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King's conceptual framework encompasses three open, dynamic, interacting systems.

PERSONAL SYSTEMS are individuals, who are regarded as rational, sentient, social beings. The personal system processes selective inputs from the environment through the senses. Concepts related to the personal system are perception, self, growth and development, body image, time, and space.

PERCEPTION is a process or organizing, interpreting, and transforming information from sense data and memory that gives meaning to one's experience, represents one's image of reality, and influences one's behavior.

The SELF is a composite of thoughts and feelings which constitute a person's awareness of individual existence, of who and what he or she is.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT include cellular, molecular, and behavioral changes in human beings and are a function of genetic endowment, meaningful and satisfying experiences, and an environment conducive to helping individuals move toward maturity.

BODY IMAGE is a person's perceptions of his or her own body.

TIME is the duration between the occurrence of one event and the occurrence of another event.

SPACE exits in all directions and is the physical area called territory.

INTERPERSONAL SYSTEMS are composed of two, three, or more individuals interacting in a given situation. The concepts associated with this system are interaction, communication, transaction, role, and stress.

INTERACTIONS are the acts of two or more persons in mutual presence. The process of interactions between two or more individuals represents a sequence of verbal and nonverbal behaviors that are goal directed.

COMMUNICATION is the vehicle by which human relations are developed and maintained. This concept encompasses intrapersonal and interpersonal communication, as well as verbal and nonverbal communication.

TRANSACTION is a process of interaction in which human beings communicate with the environment to achieve goals that are valued. Transactions are goal-directed human behaviors.

ROLE is a set of behaviors expected when occupying a position in a social system.

STRESS is a dynamic state whereby a human being interacts with the environment to maintain balance for growth, development, and performance, which involves an exchange of energy and information between the person and the environment for regulation and control of stressors.

SOCIAL SYSTEMS are organized boundary systems of social roles, behaviors, and practices developed to maintain values and the mechanisms to regulate the practices and rules. The concepts related to social systems are organization, authority, power, status, and decision-making.

An ORGANIZATION is composed of human beings with prescribed roles and positions who use resources to accomplish personal and organizational goals.

AUTHORITY is a transactional process characterized by active, reciprocal relations in which members' values, backgrounds, and perceptions play a role in defining, validating, and accepting the authority of individuals within an organization.

POWER is the process whereby one or more persons influence other persons in a situation.

STATUS is the position of an individual in a group or a group in relation to other groups in an organization.

DECISION-MAKING in organizations is a dynamic and systematic process by which goal-directed choice of perceived alternatives is made and acted upon by individuals or groups to answer a question and attain a goal.

The theory of goal attainment was derived from the personal and interpersonal system of King's conceptual framework. The theory proposes that nurse and client interactions are characterized by verbal and nonverbal communication, in which information is exchanged and interpreted; by transactions, in which values, needs, and wants of each member of the dyad are shared; by perceptions of nurse and client and the situation; by self in role of client and self in role of nurse; and by stressors influencing each person and the situation in time and space.

The theory of goal attainment is reflected in the nursing process of perception, judgment, action, reaction, interaction, and transaction. The process follows a sequence whereby nurse and client meet in some situation; perceive each other; make judgments about the other; take some mental action; react to each one's perceptions of the other; share information about their perceptions; identify special goals, problems, or concerns; explore means to achieve a goal and agree to means to the goal; and transact as goals are attained.