at which people get healed is somewhat related to the care they are provided. Therefore, it can be concluded that the health of patients are directly related to the professionalism of the ...