| Course | NUR 544 Theoretical Foundations for Nursing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 3 |
| Paper type | Grand theorist presentation, slides with speaker notes |
| Length | About 903 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 slide deck with speaker notes |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | MS in Nursing |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 544 Module 3
Seven Subsystems in Chair Twelve: Dorothy Johnson's Behavioral System Model Applied to a Patient Starting Chemotherapy
Student Name
Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University
NUR 544: Theoretical Foundations for Nursing
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Slide 1: The Theorist
Dorothy E. Johnson (1919-1999). Nursing educator at Vanderbilt and UCLA. Developed the Behavioral System Model from the 1950s, published in full in 1980.
Speaker notes: Dorothy Johnson was a nursing educator who spent much of her career at the University of California, Los Angeles. She began developing her ideas in the 1950s, asking what nursing's unique contribution to patient care was, separate from medicine. Her answer, the Behavioral System Model, was published in its fullest form in 1980 and influenced later theorists, including Roy. I chose Johnson because her focus on behavior and balance fits the way chemotherapy disrupts patients' daily lives (McEwen & Wills, 2023).
Slide 2: Key Concepts
Person: a behavioral system made of seven subsystems. Goal of nursing: restore, maintain or attain balance and stability in the behavioral system. Health: efficient and effective functioning of the system. Environment: internal and external forces that affect behavior.
Speaker notes: Johnson saw the person as a behavioral system: patterned, repetitive and purposeful ways of behaving that together make up how a person functions. Nursing's goal is to help that system achieve or regain balance and stability when illness or stress disturbs it. Health is the efficient and effective functioning of the system, and the environment includes everything inside and outside the person that affects behavior.
Slide 3: The Seven Subsystems
Attachment or affiliative, dependency, ingestive, eliminative, sexual, aggressive or protective, and achievement.
Speaker notes: Johnson described seven subsystems, each with its own goal: attachment, which concerns relationships and belonging; dependency, which concerns getting help and attention; ingestive, concerning eating and drinking; eliminative; sexual; aggressive or protective, concerning protecting oneself; and achievement, concerning mastery of oneself and the environment. Later writers added an eighth, restorative, concerning rest and sleep. Each subsystem needs sustenance, protection and stimulation from the environment to function well.
Slide 4: Applying the Model to Ms. L.
52-year-old high school teacher, first cycle of chemotherapy for breast cancer. Ingestive: nausea and taste changes, eating less. Restorative: insomnia from steroids. Achievement: on medical leave, feels useless. Dependency: struggling to accept help.
Speaker notes: Ms. L. is a composite patient starting chemotherapy. Using Johnson's model, I assess her behavior by subsystem rather than by system of the body. Her ingestive subsystem is disturbed by nausea and taste changes. Her restorative subsystem is disturbed by insomnia from premedication steroids. Her achievement subsystem is threatened because she has stopped teaching, a central source of mastery. And her dependency subsystem is in conflict: she needs help but sees accepting it as weakness. These disturbances interact; poor sleep worsens fatigue, which makes her feel less capable.
Slide 5: Nursing Interventions in Johnson's Terms
Sustenance: antiemetic teaching, small frequent meals, dietitian referral. Protection: steroid timing adjusted to morning with the oncologist. Stimulation: help her plan a part-time return or virtual tutoring. Restore balance in dependency: name help as part of treatment.
Speaker notes: Johnson describes nursing actions as providing sustenance, protection and stimulation to restore balance. For the ingestive subsystem, I provide sustenance through antiemetic teaching and a dietitian referral. For the restorative subsystem, I work with the oncologist to give steroids earlier in the day. For achievement, I help her find a way to keep teaching in a reduced form, which preserves her sense of mastery. For dependency, I frame accepting help as part of treatment, not failure. The model helps me see her as a person whose behavior is disturbed, not just a list of side effects.
Slide 6: Evaluating the Theory
Strengths: clear focus on behavior, guides holistic assessment, useful across settings. Limits: abstract and hard to test, some subsystems overlap, less attention to physiology and culture. Testing: used mainly in assessment tools and case studies.
Speaker notes: Evaluating the theory with criteria common in our text, including clarity, simplicity, generality, testability and usefulness, Johnson's model is strong in usefulness and generality: it guides a whole-person assessment in many settings. It is weaker in testability, because concepts like balance are abstract, and in parsimony, because subsystems overlap. It gives less attention to physiology and to cultural differences in behavior, which matter greatly in oncology. Research using the model has been mostly descriptive, through assessment tools and case applications (McEwen & Wills, 2023).
Slide 7: Connection to Middle-Range Theory
Johnson's subsystems overlap with symptom experience. Middle-range theories, such as the Symptom Management Theory, offer more testable concepts for specific symptoms.
