The popularisation of self-care: Tracing the dissemination of Orem's Self-Care Deficiency Nursing Theory into the scientific disciplines.

Background: Bibliometric methods may be used to examine research trends, and information visualisation techniques are useful in illustrating the diffusion of knowledge and how theories are applied.

Objectives: The present study aimed to illustrate how Orem's Self-Care Deficiency Nursing Theory (SCDNT) has been cited and applied in nursing science and beyond.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis examined scientific publications that cited Orem's nursing theory. In addition, the diffusion of SCDNT was assessed using data visualisation methods and integration scores of SCDNT versions were calculated to define trends in its theoretical usage in other scientific domains.

Results: The information visualisation demonstrated increased usage of SCDTN in different disciplines. Integration scores demonstrated that the scientific community still recognises and uses versions of SCDTN.

Discussion: Studying citation patterns helps to identify which publications are still cited and relevant, as well as illustrating the dissemination of theory. Findings may be used in the collection weeding of SCDTN book versions.

Conclusions: Findings provided nursing scientists with a better conceptual understanding of SCDNT diffusion and development. For academic library managers, the findings identify which SCDNT should be retained for historical interest and curriculum needs.