Sister Callista Roy, CSJ (born October 14, 1939) is an American nun, nursing theorist, professor and author. She is known for creating the

adaptation model of nursing In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their Fitness (biology), evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a stat ...

. She was a nursing professor at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

before retiring in 2017. Roy was designated as a 2007 Living Legend by the

American Academy of Nursing The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) is a professional organization that generates, synthesizes, and disseminates nursing knowledge to contribute to health policy and practice for the benefit of the public and the nursing profession. Founded in 1 ...

Education

Roy earned an undergraduate degree in nursing from

Mount St. Mary's College Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up ninety percent of the student body. It was found ...

in 1963, followed by a master's degree in nursing from

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(UCLA) in 1966. She then earned master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from UCLA. She served as a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience nursing at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. She has been awarded four honorary doctorates.

Career

Roy was Professor and Nursing Theorist at

Connell School of Nursing The William F. Connell School of Nursing (CSON) is the professional nursing school at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The Connell School of Nursing awards undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees, while offering a continuing ...

. In 1991, she founded the Boston Based Adaptation Research in Nursing Society (BBARNS), which would later be renamed the Roy Adaptation Association. She has lectured across the United States and in more than thirty other countries. Late in her career, she studied the role of lay study partners in recovery from mild head injury. She retired from Boston College in 2017 and moved back to California. She belonged to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Roy Adaptation Model

During her graduate studies, Roy was compelled by instructor Dorothy E. Johnson to write a conceptual model of nursing. The Roy Adaptation Model was first published in ''Nursing Outlook'' in 1970. In this model, humans (as individuals or in groups) are holistic, adaptive systems. The ''environment'' consists of internal and external stimuli that surround an individual or group. ''Health'' is seen as a sound, unimpaired condition leading to wholeness. Nursing's ''goal'' is to promote modes of adaptation that support overall health. Four modes of adaptation support integrity: ''physiologic-physical'', ''self-concept group identity'', ''role function'' and ''interdependence''. In applying Roy's model, the following steps may help to integrate it with the traditional nursing process: assessment of client behavior; assessment of stimuli; nursing diagnosis; goal setting; interventions; and evaluation.

Honors and awards

* 2006: Distinguished Teaching Award, Boston College * 2007: Living Legend,

* 2010: Inductee,

Sigma Theta Tau The Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing () is the second-largest nursing organization in the world with approximately 135,000 active members. While often referred to by nurses as simply Sigma, its official name is "Sigma Theta ...

's Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame * 2011: Mentor Award, Sigma Theta Tau Society

Published works

* Proposed: Nursing is a theoretical body of knowledge that prescribes analysis and action to care for an ill person. * * Roy, C. (2009). "Assessment and the Roy Adaptation Model", ''The Japanese Nursing Journal'', 29(11), 5-7. * Roy, C. (2008). "Adversity and theory: The broad picture", ''

Nursing Science Quarterly ''Nursing Science Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of nursing. The editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leade ...

'', 21(2), 138-139. * Whittemore, R. & Roy, C. (2002). "Adapting to Diabetes Mellitus: A Theory Synthesis", ''Nursing Science Quarterly'', 15(4), 311-317.

References