Teaching and Learning From Case Studies: The Added Value of Using a Nursing Conceptual Model to Construct Cases

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influence of applying Orem’s self-care framework practice methodology on the content and comprehensiveness of a case study about a woman who denied having self-care deficits. The discussion begins with presentation of the case as it might have been found in a classroom or health professions journal and contrasts this with application of Orem’s self-care framework practice methodology to illustrate how much more comprehensive the content of the case study is and how well it highlights the role of the primary care nurse practitioner in complex geriatric care. Through application of Orem’s practice methodology, the nurse practitioner is better able to address the high-level risk experienced by an older adult with complex comorbidities whose only initial complaint was “imbalance.”