Kontakt 2009, 11(1):218-231 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2009.038

Need of self-fulfilment in patients in the course of their hospitalizationSestra a pacient v klinickém ošetřovatelství

Ivana Vachtová^1,*, Andrea Hudáčková²

¹ Nemocnice České Budějovice, a. s.

² Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích, Zdravotně sociální fakulta, katedra ošetřovatelství

The need of self-fulfilment means a realization of one's own potential. The person having this need is a realistic individual, who is able to see clearly the life and to be objective in his/her considerations. He/she is able to recognize appropriate and inappropriate points, is resolute, and his/her self-confidence or self-respect is not reduced. The disease is a hindrance in the process of satisfying human needs and it determines the way of expression and possibility of satisfying the needs. In association with a disease, one frequently pays his/her attention to the satisfaction of lower needs and is only transiently interested in needs at a higher level. The needs and their mental response are usually affected by circumstances under which the disease is developed and also by environment surrounding the person in the disease. The target of the research investigation, which was implemented at the beginning of 2008, was to determine the occurrence of the need of self-fulfilment in hospitalized patients. Three groups of patients were compared as follows: patients, who were quite unexpectedly hospitalized and whose life was changed within a second, patients admitted to planned surgical interventions and those hospitalized for a long period. The further target was the investigation of the activity of nurses in the satisfaction of this need.

Keywords: higher needs; need of self-fulfilment; patient; hospitalization; disease; role of nurse

Received: October 6, 2008; Accepted: February 5, 2009; Published: May 27, 2009  Show citation