Betty Neuman
(1924 - present)
"The person is a complete system, with interrelated parts; maintains
balance and harmony between internal and external environment by
adjusting to stress and defending against tension-producing stimuli."
She was born in the year 1924 on a farm near Lowell, Ohio. Her father was a farmer and her mother was a homemaker. In 1947, she received her RN diploma from People's Hospital School of nursing in Arkon, Ohio. She then moved to California and gained experience as a hospital, staff, and head nurse; school nurse and industrial nurse; and as a a clinical instructor in medical-surgical, critical care and communicate disease nursing. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with double major in psychology and public health in the year 1957 and received her BS in nursing from UCLA. She also received the Masters degree in Mental Health, Public Health Consultation from UCLA. She was recognized as pioneer in the field in the nursing involvement in community mental health. Neuman began developing her model while lecturing in community mental health at UCLA. In 1972, her model was first published as a "Model for Teaching Total Person Approach to Patient Problems" in Nursing Research. Then in the year 1985, she received the doctorate in Clinical Psychology in Pacific Western University and received her second honorary doctorate from Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.
