The Theoretical Framework of Sister Callista Roy’s Adaptation Model

The Theoretical Framework of Sister Callista Roy’s Adaptation Model

NUR 513

The Theoretical Framework of Sister Callista Roy’s Adaptation Model

Sister Callista Roy developed her model, Roy’s Adaptation Model (RAM), as a graduate student at the University of California after being challenged by Dorothy Johnson to create a conceptual model for nursing. Roy came up with the concept of delivery of care to the whole person not just the physical being. Roy defines person as a holistic, adaptive system (Masters, 2011). RAM was first published in 1970, but has been revised many times and is widely used in nursing practice in many different countries. In the following paper, the authors will provide an overview of the adaptation model and an analysis of the conceptual nursing model.

Roy identified four coping mechanisms: physiological-physical, self-concept-group identity, role function, and interdependence modes (George, 2011). Roy included the proper nursing technique since most of a nurse’s responsibility is to observe the patient's surroundings, his or her response to treatment, as well as emotional reactions. When the desired response is not reached, the nurse has to devise a new plan to accompany the initial plan of care or care plan to ensure that the whole patient will be cared for.

The RAM takes a holistic approach to nursing. The belief is that a nurse’s knowledge balances an understanding of a person in a physical manner as well as the thinking and feeling part of a person. The person is perceived as a whole, adaptive and constantly changing as he interacts with the environment. Roy believed that a person or group responds to stimuli from the internal or external environment through control processes or coping mechanisms identified as the regulator and cognator subsystems (George, 2011). It is natural for the person to respond to external stimuli and the body to respond...