SECTION I. BASIC HUMAN NEEDS AND PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH

• Food.

• Water.

• Oxygen.

• Elimination.

• Clothing and shelter for body warmth and protection.

• Activity, or sensory and motor stimulation, including sex, physical exercise, and rest.

• Love, including approval and esteem.

• Importance, including recognition and respect. NOTE: This applies to the patient's perception of the nurse's feelings toward him. For example, if your patient feels that you do not approve of or respect him, he may become very demanding, or he may withdraw and not cooperate with your efforts to make him healthy again.

• Adequacy, including self-sufficiency and the need to be needed and wanted.

• Productivity, including work and creative pursuits.

• Identification or belonging.

• Education or learning.

• Recreation or play.

• Religion or worship.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow defined basic human needs as a hierarchy, a progression from simple physical needs to more complex emotional needs (see figure 1-2).

• Physiological--food, shelter, water, sleep, oxygen.

• Safety--security, stability, order, physical safety.

• Love and belonging--affection, identification, companionship.

• Esteem and recognition--self-esteem, self-respect, prestige, success, esteem of others.

• Self-actualization--self-fulfillment, achieving one's own capabilities.

• Aesthetic--beauty, harmony, spiritual.

Relationship Between Levels of Needs.

1. According to Maslow, the basic physiological needs related to survival (food, water, etc.) must be met first of all.

2. These basic physiological needs have a greater priority over those higher on the pyramid. They must be met before the person can move on to higher level needs. In other words, a person who is starving will not be concentrating on building his self-esteem. A patient in severe pain will not be concerned with improving his interpersonal relationships.

3. Generally speaking, each lower level must be achieved before the next higher level(s) can be focused upon.

Figure 1-2. Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

The categories of Maslow's hierarchy are closely related to the basic human needs discussed in paragraph 1-6. Table 1-1 contains a comparison.

Table 1-1. Comparison of basic human needs and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

• Physical needs are roughly equivalent to Maslow's physiological and safety needs.

• Emotional needs are roughly equivalent to Maslow's love and belonging and esteem and recognition needs.

• Social needs are roughly equivalent to Maslow's self-actualization and aesthetic needs.

Remember that human needs are not constant; they are fluid and changing with first one, then another, taking priority. What may start as a basic need for food can take on social and personal significance. Your care plan as well as your patience are aimed toward the satisfaction of the patient's needs. He has common needs because he is a person; he has individual needs because he is unique; he has special needs because he is sick. The Practical Nurse supplies the help that is required to meet the patient's needs during the stressful periods of hospitalization and recuperation.

The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division  is dedicated to the development and dissemination of medical information that may be useful to medical professionals and those in training to become medical professionals. This website is privately-held and not connected to any governmental agency. The views expressed here are those of the authors, and unless otherwise noted, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brookside Associates, Ltd., any governmental or private organizations. All writings, discussions, and publications on this website are unclassified.

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