History

• While General Systems Theories does apply to nursing, Dorothy Orem's Nursing Systems Theory ranked among the first to look specifically at the development of nursing systems. While her first formal publication, "Nursing: Concepts of Practice", appeared in 1971, Orem remains one of the foremost theorists in nursing today.
  
  

Function

• Nursing Systems Theory stipulates that nursing systems emerge as a nurse designs and provides nursing related to the patient's self-care needs.
  
  

Types

• Orem's Nursing System Theory recognizes three models of nursing systems that may emerge. In the Wholly Compensatory System, the nurse provides total care for the patient. In the Partially Compensatory System, the nurse and the patient share the responsibility for self-care. In the Supportive-Educative System, the patient is entirely responsible for self-care, but the nurse provides consultation and support.
  
  

Considerations

• According to Orem, nurses may develop special social or regulatory technologies to help them move the patient towards health. Social technologies focus on communication, human needs and limitations, while regulatory technologies focus on maintaining and promoting life processes.