DOROTHY JOHNSON

Monica Sanders

Overview

August 21, 1919: Born in Savannah, Georgia 1938: Received A.A. from Armstrong Junior

College in Savannah, Georgia 1942: Received BSN from Vanderbilt University in

Nashville, Tennessee 1948: Received MPH (Master of Public Health) from

Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts

Overview Continued 1944-1949: Assistant Professor of Pediatric

Nursing at Vanderbilt University 1949-1978: Assistant Professor of Pediatric

Nursing, an Associate Professor of Nursing, and a Professor of Nursing at UCLA

January 1979: Professor Emeritus at UCLA February 1999: Passed away in Florida

Contributions to Nursing

Research-based knowledge

Nursing is a science and an art

What is Nursing “An external regulatory force which acts to

preserve the organization and integration of the patient’s behavior at an optimal level under those conditions in which the behavior constitutes a threat to physical or social health, or in which illness is found”

Johnson believed that “nursing was concerned with man as an integrated whole…

Goals of Nursing Nurses should assist the patient to become a

person:1. Whose behavior is proportionate with social demands2. Who is able to modify his behavior in ways that relate

to biological imperatives3. Who is able to benefit to the fullest extent during

illness from the physician’s knowledge and skill4. Whose behavior does not give evidence of

unnecessary trauma as a consequence of illness

1968: Behavior System Model “…and this is the specific knowledge of order we

require” Clients are “stressed” by a stimulus, either internal or

external Stressful stimuli create tensions within the patient that

results in disequilibrium Nursing care should (1) reduce stimuli that are stressors

and (2) provide support of the client’s natural defenses and adaptive processes

Developed as a result of Nightingale’s belief that the goal of nursing is to help individuals prevent or recover from disease or injury

Why A Behavior System Model?

Believes each individual has patterned, purposeful, repetitive ways of acting that

comprise a behavioral system specific to the individual.

Orderly and Predictable

SubsystemsAttachment or Affiliative: formation and attachment of a strong

social bond; provides security and survivalDependency: approval, attention, or recognition and physical

assistance Ingestive: meaning and structures of social events surrounding

the occasion when food is eatenEliminative: human cultures have different socially acceptable

behaviors for excretion of wasteSexual: biological and social factors influenceAggressive: behaviors related to protection and self-

preservation; a defensive response from the individual when life or territory is being threatened

Achievement: provokes behavior that attempt to control the environment. Intellectual, physical, creative, mechanical, and social skills would be included

Assumptions Regarding Subsystems

Each subsystem is composed of four structural characteristics:Drives or GoalSet or Predisposition to ActChoicesObservable Outcome or the Individual’s

Behavior

Assumptions Regarding the Model There is organization, interaction, interdependency and

integration of the parts and elements of behaviors that go to make up the system

A system tends to achieve balance among the various forces operating within and upon it; man continually strives to maintain a behavioral system balance and steady state by more or less automatic adjustments and adaptations to the natural forces occurring on him

A behavioral system, which requires and results in some degree of regularity and constancy in behavior, is essential to man. It is functionally significant because it serves a useful purpose in social life as well as for the individual

System balance reflects adjustments and adaptations that are successful in some way and to some degree

Subsystems Continued Each Subsystem has three functional requirements:

1. System must be protected from noxious influences with which system cannot cope (Protection)

2. Each subsystem must be nurtured through the input of appropriate supplies from the environment (Nurturance)

3. Each subsystem must be stimulated for use to enhance growth and prevent stagnation (Stimulation)

Goal Set Choice of Behavior Behavior

Application of the Theory

Assessment Diagnosis

InsufficiencyDiscrepancyIncompatibilityDominance

InterventionsNurturanceStimulationProtectionRegulationControl

Evaluation

References “Dorothy E. Johnson.” (2011). Retrieved from

http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/diglib/sc_diglib/ biopages/djohnson.html

George, J.B (Ed.). (2011). Nursing theories: The base for professional nursing practice (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

“Johnson Behavioral System Model.” (2002). Retrieved from http://nursing.clayton.edu/ eichelberger/

theory/johnson_behavioral_system.htm “Johnson’s Behavior System Model.” (2011). Retrieved

from http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/ behavioural_system_model.html