BETTY NEUMAN: BIOGRAPHY AND THEORY - MEDICINE - 2024

Betty Neuman was an American nurse, counselor, and teacher who developed the Neuman Systems Model, a theory that was very easy to understand and had a major impact on nursing from the first time it was released.

The Neuman system has to do with the relationship that each individual has with their particular level of stress, the way in which these individuals react to it and the reconstruction of the external factors that have created this level of stress in the person.

Biography

Betty Neuman was born in Ohio, United States, on September 11, 1924. She lived in her hometown until graduating from high school in 1942, when she moved to Dayton. There she worked in an aircraft industry that operated during the period of World War II in the United States.

It was in 1944 that she began her training as a nurse. She studied in a training program for three years and obtained her official nursing degree in 1947. That same year she moved to Los Angeles, where she began working at Los Angeles General Hospital as a member of the nursing staff.

She worked specifically in the Department of Communicable Diseases, where she quickly progressed to become the hospital's chief nurse.

Postgraduate studies and work

In 1956 he began to study Public Health, with a specialization in the area of ​​psychology. After completing her studies, from 1964 to 1966 she worked as a student in the UCLA mental health program.

It was during this period that he became aware of the sudden emergence of emerging mental health centers in the communities. From this, she became interested in the role that nurses played in these health centers.

Based on this, he decided to do his master's thesis on the relationship that the personality patterns of each individual have with suicide attempts. From this point on, Neuman's intention to contribute to the field of medicine linked to psychology became more evident.

UCLA Department of Mental Health

As soon as she finished her studies at the UCLA Department of Mental Health, she was appointed to the faculty and given an important position within the faculty.

As a member of this department, he developed his first model for the field of mental health. His model was used to teach local communities about mental health and was successfully employed by nurses at local health centers.

In 1970 he developed the conceptual part of the Neuman systems model, his most important contribution to mental health. He wrote a book on this theory in 1982, which bears the same name as the model.

Professional work

During her tenure in the department at the University of Los Angeles Neuman had a fairly busy career, working for communities and professionally as a mental health expert. He also developed several workshops and conferences at UCLA itself.

In 1973 she went to work with the West Virginia Department of Mental Health and became a reference for nurses across the United States. As her systems model gained popularity, Neuman was invited to give speeches at the various nursing schools located throughout the United States.

He created a professional network, which he used to help all nursing schools that wanted to implement his systems model. Her ideas were well received in Asia and Europe.

Theory

It was in 1970 that he first developed a model that focused on the theory and practice of nursing. This was based on the particular study of each individual and on how interactions with external factors can influence their attitudes.

This Neuman system revolved around how each patient interacted in a health environment, where the entire study structure to which he was subjected was developed in a particular way. In other words, it focused on the study of patients based on their own psychological and physical characteristics.

In 1982 he wrote a book entitled Neuman Systems Model. In this book, I explained that the role of a mental health nurse was to stabilize a person's energy system to create a mental balance and thus achieve the best possible level of health.

The Neuman model was implemented by a wide variety of nurses working with families or individual clients to make accurate diagnoses about each patient's ailment. Among the most important concepts of the theory, the following stand out:

Appreciation of the human being

Neuman's model sees the human being as an open and complex system, which interacts with a series of internal and external factors that affect the individual stress of each human being. The system is considered a dynamic mechanism that changes constantly.

Ambient

According to Neuman's theory, human beings develop in an environment, which is essential for the system to function. This environment is considered as the sum of all the factors that affect the development of the system; everything that surrounds and affects the individual.

On the other hand, each system has an internal mechanism, defined as the factors that affect the system (human being) and that are delimited within the same individual. That is, they are personal factors.

Health

Health is considered the degree of stability of each system, which is determined by well-being. When the well-being conditions of each person are met, an optimal well-being of the system is obtained. If the conditions are not met, the system is considered to be in a state of discomfort.

Neuman's nursing is based on finding an ideal tool to control well-being, using controllers of the stress level of each individual.

References

1. Application of the Betty Neuman systems model in the nursing care of patients / clients with multiple sclerosis, Zakieh Ahmadi, Tabandeh Sadeghi, August 18, 2017. Taken from sagepub.com
2. Betty Neuman, Nurses Online, (nd). Taken from nurses.info
3. Betty M. Neuman Papers, Donna Ostroff, 2011. Taken from upenn.edu
4. Neuman Systems Model, Wikipedia in English, April 9, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
5. Betty Neuman Biography, World Nurses Online Website, (nd). Taken from whyiwanttobeanurse.org