services. The purpose of nursing is to help a patient "recover from disease or injury, and cope with their effects" (Orem, 1985, p. 54). Where the physician is concerned with a patient's life processes that have been interrupted by illness, the nurse is concerned with a patient's continuing therapeutic care (Fawcett, 1989, p. 217). Nursing is required when a person is unable to engage in self care, or in situations wherein self care along is not likely to lead to a restoration of health. The ability of the nurse to provide patient care is referred to as nursing agency (Orem, 1985, p. 60). The goal of nursing agency is to help individuals meet their own therapeutic self care demands (Fawcett, 1989, p. 217). The three components of nursing agency are (1) helping the patient to accomplish therapeutic self care, (2) helping the patient to move toward responsible and independent self care action, and (3) helping members of a patient's family to become competent in providing self care agency for the patient (Orem, 1985, p. 6
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