King's Theory: Who Is Imogene King?

Introduction: Who is Imogene King?

Born in 1923 and died in 2007.

Imogene King was a pioneer of nursing theory development.

She was inducted into the FNA Hall of Fame and the ANA Hall of Fame in 2004.

She received the Living Legend award in 2005 for her contributions to nursing theory.

She defines nursing as “a process of action, reaction, and interaction whereby nurse and client share information about their perception in the nursing situation” (Alligood, 2018, p. 261).

History and origins of her theory: What is her theory?

King’s theory is based, generally, on concepts.

She describes these concepts as “abstract ideas that give meaning to our sense perceptions, permit generalizations, and tend to be stored in our memory for recall and use at a later time in new and different situations” (King, 1981, pp. 11-12).

King’s theory describes an ever-changing interpersonal relationship in which a person grows and develops mentally and physically to attain certain goals.

The achievement of goals is dependent upon roles, stress, space, and time.

A major concept of her theory is the interaction between three complex systems: personal system, interpersonal system, and social system.

Each independent system has its own concepts

Personal system: perception, self, growth, & development, body image, space, time.

Interpersonal system: interaction, communication, transaction, role, stress.

Social system: organization, authority, power, status, decision making.

King proposes that if a