Name two nursing theories or models commonly applied in nurse coaching.

• A. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Skinner's Operant Conditioning
• B. Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory and Pender's Health Promotion Model; can be integrated with motivational interviewing
• C. Piaget's Cognitive Development and Kohlberg's Morality
• D. Chaos Theory and Quantum Mechanics

Answer: (B)

Nurse coaching relies on theories that address how people care for themselves and what motivates healthier choices. Orem’s Self-Care Deficit Theory guides understanding of a client’s ability to perform self-care and how the nurse helps fill gaps or compensate for deficits, which shapes coaching plans that aim to restore or support independent self-management. Pender’s Health Promotion Model focuses on factors that influence health-promoting behaviors—personal characteristics, perceived benefits and barriers, self-efficacy, and affective responses—providing a framework to design coaching strategies that move clients toward preventive actions and healthier routines. Integrating these with motivational interviewing enhances the coach’s ability to elicit the client’s own reasons for change, align with their readiness, and sustain motivation.

Other options don’t align as directly with nurse coaching in the same practical way: they address broader development or abstract concepts rather than targeted self-care and health-promoting behaviors in a coaching context.