The human needs model of nursing

Nurses in the United Kingdom spend much time attempting to fit British nursing practice into the theoretical framework of American nursing models. This is often a manipulative process in that it seeks to establish positive links with a care delivery system totally unlike our own. In the present paper the authors detail the process of establishing a new nursing model which integrates nursing curricula, education and practice to meet the needs of patients, staff and students within their own health district. An over-emphasis on lower levels of human need is common within nursing practice, which, although often blamed upon lack of human and financial resources, is also due to practitioners' misconceptions. The latter are invariably the result of a lack of an adequate or overt, practice orientated, conceptual framework. The Human Needs Model of Nursing adapts Maslow's concept of human needs to create such a conceptual framework for practice. It places equal emphasis on those patient problems which arise as the result of unmet needs at higher levels as well as those at lower levels, thereby acknowledging the holistic and dynamic nature of man.