Imogene King’s Theory of Goal Attainment. This page was last updated on 22/07/2010.
Introduction:
- Imogene King was born in 1923.
- She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. Louis University in 1948.
- She completed her Master of Science in Nursing from St. Louis University in 1957.
- She completed her Doctorate from Teacher’s College, Columbia University.
King’s Conceptual Framework:
- It includes several basic assumptions, three interacting systems, and several concepts relevant for each system.
Basic Assumptions:
- The nursing focus is the care of human beings.
- The nursing goal is the healthcare of individuals and groups.
- Human beings are open systems that constantly interact with their environment.
- Interacting systems include the personal system, interpersonal system, and social system.
Concepts for Personal System:
- Perception
- Self
- Growth and development
- Body image
- Space
- Time
Concepts for Interpersonal System:
- Interaction
- Communication
- Transaction
- Role
- Stress
Concepts for Social System:
- Organization
- Authority
- Power
- Status
- Decision making
Major Theses of King’s Conceptual Framework:
- Each human being perceives the world as a total person in making transactions with individuals and things in environment.”
- “Transaction represents a life situation in which perceiver and thing perceived are encountered and in which person enters the situation as an active participant and each is changed in the process of these experiences.”
King’s Theory of Goal Attainment:
- The theory of goal attainment was first introduced by Imogene King in the early 1960s.
- The theory describes a dynamic, interpersonal relationship in which a person grows and develops to attain certain life goals.
- Factors that affect the attainment of goals are roles, stress, space, and time.
Propositions of King’s Theory:
- If perceptual interaction accuracy is present in nurse-client interactions, transaction will occur.
- If nurse and client make a transaction, the goal will be attained.
- If goals are attained, satisfaction will occur.
- If transactions are made in nurse-client interactions, growth and development will be enhanced.
- If role expectations and role performance as perceived by nurse and client are congruent, transaction will occur.
- If role conflict is experienced by nurse or client or both, stress in nurse-client interaction will occur.
- If a nurse with special knowledge skill communicates appropriate information to the client, mutual goal setting and goal attainment will occur.
Major Concepts of King’s Theory:
- Human being/person: a social being who is rational and sentient. A person has the ability to perceive, think, feel, choose, set goals, select means to achieve goals, and make decisions.
- According to King, a human being has three fundamental needs: (a) the need for health information that is unavailable at the time when it is needed and can be used, (b) the need for care that seeks to prevent illness, and (c) the need for care when human beings are unable to help themselves.
- Health
According to King, health involves dynamic life experiences of a human being, which implies continuous adjustment to stressors in the internal and external environment through optimum use of one’s resources to achieve maximum potential for daily living.
Environment is the background for human interactions. It involves:
- Internal environment: transforms energy to enable a person to adjust to continuous external environmental changes.
- External environment: involves formal and informal organizations.
Nursing is defined as a process of action, reaction, and interaction by which the nurse and client share information about their perception in the nursing situation” and “a process of human interactions between the nurse and client whereby each perceives the other and the situation, and through communication, they set goals, explore means, and agree on means to achieve goals.” The goal of the nurse is to help individuals maintain their health so they can function in their roles. The domain of the nurse includes promoting, maintaining, and restoring health, as well as caring for the sick, injured, and dying. The function of the professional nurse is to interpret information in the nursing process to plan, implement, and evaluate nursing care.
King stated in her theory that a professional nurse, with special knowledge and skills, and a client in need of nursing, with knowledge of self and perception of personal problems, meet as strangers in a natural environment. They interact mutually, identify problems, establish and achieve goals.” The theory of goal attainment and nursing process assumptions include the basic assumption that the nurse and client communicate information, set goals mutually, and then act to attain those goals. Assessment occurs during the interaction, according to King.
The nurse brings special knowledge and skills, whereas the client brings knowledge of self and perception of problems of concern to this interaction. During assessment, the nurse collects data regarding the client’s growth and development, perception of self, current health status, and roles. Perception is the basis for the collection and interpretation of data. Communication is required to verify the accuracy of perception for interaction and transaction.
Nursing diagnosis is made using the data collected by assessment in the nursing process. While attaining goals, the nurse identifies the problems, concerns, and disturbances about which the person seeks help. After diagnosis, planning for interventions to solve those problems is done. In goal attainment, planning is represented by setting goals and making decisions about and being agreed on the means to achieve goals. Client participation is encouraged in making decisions on the means to achieve the goals.
In the nursing process, implementation involves the actual activities to achieve the goals. In goal attainment, it is the continuation of the transaction. Evaluation involves finding out whether goals are achieved or not. In King’s description, evaluation speaks about the attainment of goals and the effectiveness of nursing care.
The nursing process method is a system of oriented actions, whereas the nursing process theory is a system of oriented concepts. Assessment involves perception, communication, and interaction between the nurse and client. Planning involves decision-making about the goals and being agreed on the means to attain the goals. Implementation involves the transaction made, and evaluation involves goal attainment.
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