Dorothea Elizabeth Orem

One of nursing's national treasures, Dr. Orem will be greatly missed.

Although I have admired several other nursing theorists for nearly 3 decades, I discovered Dr. Orem's in 1979. It is the one most adaptable (in my opinion) to pediatric and adolescent health care... and I drew heavily on her work to support my work on informed decision making and ethicolegal aspects of tween and adolescent health care. Her ideas & work will remain with us for their eminently practical approach for a long time!

Savannah has known Dorothea Orem as "our nurse theorist" for 20 years. During this time she continued to publish, worked with her world wide study group, assisted colleges and universitites with information and interviews, mentored individuals working on graduate degrees, and was a delightful friend to many of us. I will remember her humor (particularly political comments)and her interest in all the outside world. She was a wonderful friend.

Dorothea Orem's contributions to nursing will continue to be valued by all nurses. Not having her with us now is very sad, like losing a life long friend.

I was blessed to meet Dorothea a few years ago. I took Holy Communion to her along with others from our Parish. She was such a wonderful woman. She was so accomplished, yet, she never talked about her successes. She only wanted to learn about her visitors and their lives. Her gentleness and genius will both be missed by all who were privileged to meet her.

My thoughts and prayers are with all who mourn the passing of Dorothea Orem. Her theory guided my nursing practice for the past 20+ years, and I found her insights invaluable. She was a visionary who foresaw the needs and desires of everyday people to care for themselves before this became the norm for health care in the US. I have been privileged to have met her and and to have studied as an Orem scholar while at Wayne State University for my doctorate.

A leader in our profession who made theory make sense. A great loss

It was such a priviledge to plan many of the early Self-Care Conferences sponsored by the University of Missouri Sschool of Nursing. Dorothea was truly a scholar who shared her great knowledge.

Your gift of nursing education thorugh the Orem Self Care model will continue to benifit health care and nursing education.