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CHAPTER 12 Myra Estrin Levine 205

Nursing, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, at Beer the conservation principles at nurse theory confer-
Sheva, Israel (March to April, 1982). ences, some of which have been audiotaped, and at
Levine received numerous honors, including charter the Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales (now
fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (1973), DeSales University) Conference.
honorary member of the American Mental Health Aid Levine (1989) published a substantial change and
to Israel (1976), and honorary recognition from the clarification about her theory in “The Four Conserva-
Illinois Nurses Association (1977). She was the first tion Principles: Twenty Years Later.” She elaborated on
recipient of the Elizabeth Russell Belford Award for how redundancy characterizes availability of adaptive
excellence in teaching from Sigma Theta Tau (1977). responses when stability is threatened. Adaptation pro-
Both the first and second editions of her book, Introduc- cesses establish a body economy to safeguard individual
tion to Clinical Nursing (Levine, 1969a; 1973) received stability. The outcome of adaptation is conservation.
American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year awards, She explicitly linked health to the process of conser-
and her book, Renewal for Nursing, was translated into vation to clarify that the Conservation Model views
Hebrew (Levine, 1971a). Levine was listed in Who’s health as one of its essential components (Levine, 1991).
Who in American Women (1977 to 1988) and in Who’s Conservation, through treatment, focuses on integrity
Who in American Nursing (1987). She was elected fel- and the reclamation of oneness of the whole person.
low of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago (1987 to Levine died on March 20, 1996, at 75 years of age.
1991). The Alpha Lambda Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau She leaves a legacy as an administrator, educator,
recognized Levine for her outstanding contributions friend, mother, nurse, scholar, student of humanities,
to nursing in 1990. In January 1992, she was awarded and wife (Pond, 1996). Dr. Baumhart, President of
an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Loyola Loyola University, said the following of Levine (Mid-
University, Chicago (Mid-Year Convocation, Loyola Year Convocation, Loyola University, 1992):
University, 1992). Levine was an active leader in the Mrs. Levine is a renaissance woman . . . who uses
American Nurses Association and the Illinois Nurses knowledge from several disciplines to expand the
Association. After her retirement in 1987, she remained vision of health needs of persons that can be met
active in theory development and encouraged questions by modern nursing. In the Talmudic tradition of
and research about her theory (Levine, 1996). her ancestors, [she] has been a forthright spokes-
A dynamic speaker, Levine was a frequent pre-
senter of programs, workshops, seminars, and panels, person for social justice and the inherent dignity of
[the] human person as a child of God (p. 6).
and a prolific writer regarding nursing and education.
She also served as a consultant to hospitals and
schools of nursing. Although she never intended to Theoretical Sources
develop theory, she provided an organizational struc- From Beland’s (1971) presentation of the theory of
ture for teaching medical-surgical nursing and a stim- specific causation and multiple factors, Levine learned
ulus for theory development (Stafford, 1996). “The historical viewpoints of diseases and learned that the
Four Conservation Principles of Nursing” was the way people think about disease changes over time.
first statement of the conservation principles (Levine, Beland directed Levine’s attention to numerous authors
1967a). Other preliminary work included “Adaptation who became influential in her thinking, including
and Assessment: A Rationale for Nursing Interven- Goldstein (1963), Hall (1966), Sherrington (1906),
tion,” “For Lack of Love Alone,” and “The Pursuit of and Dubos (1961, 1965). Levine uses Gibson’s (1966)
Wholeness” (Levine, 1966b, 1967b, 1969b). The first definition of perceptual systems, Erikson’s (1964) dif-
edition of her book using the conservation principles, ferentiation between total and whole, Selye’s (1956)
Introduction to Clinical Nursing, was published in stress theory, and Bates’ (1967) models of external
1969 (Levine, 1969a). Levine addressed the conse- environment. Levine was proud that Rogers (1970) was
quences of the four conservation principles in Holistic her first editor. She acknowledged Nightingale’s contri-
Nursing (Levine, 1971b). The second edition of Intro- bution to her thinking about the “guardian activity” of
duction to Clinical Nursing was published in 1973 observation used by nurses to “save lives and increase
(Levine, 1973). After that, Levine (1984) presented health and comfort” (Levine, 1992, p. 42).