Levine’s Conservation Model

Contributor: Jacqueline Fawcett
August 23, 2018

Author – Myra E. Levine, RN, MSN, FAAN

Year First Published – 1967

Major Concepts

HOLISTIC BEING

  • System of Systems
  • Wholeness
  • Integrity

INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

  • Homeorrhesis

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

  • Perceptual Environment
  • Operational Environment
  • Conceptual Environment

ADAPTATION

  • Historicity
  • Specificity
  • Redundancy

ORGANISMIC RESPONSES

  • Fight or Flight Response
  • Inflammatory-Immune Response
  • Stress Response
  • Perceptual Awareness
  • Basic Orienting System
  • Visual System
  • Auditory System
  • Haptic System
  • Taste-Smell System

CONSERVATION

  • Principle of Conservation of Energy
  • Principle of Conservation of Structural Integrity
  • Principle of Conservation of Personal Integrity
  • Principle of Conservation of Social Integrity

CHANGE

HEALTH

DISEASE

NURSING As HUMAN INTERACTION

PRACTICE METHODOLOGY: NURSING PROCESS AS CONSERVATION

  • Trophicognosis
  • Observation
  • Provocative Facts
  • Testable Hypothesis
  • Intervention/Action
  • Therapeutic Nursing Intervention
  • Supportive Nursing Intervention
  • Principle of Conservation of Energy
  • Principle of Conservation of Structural Integrity
  • Principle of Conservation of Personal Integrity
  • Principle of Conservation of Social Integrity
  • Evaluation of Intervention/Action
Typology

A conceptual model of nursing

Brief Description

“Levine’s work focuses on conservation of human beings’ wholeness. … [The] goal of nursing [is] promotion of wholeness for all people, well or sick” (Fawectt, J., & DeSanto-Madeya, S. (2013). Contemporary nursing knowledge: Analysis and evaluation of nursing models and theories (3rd ed., pp. 11-112). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis. .

Primary Sources

Levine, M.E. (1966a). Adaptation and assessment: A rationale for nursing intervention. American Journal of Nursing, 66, 2450–2453.

Levine, M.E. (1966b). Trophicognosis: An alternative to nursing diagnosis. In American Nurses’ Association Regional Clinical Conference (Vol. 2, pp. 55–70). New York: American Nurses’ Association.

Levine, M.E. (1967). The four conservation principles of nursing. Nursing Forum, 6, 45–59.

Levine, M.E. (1969a). The pursuit of wholeness. American Journal of Nursing, 69, 93–98.

Levine, M.E. (1969b). Introduction to clinical nursing. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

Levine, M.E. (1971a). Holistic nursing. Nursing Clinics of North America, 6, 253–264.

Levine, M.E. (1971b). Renewal for nursing. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

Levine, M.E. (1973a). Instructor’s guide: Introduction to clinical nursing (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. [Reprinted 1991. In K.M. Schaefer & J.B. Pond (Eds.), Levine’s conservation model: A framework for nursing practice (pp. 225–237). Philadelphiam, PA: F.A. Davis.]

Levine, M.E. (1973b). Introduction to clinical nursing (2nd ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.

Levine, M.E. (1988). Myra Levine. In T.M. Schorr & A. Zimmerman (Eds.), Making choices. Taking chances. Nurse leaders tell their stories (pp. 215– 228). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Levine, M.E. (1989a). The conservation principles: Twenty years later. In J.P. Riehl (Ed.), Conceptual models for nursing practice (3rd ed., pp. 325– 337). Norwalk, CT: Appleton & Lange.

Levine, M.E. (1989b). Ration or rescue: The elderly patient in critical care. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 12(1), 82–89.

Levine, M.E. (1990). Conservation and integrity. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories in practice (pp. 189–201). New York, NY: National League for Nursing.

Levine, M.E. (1991). The conservation principles: A model for health. In K.M. Schaefer & J.B. Pond (Eds.), Levine’s conservation model: A framework for nursing practice (pp. 1–11). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

Levine, M.E. (1992). Nightingale redux. In F.N. Nightingale, Notes on nursing: What it is, and what it is not (Commemorative edition, pp. 39–43). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.

