DR.
MARTHA ELIZABETH ROGERS
1914 – 1994
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• “Nursing is an art and science that
seeks to promote symphonic
interaction between the environment
and man, to strengthen the coherence
and integrity of the human beings,
and to direct and redirect patterns of
interaction between man and his
environment for the realization of
maximum health potential.”
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Nursing is an art and science that is humanistic
and humanitarian. It is directed toward the unitary
human and is concerned with the nature and
direction of human development. The goal of nurses
is to participate in the process of change..
Nursing interventions seek to promote
harmonious interaction between persons and their
environment, strengthen the wholeness of the
Individual and redirect human and environmental
patterns or organization to achieve maximum
health.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
BIOGRAPHY
• Martha Elizabeth Rogers was born in Dallas, Texas
on May 12, 1914, the oldest of four children
a family which strongly valued education.
• The family moved to Knoxville, TN where she
attended the University
of Tennessee in l93ltaking undergraduate
science courses for 2years.
• But then she entered nursing school at Knoxville General
Hospital, received her nursing diploma in 1936.
• She completed a BSN in Public Health Nursing from George
Peabody College (Nashville) in l937.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
MARTHA ROGERS
• She worked as a public health nurse, first in Michigan, then in
Connecticut.
• In 1945 she earned her master's degree in public health
nursing supervision from Teacher's College Columbia University
• She was director of the Visiting Nurses Association in Phoenix, AZ.
• She returned East in 1951 earning a M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins Unive
rsity while teaching at Catholic University.
• She continued on at Johns Hopkins and completed aSc. D in 1954.
• She then began her long tenure with the Division
of Nursing Education at New York University. Her strong
background in sciences guided NYU to develop the
nursing program as a distinct body of scientific knowledge.
• In 1961 she published Educational Revolution in Nursing.
• In 1963 Martha edited a journal called Nursing Science.
• In 1964 she published Reveille in Nursing.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
MARTHA ROGERS
• She first published her model of human interaction and
the nursing process in 1970 when she published “An
Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing
• .This view presented a drastic but attractive way of viewing
human interaction and the nursing process. Further
information on her theory can be found in publications and
on the Internet.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Rogers officially retired as Professor and Head of t
he Division of Nursing in 1975 after 21 years of
service.
• In 1979 she became Professor Emeritus and
continued to have an active role in the
development of nursing until the time of her
death on March 13, 1994. She was80 years of age.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Overview of Rogerian model
• Rogers conceptual system provides a body of knowledge in nursing.
• Rogers model provides the way of viewing the unitary human being.
• Humans are viewed as integral with the universe.
• The unitary human being and the environment are one, not dichotomous
• Nursing focus on people and the manifestations that emerge from the
mutual human /environmental field process
• Change of pattern and organization of the human field and the
environmental field is propagated by waves
• The manifestations of the field patterning that emerge are observable
events
• The identification of the pattern provide knowledge and understanding of
human experience
• Basic characteristics which describes the life process of human: energy
field, openness, pattern, and pan dimensionality
• Basic concepts include unitary human being, environment, and
homeodynamic principles
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
THE CREATION OF THE SUHB
• Martha E. Rogers' creation of the Science of Unitary Human
Beings (SUHB) theory allowed nursing to be considered one of the
scientific disciplines. Rogers provided a framework for nursing
study and research that improved nursing education, practice and
research in the United States.
• She was born in 1914, attended the University of Tennessee until
1933 and then entered the Knoxville General Hospital School of
Nursing. In 1936, she finished nursing school and earned a BSN
degree from George Peabody College the following year. Rogers
decided to work for several years as a public
health nurse before pursuing a graduate degree. She actually
earned two master's degrees, one in teaching and one in public
health.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• However, Rogers did not stop at a master's level but instead
continued her education by obtaining a doctor of science
degree. In1954, she became a professor of nursing at New York
University(NYU) where she remained for 21 years (Nursing
World).
• While at NYU, Rogers revised curriculums, theory based
learning and established a five year BSN degree program.
• During her years at NYU, she also developed the conceptual
framework for the SUHB, which presented a new way of
viewing human interaction and the nursing process (American
Association for the History of nursing).
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Martha Rogers' SUHB theory offers a new look at nursing,
providing a framework for practice, education and researc
h that moves away from the traditional medical model
approach to the delivery of nursing care (Barrett, 2000).
• Rogers' framework allows for an alternative to traditional
nursing, which can be construed as reductionistic,
mechanistic and analytic. This framework includes an open
system world view, and thus, has challenged many
traditional ideas about nursing.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
RELATIONSHIPS
• The Science of Unitary and Irreducible Human Beings is
fundamentally abstract; therefore, specifically defined
relationships differ from those in more linear theories.
• The major components of Rogers’ model revolve around
the building blocks (energyfields, openness, pattern, and
pandimensionality) and the principles of homeodynamics
(resonancy, helicy, and integrality). These explain the
nature of, and direction of, the interactions between
unitary human beings and the environment.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Other major relationships within Rogers’ work are contained
in the following
statements:
• Humans and environment are interrelated in that neither
“has an energy field,” both are integral energy fields .
Manifestations of pattern emerge out of the
human/environmental field mutual process and are
continuously innovative. The group field is irreducible and
indivisible to itself and integral with its own environmental
field.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Nursing is concerned with maintaining and
promoting health, preventing illness, and caring
for the sick and the disabled. The purpose of
nursing for Rogers (1986) is to help human beings
achieve well-being within the potential of each
individual, family, or group. Because human
energy fields are complex, individualizing nursing
services supports simultaneous human and
environmental exchange, encouraging health
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
PRINCIPLES OF HOMEODYNAMICS APPLIED IN
ROGERS’ THEORY
• 1. Resonancy is continuous change from lower to higher
frequency wave patterns in human and environmental
fields.
