The needs theories of nursing work well with the current emphasis on evidence-based practice because of the bias toward experimental science.

The first nursing theorists mainly focused on the human needs of their patients/clients.

She is respected as the mother of modern professional nursing. She brought nursing out of the servant position it held in the 19th century and into the respected professional status it holds currently.

She is often seen as the mother of American professional nursing. She was a prolific author and researcher. Her concept of nursing is still used in clinical and community health care.

She provided nurses with one of the first academic nursing theories. She was a prolific author and researcher. She categorized nursing problems based on the individual’s needs and developed a typology of nursing treatment and nursing skills.

She provided one of the first theories that gave the patient/client the responsibility for self-care. Her ideas allowed patients to resume more normal lives with respect to their self-care agency.

She was a teacher of nursing at all levels. Her theoretical work inspired many other nurses to become theoretical thinkers.

She gave nurses the systems model with its lines of defense against stress. She believed that the causes of stress can be identified and remedied through nursing interventions. She developed the concept of prevention as intervention.

The needs theorists’ works are still in daily use in education, in clinical nursing, and in clinical nursing research.