DOROTHY JOHNSON

Dorothy Johnson was born on 21^st August, 1919 in Savannah, Georgia. She did her A.A from Armstrong Junior College in the year 1938, her B.S in Nursing from Vanderbilt University, Tennessee in the year 1942, her master program in hospital from Harvard University, Boston in the year 1948. She worked as Assistant Professor in Vanderbilt University School of Nursing during the year 1944 – 1949. She handled pediatric nursing. After 1949 till her death, she worked as Professor in the University of California, Los Angeles. She started baccualaureate program in Christian Medical College, Vellore, South India in the years 1955 and 1956.

She defined nursing as an art of science. She described the importance of nursing care in the year 1959. She maintained state of equilibrium of nursing care in the year 1961. The state of equilibrium is broadly defined in two areas, namely to reduce external stimuli that are stressful and natural & adaptive processes support.

Behavioral system model

This behavioral system model characterizes every individual’s life as a wholeness or system in extremely ornate, rhythmic and purposeful behavior. Dorothy Johnson classified human behavior in to seven subsystems as follows.

• Attachment
• Achievement
• Aggressive
• Dependence
• Sexual
• Ingestive
• Eliminative

Each system is characterized by unique set of behavioral changes and factors like social, physiological, biological and physical influence on each subsystem.

Assumptions

Behavioral system model proposed by Dorothy Johnson has basic four assumptions. All the assumptions are common to all subsystems. Goal of each subsystem is similar for all human beings.

• Goal of subsystem is predicted from the form where it is derived
• Predisposition according to goal set in first assumption
• Scope of action
• Individual behavior

Functional requirement of each subsystem are as follows.

• Protection against deleterious effects where the system cannot withstand
• Proper supply of input for the nursing environment relationship
• Enhance growth of an individual and stagnation prevention