I agree with you that health literacy is a serious and real problem in the health care field. Limited health literacy affects a patient's entire health care experience. Patients with low health literacy are more likely to miss preventive measures, which will most likely require rehospitalization. It is imperative for nurses to avoid jargons and use simple language to get the message across. While Henderson’s theory supports nursing as a profession in assisting patients who are well or sick and ensuring 14 basic needs, Orem’s theory is more contemporary where a nurse engages patient in plan of care and guides the patient to be self-dependent in the acquisition of knowledge and skills. Orem’s theory supports that client has the primary
Clear, consistent communication is critical (Nicely, 2011). In this case the nurse acts as the voice for the brain dead patient and also the for the family who may not know how to handle what is happening. The nurse can ask the proper questions to the doctor for the family members. The nurse is temporarily the consciousness if the unconscious, the love of life of the suicidal, the leg of the amputee, the eyes of the newly blind, a means of locomotion for the newborn, knowledge and confidence for the young mother, a voice for those too weak to speak (Henderson, 2006). Even though they are grand theories they can be applied to each of these two situations with ease. A nurse may apply these interventions and not even realize that they are following crucial elements of these theorists. Both require the patient to have knowledge to not only care for themselves but have a desire to care for themselves. The nurse is a guiding tool to achieving optimal levels of self-care.

The main purpose of Virginia Henderson’s theory is to assist the patients when they are lacking one or more of 14 components and maximize their independence (Nicely,2011).With her 14 components she gave the nurses tools to be as complete a caregiver as possible. It is like a checklist that can assist nurses in taking care of their patients in its entirety. Orem’s theory on the other hand, is more