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BETTY NEUMAN

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Betty Neuman was born in

1924 on a 100-acre farm in Ohio.

The middle of three children andthe only daughter, she was 11

when her father died after 6 years

of intermittent hospitalization for

treatment of chronic kidney

disease. His praise of his nurses

influenced neumans view of

nursing and her commitment to

becoming an excellent bedside

nurse. Her mothers work as arural midwife was also a

significant influence.

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In 1947 Neuman graduated from the diploma program of

People Hospital (now General Hospital Medical Center), Akron, Ohio.

She received a B.S. in public health nursing (1957) and an M.S. as a

public health-mental health nurse consultant (1966)from the

University of California, Los Angeles. In 1985 she was granted a Ph.D.

in clinical psychology by Pacific Western University and has received

an honorary doctorate from Granted Valley State in Michigan. She

has practiced bedside nursing as a stuff, head, and private duty

nurse in a wide variety of hospital settings. Her work in communitysettings has included school and industrial nursing, office nurse in

her husband Krees private practice and counseling and crisis

intervention in community mental health settings. In 1967, six

months after completion of her M.S. degree, she became the faculty

chair of the program from which she graduated and began hercontributions as teacher, author, lecturer and consultant in nursing

and interdisciplinary health care.

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The focus of the Neuman model is based on the philosophy thateach human being is a total person as a client system and the

person is a layered multidimensional being.

Each layer consists of five person variable or subsystems:

Physiological- Refer of the physicochemical structure andfunction of the body.

Psychological- Refers to mental processes and emotions.

Socio-cultural- Refers to relationships; and social/cultural

expectations and activities.

Spiritual- Refers to the influence of spiritual beliefs.

Developmental- Refers to those processes related to

development over the lifespan.

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Neuman sees health as being equated with wellness.

She defines health/wellness as the condition in which

all parts and subparts (variables) are in harmony with

the whole of the client (Neuman, 1995).

The client system moves toward illness and death

when more energy is needed than is available. The

client system moved toward wellness when more energy

is available than is needed

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The environment is seen to be the totality of the internal andexternal forces which surround a person and with which they

interact at any given time.

These forces include the intrapersonal, interpersonal and extra-

personal stressors which can affect the persons normal line of

defense and so can affect the stability of the system.

The internalenvironment exists within the client system.

The external environment exists outside the client system.

The created environment which is an environment that is

created and developed unconsciously by the client and is

symbolic of system wholeness.

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Neuman sees nursing as a unique profession that is concerned with allof the variables which influence the response a person might have to a

stressor.

The person is seen as a whole, and it is the task of nursing to address

the whole person.

Neuman defines nursing as action which assist individuals, families andgroups to maintain a maximum level of wellness, and the primary aim is

stability of the patient/client system, through nursing interventions to

reduce stressors.

Neuman states that, because the nurses perception will influence the

care given, then not only must the patient/clients perception be

assessed, but so must those of the caregiver (nurse).

The role of the nurse is seen in terms of degree of reaction to stressors,

and the use of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions

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Content

The variables of the person in interaction with the

internal and external environment comprise the whole client

system.

Basic structure/Central core

the common client survival factors in unique individual

characteristics representing basic system energy resources.The basis structure, or central core, is made up of the

basic survival factors that are common to the species(Neuman,2002).

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These factors include:- - Normal temp. range, Geneticstructure.- Response pattern. Organ strength or weakness, Egostructure

Stability, or homeostasis, occurs when the amount ofenergy that is available exceeds that being used by the system.

A homeostatic body system is constantly in a dynamicprocess of input, output, feedback, and compensation, whichleads to a state of balance.

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