The importance and relevance of nursing theories are carefully examined when their practical applicability is questioned. Without practical applicability, many theories remain idealistic works and are rarely used in everyday life. However, this is not the case with Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory. The concepts of this theory can be applied to almost any nursing practice. This article will demonstrate the application of this theory to the following clinical scenario. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Consider a client, Mr. Simpson, a thirty-six-year-old male who was involved in an automobile accident two months ago. His car collided with a truck on the highway and immediately caught fire. Mr Simpson was rescued from the rubble, but his wife died at the scene. He suffered second-degree burns on the left side of his face, chest and left arm. He also has spinal cord injuries, resulting in paraplegia and bowel and bladder incontinence. He shows up at the rehabilitation clinic for his first check-up since being discharged from the hospital. Macy is his nurse, and in his initial assessment Mr. Simpson reveals that he is angry, depressed, hurting for his wife, and frustrated that he is unable to use his legs. He tells Macy that he wishes he had died in the accident instead of his wife because she is now a burden on his family. He also states that he cannot bear to look in the mirror because the scars on his face are a constant reminder of the accident and its tragic consequences. Mr. Simpson asks Macy how she can move forward with her life given the hopelessness of her situation. Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory is a grand theory, composed of four constituent theories, which together work to establish and define the relationship between caregiver and care recipient. The first constituent theory is the theory of self-care which encompasses the activities that an individual must initiate and perform for himself or herself to achieve and maintain good health and well-being, as well as optimal functioning. These acts of self-care include getting sufficient food and water intake, maintaining healthy elimination processes, adequate and appropriate socialization, avoiding dangers, seeking and obtaining medical care, and learning to live with pathologies. An individual must be able to make self-care decisions and possess the skills to perform these acts. In the clinical scenario, Mr. Simpson is unable to perform some of these acts of self-care due to his limited mobility and his current state of pain and depression. However, Orem says self-care can be learned and then taught. The second theory is the dependent care theory and involves performing self-care for an individual when they can no longer do it themselves. In this case Orem states that nursing care may be necessary as a form of dependent care. Dependent care can involve doing for others, guiding others, supporting another, and providing education. The third constituent theory is the self-care deficit theory. This addresses the question of why nursing care may be needed. Highlights that nursing care is necessary when an individual's self-care needs exceed their capabilities. Thus a self-care deficit occurs and nursing is a measure to compensate for this deficit. In Mr. Simpson's scenario, there is a deficit in which he is unable to meet theown self-care needs both physically and emotionally. Nursing systems theory is the fourth constituent theory of Orem's self-care deficit theory and describes how self-care needs are met by the patient, the nurse, or both. This theory focuses on how the nurse assists in patient care based on the assessment of the individual patient's needs. Explains how the nurse addresses deficits in self-care needs, depending on the patient's specific self-care limitations. According to Orem, nursing care can be totally compensatory, partially compensatory or supportive-educational. It is evident that self-care deficits exist in Mr. Simpson's life and he turns to his nurse Macy for support and guidance. Self-care deficit theory can be applied to Mr. Simpson's case as well as to a wide range of nursing situations. For example, a study by Wilson and Gramling (2013) demonstrates the use of self-care deficit theory in burn care and found that large burns, i.e., involving more than 25% of total body surface area , require total nursing care. nursing care, such that the patient with extensive burns would require fully compensatory nursing care. Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory encompasses and constitutes the basic framework that guides nursing practice. In this context, the nurse acts as a caring agent, using the nursing process to compensate for patients' self-care deficits. The nurse first assesses the patient, collecting relevant data on self-care needs and deciding whether those needs are being met. Next, a nursing diagnosis and a plan for providing care is formulated. The plan can be totally or partially compensatory or supportive-educational. The plan is then implemented to meet the patient's care needs using the nursing system. Patient outcome evaluation is often done to evaluate whether and how self-care needs are being met and to make changes to the plan if necessary. These steps are consistent with the common goal of meeting self-care needs and compensating for self-care deficits. Self-care deficit theory can be used in any nursing care setting. A study by Felipe et al. (2014) examined the nursing process according to the self-care model in a patient bedridden for cardiac reasons and concluded that Orem's self-care deficit theory is “applicable, simple to understand and therefore practicable for the 'daily nursing care of a bedridden patient'. Furthermore, in a study by Aline et al. (2007), a detailed investigation of nursing care for an ostomy patient was conducted, following the patient's progress as care is provided according to Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory. The researchers found that "through nursing interventions based on the educational-support system, we contributed to the development of the patient's self-care ability". In Mr. Simpson's case, Nurse Macy realized in her initial assessment that several deficits in self-care existed. Mr Simpson was not fully mobile due to his paraplegia and his left arm was not fully healed from the burn injuries he had sustained. This, combined with the fact that he had no technical knowledge on how to maximize the use of the wheelchair, further limited his mobility. Macy made the first nursing diagnosis as impaired physical mobility related to spinal cord injury..