Levine, M.E. (1996). The conservation principles: A retrospective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 9, 38–41.

Schaefer, K.M., & Pond, J.B. (Eds.). (1991). Levine’s conservation model: A framework for nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

Theories derived from the Conservation Model

Theory of Conservation

Schaefer, K.M. (2006). Part One: Myra Levine’s conservation model and its applications. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (2nd ed., pp. 94-112). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
Alligood, M.R. (1997). Models and theories: Critical thinking structures. In M.R. Alligood & A. Marriner-Tomey (Eds.), Nursing theory: Utilization and application (pp. 31–45). St. Louis: Mosby.
Alligood, M.R. (2010). Philosophies, models, and theories: Critical thinking structures. In M.R. Alligood, Nursing theory: Utilization and application (4th ed., pp. 47-71). St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier.

Theory of the Effects of Walking Exercise for Women with Breast Cancer

Mock, V., Pickett, M., Ropka, M.E., Lin, E.M., Stewart, K.J., Rhodes, V.A., McDaniel, R., Grimm, P.M., Krumm, S., & McCorkle, R. (2001). Fatigue and quality of life outcomes of exercise during cancer treatment. Cancer Practice, 9, 119–127.
Mock, V., Ropka, M.E., Rhodes, V.A., Pickett, M., Grimm, P.M., McDaniel, R., Lin, E.M., Allocca, P., Dienemann, J.A., Haisfield-Wolfe, M.E., Stewart, K.J., & McCorkle, R. (1998). Establishing mechanisms to conduct multi-institutional research—Fatigue in patients with cancer: An exercise intervention. Oncology Nursing Forum, 25, 1391–1397.

Theory of Health Promotion for Preterm Infants

Mefford, L.C. (2004). A theory of health promotion for preterm infants based on Levine’s conservation model of nursing. Nursing Science Quarterly, 17, 260-266.

Theory of Redundancy

Levine, M.E. (1978, December). The four conservation principles of nursing. Paper presented at Second Annual Nurse Educator Conference, New York. [Audiotape.]
Levine, M.E. (1996). The conservation principles: A retrospective. Nursing Science Quarterly, 9, 38–41.

Theory of Struggling to Maintain Balance (Schaefer, 1995, 1996)

Schaefer, K.M. (1995). Struggling to maintain balance: A study of women living with fibromyalgia. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21, 95–102.
Schaefer, K.M. (1996). Levine’s conservation model: Caring for women with chronic illness. In P. Hinton Walker & B. Neuman (Eds.), Blueprint for use of nursing models: Education, research, practice, and administration (pp. 187–227). New York, NY: NLN Press.

Theory of Therapeutic Intention

Levine, M.E. (1978, December). The four conservation principles of nursing. Paper presented at Second Annual Nurse Educator Conference, New Yor, NY. [Audiotape.]
Schaefer, K.M. (1991). Creating a legacy. In K.M. Schaefer & J.B. Pond (Eds.), Levine’s conservation model: A framework for nursing practice (pp. 219–224). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
Schaefer, K.M. (2006). Part One: Myra Levine’s conservation model and its applications. In M.E. Parker (Ed.), Nursing theories and nursing practice (2nd ed., pp. 94-112). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.

Author

Myra E. Levine (1921-1996)

Myra Levine held several staff and administrative positions in various clinical agencies, and was a civilian nurse in the United States Army. She was a faculty member at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, NB; and Cook County Hospital, Rush University, and the University of Illinois, all in Chicago, IL. She also served as a visiting faculty member at Tel Aviv University in Isreal, and at Recanati School of Nursing at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, at Beer Sheva, Israel. (Schaefer, K. M. (2010). The conservation model. In M.R. Alligood and A.M. Tomey (Eds.), Nursing theoriets and their work (pp. 225-241). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.)