Nursing: Dorothy Johnson’s Behavioral System Model

Nursing: Dorothy Johnson’s Behavioral System Model

Dorothy Johnson’s Behavioral System Model: Introduction

Various nursing theories are used today to find the most optimal approach to patients and to achieve a good quality of rendering medical care to those in need. One of such concepts is Dorothy Johnson’s behavioral system model, which was developed in the second half of the 20th century and implied a set of rules to which nurses should adhere. Today, this theory is quite actively used in many medical institutions and is one of the fundamental models of the junior medical personnel’s work. Therefore, the effectiveness of this concept is proved in practice, and the possibility of its application in medical institutions of different profiles makes it possible to achieve better results in the process of nursing care.

Meaning of Dorothy Johnson Theory

According to Johnson’s model, the patient has a set of interconnected subsystems of behavior. It is necessary to consider how the person perceives his or her behavior and how much it can be changed. The first concept of the theory is as follows: particular attention should be drawn to how the patient adapts to specific illness and how stress, real or potential, can affect a person’s ability to adapt.

According to Holaday (2015), the patient is predisposed to a particular type of behavior that is created by different actions and surrounding objects. The second assumption is that a specific way of life is explained by existing habits. Some people can experience discomfort during the course of treatment, being influenced by certain addictions, for example, smoking or excessive food consumption. It means that it is these two concepts that underlie Johnson’s theory.

Both assumptions are inextricably linked to each other. People live in the society, which implies their close communication with one another and often determines a particular type of behavior. Surrounding objects and situations are frequently defining factors in the process of the human traits of character and lifestyle formation. At the same time, as Alligood (2014) claims, behavioral habits formed in childhood and developed in the process of life, also directly influence how precisely this or that person acts. Accordingly, both Johnson’s concepts intersect with each other and are the fundamental aspects of her model.

Origins of Dorothy Johnson Theory

By the mid-20th century, when Dorothy Johnson first introduced her behavioral model, there was a rather significant difference in opinions in American society, which was mainly acute in residents’ political views. At that time, people were well aware of what rights they had, but due to the insufficiently developed level of medicine, the quality of services sometimes left much to be desired (Masters, 2014).

What concerns nursing care, Johnson developed her theory mainly because the behavior of people who needed specific treatment was often caused by their established habits and personal beliefs. The theorist realized that the sources of patient problems were not only illnesses but also changes in lifestyle and behavior related to the surrounding social environment. It was this evidence that Johnson cited as support for her theory, based on personal experience and long-term communication with patients from different social groups.

The motives that prompted the author to develop the theory are quite obvious: she sought to bring to the public the fact that the existing order of life is one of the basic factors that determines patients’ problems. In her work, Johnson used a regulation and control approach to ensure the stability of patients. This model of nursing care is called behavioral, and its fundamental theses are quite reasonable and justified.

Application of the Johnson Behavioral System Model in Nursing Practice

Johnson’s nursing theory is useful in practice because it allows junior medical personnel to provide not only physical but also psychological support to the patient, as well as inhibit inadequate behavior caused by this or that reason. This model makes it possible to change the motives of behavior created by existing experience and adjust the settings shaped by the environment. Through specific interventions, nurses use the behavioral model to protect patients and simultaneously stimulate their emotional state, trying to create a psychological contact with people (Bluhm, 2017).

Such a theory is relevant and practical today as the rapid movement of society towards progress often negatively affects the mental state of people. The advantage of the model is that any person can get qualified nursing care that aims not only at patients’ adaptation, for example, after