• Helicy is continuous innovative, unpredictable, increasing
diversity of human environmental field patterns.
• Integrality is continuous mutual human and environmental
field processes.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Martha Rogers' development of the Science of
Unitary Human Beings has become an influential
nursing theory in the United States. When first
introduced it was considered radical, and difficult to
understand, but now is simply thought to be ahead of
its time.
This conceptual framework has greatly influenced a
ll facets of nursing by offering an alternative to traditio
nal approaches of nursing.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Martha Rogers' Science of Unitary Human
Beings Important Terms:
• Wholeness
in which the human being is regarded as a
unified whole which is more than and
different from the sum of the parts.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Openness
where the individual and the environment are
continuously exchanging matter and energy with
each other.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Unidirectionality
where the life process exists along
An irreversible space time continuum.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
Pattern and Organization
which identifies individuals and
reflects their innovative wholeness.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Sentience and Thought
which states that of all life, human
beings are the only ones capable of abstracti
on and imagery, language and thought,
sensation and emotion.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
HUMAN:
• “an irreducible, indivisible,
Pan dimensional energy field
identified by pattern and manifesting ch
aracteristics that are specific to the
whole and cannot be predicted from the
parts".
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
ENVIRONMENT:
• Rogers defined the environment as being in
constant interaction with the person, or human field
pattern manifestation.
It has been defined very simply as everything that is
not of the human field pattern manifestation,. It has
been defined as:” an irreducible, pan dimensional
energy field identified by pattern and manifesting
characteristics different from those of the parts.
Each environment field is specific to its given human
field. Both change continuously and creatively."
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
HEALTH:
• "health is participation in the life process by
choosing and executing behaviors that lead to
the optimum fulfillment of a persons’
potential” and that “health is a rhythmic
patterning of energy that is mutually
enhancing and expresses full life potential".
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
USEFULNESS
• Rogers’ theory is a synthesis of phenomena that are
important to nursing. It is an abstract, unified, and highly
derived framework and does not define particular
hypotheses or theories. Rather, it provides a worldview
from which nurses may derive theories and hypotheses
and propose relationships specific to different situations.
In essence, the theory allows many options for studying
humans as individuals and groups and for studying various
situations in health as manifestations of pattern and
innovation.
• Rogers’ model stresses the unitary experience and
provides an abstract philosophical framework that can
guide nursing practice.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
• Rogers’ theory has been evident in nursing education,
scholarship, and practice for more than four decades.
• In practice settings, Rogerian practitioners employ the
visible manifestations of Rogers’ science.
• In a nursing educational setting, Malinski and Todaro-
Franceschi (2011) studied comeditation to reduce anxiety
and facilitate relaxation. Their data from the qualitative
study suggested that the participants reported feeling
calmer, more relaxed, and balanced and centered after 1
month of practice. Their findings suggest that
comeditation may help transform education in nursing
programs, most of which have reputations as being
stressful to students.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
TESTABILITY
• Because of the model’s abstractness, Rogers’
(1990) work is not directly testable, but it is
testable in principle (Bramlett, 2010). Theories are
being derived from the Science of Unitary Man
and hypotheses to test those theories (Barrett,
1989; Cody, 1991; Kwekkeboom, Huseby-Moore,
& Ward, 1998; Phillips, 1990).
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
PARSIMONY
• This theory is relatively parsimonious. The model has
five key definitions. These, combined with the three
principles of homeodynamics and the six
assumptions about human beings, are the major
elements of the work.
• Despite its simplicity, however, it is difficult for many
nurses to comprehend because the concepts are
extremely abstract. Nurses who wish their research
and practice to be guided by Rogers’ model will
benefit from studying with a Rogerian scholar who
uses the model regularly.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
VALUE IN EXTENDING NURSING SCIENCE
• Rogers’ contributions to nursing have been noted in the nursing
literature, and she has had a significant influence on scientific
inquiry in professional nursing practice.
• The contribution to nursing science of the Science of Unitary and
Irreducible Human Beings is that it carries nursing into areas that
are impossible to study using linear, three-dimensional, and
reductionistic methods.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
NURSING:
"as a science, designates the term nursing as a
noun and signifies that nursing is an an organized
body of abstract knowledge.
Traditionally, the term has been used as a verb.
Nursing, the science noun, indicates that there is a
body of knowledge specific to nursing.” So nursing
as a science is using the word as a noun, but Rogers
also stated that she believed that nursing is an art,
and in that case the word should be used as a verb.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
"Nursing seeks to promote symphonic interaction b
etween the environment and man, to strengthen
the coherence and integrity of the human beings,
and to direct and redirect patterns of interaction
between man and his environment for the
realization of maximum health potential". The
goal of nursing according to Rogers’ Science of
Unitary Human Beings is to promote human-
environment field patterning and the nursing
process
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
REFERENCE:
1. Alligood, M.R., (2018).Nursing Theorists & Their Work (9th Ed.). St. Louis:
Mosby-Elsevier.
2. George, J.B., (2014). Nursing Theories: The Base for Professional Nursing
Practice (6th Ed.).London, England. Pearson Educational Ltd.
3. McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2014). Theoretical basis for nursing.
Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
5. Morse, J.M. (2017). Analyzing and Conceptualizing the Theoretical
Foundations of Nursing. New York. Springer Publishing Company
7. Smith, M.J., & Liehr, P.R. (Eds). (2018). Middle Range Theory for Nursing
(4th Ed.). New York. Springer Publishing Company
8. Rogers, M. E. (1970). An Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing.
Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.
FREDELYN G. BICLAR THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NUSING 1ST SEM 2020-2021
END OF SLIDES
FREDELYN G. BICLAR RN, MN THEORETICAL FOUNDATION IN NURSING
