Is there evidence that the theory has been used by nursing educators, nursing researchers, or nursing administrators? Provide examples.

Theory has been used by multiple nursing researchers to help validate their own theory. Each researcher has utilized Virginia Henderson’s definition of nursing and the Need Theory in different ways. Two examples of nursing researchers are explained below.

Waller-Wise (2013), found that Virginia Henderson’s theory helped him excel in childbirth education. “In fact, Henderson provides a direct link to childbirth education in that, she states that nursing care is providing “knowledge and confidence to the young mother” (Waller-Wise, 2013). She describes how each of the fourteen components of the Need Theory is associated with the process of childbirth. This comes back to what was stated previously, the fourteen components are activities of daily living.

Three individuals used Henderson’s Need Theory to incorporate basic nursing care actions into the electronic health record. “Virginia Henderson defined basic nursing care activities and these elements were incorporated into the electronic health record to capture meaningful data of each patient” (Englebright, Aldrich, & Taylor, 2014). This process was intended to gather pertinent data so it could be translated into knowledge for improving patient care outcomes (Englebright, Aldrich, & Taylor, 2014).

Virginia Henderson’s definition of nursing and Need Theory has been used in various situations and still used today for nursing. The way nursing researchers and nursing educators still utilize these concepts from Henderson is a strength in her theory. Some nursing theories are based upon one specific situation while Henderson’s is a core concept of nursing and can be used by anyone in the medical field. This is not limiting her theory to just nurses but physicians as well.