Chapter 5
Basic Human Needs
Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow defined the basic needs of all people as a
progression from simple physical needs, or survival
needs, to more complex ones, called aesthetic needs.
• Progression from physical needs to aesthetic needs:
– Physiological needs
– Safety needs
– Love needs
– Esteem needs
– Self-actualization needs
Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Regression
• Regression, is focusing on a lower-level need that has
already been fulfilled. This is common in illness or injury.
• For example, a client recovering from an illness will focus
their physical and emotional energies on recovery
(physical needs) before returning to employment
(security).
• Individuals in pain will revert to being concerned about
personal appearance or relationships with others only
after the pain has been relieved.
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Basic Physiologic Needs
• *Physiologic needs
– Primary or survival needs
– Met to sustain life
• *Secondary needs
– Met to give quality to life
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Basic Physiologic Needs
• Oxygen
• Water and Fluids
• Food and Nutrients
• Elimination of Waste Products
• Sleep and Rest
• Activity and Exercise
• Sexual Gratification
• Temperature Regulation
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Nursing Considerations
• Oxygen
– Evaluate the oxygenation status of the client.
– *Ex-emphysema, asthmatics, quadriplegics**
• Water and Fluids
– Measure intake and output, weigh the client daily,
and observe intravenous infusion of fluids.
– *Ex.- severe mental illness clients
• Food and Nutrients
– *Help feed the client, administer tube feedings,
monitor calorie counts, or maintain alternative
methods of nutrition.
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Nursing Considerations (cont’d)
• Elimination of Waste Products
– Give an enema, catheterize the person, or assist with
dialysis.
• Sleep and Rest
– Provide safe, comfortable, and quiet surroundings.
• Activity and Exercise
– *Encourage client to walk after surgery or teach to
walk with crutches.
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Nursing Considerations (cont’d)
• Sexual Gratification
– Be aware of sexuality issues when care is given.
• *Temperature Regulation
– Assist the client to meet the need for temperature
regulation. Including excessive external heat or cold
or high internal fever in response to an infection.
– Body has mechanisms to temporarily regulate
temperature including shivering, goose flesh, and
perspiration
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Security and Safety
• At this second level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there
are both physical and psychological needs.
• Freedom From Harm
– *People must feel safe and secure, both physically
and emotionally before being comfortable enough to
move onto other needs
– Remove threats to the client’s safety.
– Take preventive measures.
– Explain procedures, treatments, or medications.
• Abuse
– Report any suspected abuse in the clients.
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Security and Safety (cont’d)
• Healthcare
– Higher-level coping skills in relationship to planned
versus unplanned healthcare
• Shelter
– Conduct comprehensive evaluation when
interviewing clients to uncover the situation.
– Homeless spend most of their energy trying to cope
with daily life, have little energy to focus on
meaningful relationships**
• Arrange for regular monitoring and preventive healthcare
in the above situations.
Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Love, affection and belonging
• Social needs
– Assist long-term care client in their social needs by
providing reading materials and/or videos*
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Nursing Activities That Help Individuals
Obtain the Goal of Self-Esteem
• The term self-esteem (self-image, self-respect) is
related to the person’s perception of self.
• Those who are ill or injured or who undergo surgery may
have altered levels of self-esteem. The nurse will need to
help such clients regain positive self-esteem by:
– *Rewarding and encouraging an individual’s progress
in rehabilitation
– Allowing them to perform as much self-care as
possible
– *Observing these clients for symptoms of regression,
depression, or chemical dependency
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Self-Actualization
• *The self-actualized person has “reached his or her full
potential.”
• Psychologists believe that people reach this level many
times throughout life, yet very few people believe they
have reached the peak of self-actualization permanently*
• The nurse can help clients obtain self-actualization by:
– Assisting in achieving lower-level needs
– Acknowledging accomplishments of the individual
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Basic and Aesthetic Needs of Individuals
Who Are Homeless, Terminally Ill, or Have
No Source of Income
• People in this situation must find food and shelter not
only for themselves, but for their children as well. These
individuals are more concerned with meeting their
primary rather than secondary needs.
• They become ill first and then seek healthcare. Such
behaviors are concrete methods of dealing with illness or
emergency responses to the stimulus of illness (episodic
healthcare).
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Community or Societal Needs
• The community has basic needs concerning the welfare
of all its residents.
– Public healthcare measures (immunization programs)
– Access to healthcare
– Maintenance services (water and electricity)
– Environmental concerns (pollution)
– Safety (police and highways)
– Emergency services (ambulances and paramedics)
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