Who is Ida jean Orlando?

Answer 1

Ida Jean Orlando, a first-generation American of Italian descent was born in 1926. She received her nursing diploma from New York Medical College, Lower Fifth Avenue Hospital, School of Nursing, her BS in public health nursing from St. John's University, Brooklyn, NY, and her MA in mental health nursing from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Orlando was an Associate Professor at Yale School of Nursing where she was Director of the Graduate Program in Mental Health Psychiatric Nursing. While at Yale she was project investigator of a National Institute of Mental Health grant entitled: Integration of Mental Health Concepts in a Basic Nursing Curriculum. It was from this research that Orlando developed her theory which was published in her 1961 book, The Dynamic Nurse-Patient Relationship. She furthered the development of her theory when at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA as Director of a Research Project: Two Systems of Nursing in a Psychiatric Hospital. The results of this research are contained in her 1972 book titled: The Discipline and Teaching of Nursing Processs. Orlando held various positions in the Boston area, was a board member of Harvard Community Health Plan, and served as both a national and international consultant. She is a frequent lecturer and conducted numerous seminars on nursing process. She is married to Robert Pelletier and lives in the Boston area. Orlando's theory was developed in the late 1950s from observations she recorded between a nurse and patient. Despite her efforts, she was only able to categorize the records as "good" or "bad" nursing. It then dawned on her that both the formulations for "good" and "bad" nursing were contained in the records. From these observations she formulated the deliberative nursing process. The role of the nurse is to find out and meet the patient's immediate need for help. The patient's presenting behavior may be a plea for help, however, the help needed may not be what it appears to be. Therefore, nurses need to use their perception, thoughts about the perception, or the feeling engendered from their thoughts to explore with patients the meaning of their behavior. This process helps the nurse find out the nature of the distress and what help the patient needs. Orlando's theory remains one the of the most effective practice theories available. The use of her theory keeps the nurse's focus on the patient. The strength of the theory is that it is clear, concise, and easy to use. While providing the overall framework for nursing, the use of her theory does not exclude nurses from using other theories while caring for the patient.