Speaker notes: Grand theories like Johnson's describe nursing broadly; middle-range theories bring them closer to practice (Smith et al., 2024). For example, the Symptom Management Theory describes symptom experience, management strategies and outcomes in ways that can be measured (Dodd et al., 2001). Johnson's model tells me to look at how nausea disturbs Ms. L.'s whole behavioral system; a middle-range theory helps me choose and evaluate specific interventions. Using them together is one way advanced practice nurses bridge grand theory and daily care.
Slide 8: Conclusions for Practice
Johnson's model shifts attention from symptoms to behavior and balance. Most useful for assessment and care planning. Best combined with middle-range theory and evidence for specific interventions.
Speaker notes: Johnson's Behavioral System Model reminds me that chemotherapy disrupts not only cells but eating, sleep, roles and relationships. It is most useful as a framework for assessment and planning, and it works best combined with evidence-based interventions and middle-range theories. I look forward to your questions and to hearing which theorists you found most useful.
References
Dodd, M., Janson, S., Facione, N., Faucett, J., Froelicher, E. S., Humphreys, J., Lee, K., Miaskowski, C., Puntillo, K., Rankin, S., & Taylor, D. (2001). Advancing the science of symptom management. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33(5), 668-676. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01697.x
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2023). Theoretical basis for nursing (6th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
Smith, M. J., Liehr, P. R., & Carpenter, R. D. (Eds.). (2024). Middle range theory for nursing (5th ed.). Springer Publishing.
NUR 544 Module 3 instructions, in plain terms
In the posted syllabus, Week 3 covers grand theories for nursing, with chapters from McEwen and Wills and Smith, Liehr and Carpenter, and the graded work is the Grand Theorist Presentation, worth 20 points. The syllabus describes it as a PowerPoint presentation on a chosen theorist built by reviewing original and secondary writings by and about the theorist and theory, with a focus on evaluating the theory and applying it to clinical practice. Expect to introduce the theorist, explain key concepts and assumptions, evaluate the theory with recognized criteria, and apply it to a patient or setting. Canvas lists the slide limit, narration requirements and the list of approved theorists; check it first.
How this NUR 544 Module 3 example is built
The presentation has eight slides with full notes. It introduces the theorist briefly and explains why the presenter chose her, then defines the model's view of person, health, environment and nursing in plain language. A slide lists the seven subsystems, and two slides apply them to a composite patient starting chemotherapy, showing assessment and interventions in the theory's own terms. An evaluation slide weighs strengths and limits with common criteria. A slide connects the grand theory to a middle-range theory, and the last slide states conclusions for practice. The course texts and one primary source are cited. Speaker notes are written in full sentences, so the deck can be narrated or read on its own.
Reading the NUR 544 Module 3 grading rubric
Theorist presentations commonly earn their points for a correct account of the theory, quality of the application to clinical practice, depth of evaluation using recognized criteria, use of primary and secondary sources, and presentation quality. Graders look for application that uses the theory's own concepts, here the subsystems and the actions of sustenance, protection and stimulation, rather than generic care. Evaluation should name limitations as well as strengths. Because the syllabus asks for original and secondary writings, citing the theorist's work through scholarly sources and the textbooks is expected. Presentations that connect the grand theory to a middle-range theory or to evidence often stand out, since that link is a theme of the course. Accurate dates and attributions for the theorist also matter.
NUR 544 Module 3 help from the desk
Students often spend most slides on the theorist's biography and too few on application. Keep biography to one slide. Another mistake is applying a theory loosely, describing care any nurse would give without using the theory's terms. Use the concepts explicitly. Evaluate the theory honestly; no theory is perfect. Keep slide text short and put explanations in notes. Check that the theorist is on your course's approved list. If you want help building a presentation for the theorist you chose, send the prompt and your theorist to the desk. Look for at least one source by the theorist or a scholar who studied the theory closely, as the syllabus asks for original and secondary writings. Rehearse narration so it stays within the time limit, and credit any images used.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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NUR 544 Module 3 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 544 Module 3 sample paper?
The whole grand theorist presentation appears above, eight annotated slides on Dorothy Johnson's Behavioral System Model, applied to a patient starting chemotherapy and evaluated, with references.
Which grand theorists can I choose for NUR 544?
Choose from the theorists your course covers, such as Johnson, Orem, Roy, Rogers, King, Neuman or Watson. Confirm in Canvas an approved list.
How much is the NUR 544 grand theorist presentation worth?
The posted syllabus lists it at 20 points.
How do I evaluate a nursing theory in NUR 544?
Judge it with your textbook's criteria, for example clarity, simplicity, generality, testability and usefulness, and support each judgment with examples.
What are Johnson's behavioral subsystems?
Attachment, dependency, ingestive, eliminative, sexual, aggressive or protective, and achievement; later writers added restorative.