Betty Neuman's System Theory (Systems Model in Nursing)

Client Variables

The client variables can be one or combination of the following: physiological ,sociocultural, psychological, spiritual & developmental.

Client Variables

These variables function to achieve stability in relation to the environmental stressors experienced by the client.

Lines of Resistance

Represent the internal factors of a person that help defend against a stressor (e.g. body’s immune response system).

Lines of Resistance

It acts to facilitate coping to overcome the stressors that are present with in the individual.

Normal Line of Defense

Represents a stability state for the individual or system.

Normal Line of Defense

It is maintained overtime & serves as a standard to assess deviations from the client’s usual wellness.

Normal Line of Defense

It includes system variables & behaviors such as the individual’s usual coping patterns, lifestyles, & developmental stage.

Flexible Line of Defense

Acts as a protective barrier to prevent stressors from breaking through the normal line of defense.

Flexible Line of Defense

Is dynamic and can change rapidly over a short time.

Flexible Line of Defense

Can be affected by variables such as loss of sleep, that reduce a client’s ability to use a flexible line of defense against stressors.

Stressors

Are forces that produce tensions, alterations or a potential problem causing instability within the client’s system.

Intrapersonal Stressors

Are those stimuli that occur within the individual (e.g. emotions and feelings).

Interpersonal Stressors

Are those stimuli that occur between individuals (e.g. pressures related to role expectation).

Extrapersonal Stressors

Are those stimuli that occur outside the person(e.g. job or financial pressures).

Reaction

Are the outcomes or produced results of certain stressors & actions of the lines of resistance of a client.

Reaction

Can be positive or negative depending on the degree of reaction the client produces to adjust & adapt with the situation.

Negentropy

Is set towards stability or wellness.

Egentropy

Is set towards disorganization of the system producing illness.

Degree of Reaction

Is the amount of energy required for the client to adjust to the stressors.

Prevention

Interventions are purposeful actions to help the client retain, attain & or maintain system stability.

Prevention

Used to attain balance within the continuum of health.

Prevention

These are the actions that generate good results or a re aimed towards hindering negative outcomes.

Primary Prevention

Refers to intervention before a reaction occurs (Levels of Prevention)

Primary Prevention

Is carried out when a stress or is suspected or identified (Levels of Prevention)

Primary Prevention

It also aims to strengthen the capacity of a person to maintain an optimum level of functioning while being interactive with the environment, like health promotion & disease prevention (Levels of Prevention)

Secondary Prevention

Refers to intervention after are action occurs (Levels of Prevention)

Secondary Prevention

Focuses on helping alleviate the actual existing effects of an action that altered that balance of health of a person (Levels of Prevention)

Secondary Prevention

It aims to reduce environmental influences that lead to the decline of the level of functioning of a person & strengthening or restoring a person’s resistance after the illness exposure (Levels of Prevention)

Tertiary Prevention

Refers to intervention that occurs after the system has been treated through secondary (Levels of Prevention)

Tertiary Prevention

Focuses on actual treatments or adjustments to facilitate the strengthening of a person after being exposed to a certain or illness (Levels of Prevention)

Tertiary Prevention

It aims to prevent the reoccurrence of the illness in the manner of rehabilitation, as in the case of disability avoidance & physical therapy (Levels of Prevention)

Reconstitution

Is the adjustment state from the degree of reaction.

Reconstitution

It is a state of going back to the actual state of health before the illness occurred.