General systems theory was proposed in the 1936 by the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy, and further developed by Ross Ashby. General systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems. Its premise is that complex systems share organizing principles which can be discovered and modeled mathematically.
General systems theory is about developing broadly applicable concepts and principles, as opposed to concepts and principles specific to one domain of knowledge. These are the major concepts of general systems theory. System, it is an entity made up of interrelated, interdependent parts. Boundaries, these are barriers that define a system and distinguish it from other systems in an environment.
Adaptation, the tendency of a system to make the internal changes to protect itself and keep fulfilling its purpose. And lastly, feedback loop, the process by which systems self-correct based on reactions from other systems in the environment. von Bertalanffy stated that all systems studied by physicists are closed, they do not interact with the outside world.
When a physicist makes a model of the solar system, of an atom, or of a pendulum, he or she assumes that all masses, particles, forces that affect the system are included in the model. It is as if the rest of the universe does not exist and does not have any effects on the system itself. This makes it possible to calculate future states with perfect accuracy, since all necessary information is known.
But, he knew that such an assumption is simply impossible for most practical cases. Separate a living organism from its surroundings and it will die shortly because of lack of oxygen, water and food. Organisms are open systems, they cannot survive without continuously exchanging matter and energy with their environment. To be able to understand a system as a whole, we should know the interrelations between its parts. The health worker who applies general system theory to nursing is interested in all aspects of the individual's life.
An organization model, to be relevant, must take into account the current state of knowledge about health. Some nursing theorists have drawn from system theory such as Newman's system theory, Rogers' theory of unitary human beings, Roy's adaptation model, and many more. Application of the system theory, 1. Systemic adult nursing the biological systems into a general systems theory of nursing such as circulatory, digestive, endocrine, integumentary, lymphatic, muscular system, nervous, reproductive, respiratory and skeletal and urinary. In summary, the theory is characterized by different parts that continuously interact with each other, and these are confined within some form of a boundary. It is based on how different parts function together as part of one system.
This theory, which was multidisciplinary, has been adopted by professionals in the nursing field, and enhanced to be nursing-specific only. People are not machines but in all situations, where they will act like machines.