Dorothy Orem’s model in nursing care of a patient with breast cancer

Introduction. Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumour, affects women in developed countries
and constitutes the main cause of death in women between 35 and 55 years of age. In the situation
when the need for self-care is beyond people’s abilities, the problem of "self-care deficiency" occurs.
This is the basic motivation for providing nursing help depending on the type of deficiency.

Aim. The aim of the study is to evaluate the application of Dorothy Orem’s model in the process of
nursing care of a patient with breast cancer.

Material and methods. The material is an individual case study of a woman with breast cancer operated
on at the Clinic of Surgical Oncology of the Academic Clinical Centre, the Medical University of
Gdańsk in 2007. Patient’s history form and medical records analysis were used as tools and methods in
the study.

Results and conclusion. The results indicate that among the identified care problems nurses did not
take into consideration potential problems related to psychosocial aspects. Nursing activities were planed
according to the principles of Dorothy Orem’s theory of care.