Hildegarde E Peplau

Book excerpt: Hildegard E. Peplau is one of the first nurse theorists. Thus cognizance of her theory is necessary to a complete understanding of subsequent developments in nursing theory. In her interpersonal nursing theory, Peplau identifies the therapeutic nurse-client relationship as the crux of nursing and describes nursing as "doing with" clients rather than "doing to" clients. Moreover, Peplau views nursing as an educative profession that promotes health in the individual. This informative volume begins with a discussion of Peplau's theory, including its origin, and examines the assumptions underlying her theory. It also explores the major concepts of the meta-paradigm of nursing and provides examples for its application to practice and research. Hildegard E. Peplau is essential reading for all nursing and allied health professionals and students.