Dorothy E. Johnson

Dorothy E. Johnson (August 21, 1919 – February 4, 1999) was an American nurse, researcher, author, and theorist. She is known for creating the behavioral system model and for being one of the founders of modern system-based nursing theory.

Biography

Early life She was born on August 21, 1919, in Savannah, Georgia. She was the youngest of seven siblings. Her father Charles-Leroy Johnson (born in 1881), worked in the fishing industry and her mother was Annie Bryce Johnson (born in 1883).

Education She graduated at age 17 from Senior High Schoo l in Savannah. In 1938, Dorothy got her associate of arts from Armstrong Junior College in Savannah, Georgia. On June 8, 1942, she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Finally, in 1948 she received her Master of public health from Harvard University. nurses see their clients as being more important than their illnesses; a patient is perceived as a group of subsystems that form a complete behavioral system. The subsystems and their respective goals are as follows:

Achievement: to control self and the environment. Affiliative: to achieve intimacy and inclusion. Aggressive/Protective: to protect self or others from objects, persons or ideas. Dependency: to obtain attention and assistance. Eliminative: to expel biological wastes. Ingestive: to take in needed resources from the environment. Restorative: to replenish energy distribution. Sexual: to procreate, to gratify or attract.

Books Expanding and Modifying Guidance Programs (1968)

Barriers and Hazards in Counseling (1970) co-author: Mary J. Vestermark

To Be a Nurse (1980)