Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory
Florence Nightingale was only 16 when she believed she was called to service. At the time, nursing was considered a lowly and dirty profession, but against her parents’ wishes, she became a travelling war nurse. Florence Nightingale cared for injured soldiers during the Crimean War and went to the battlefields and war hospitals to begin her work (McDonald, 2014). She noted the dilapidated surroundings and the poor health environments of the hospitals immediately. Nightingale noticed poor ventilation, poor water supply, inadequate sewage disposal, dirty bedding, and broken furniture. The hospitals were grossly understaffed and overpopulated by the ill. These inadequacies were unacceptable and
…show more content…
It is important to not only heal the sick but to prevent them from becoming sick again. Nightingale’s theory promotes the health of patients by focusing on their surrounding environments as they heal. According to Zborowsky (2014), the elements Nightingale required for a proper healing process include ventilation, variety, cleanliness, noise, air, and light. Although the six points may seem broad, they each include many different things to consider when creating a safe environment. Many modern hospitals and health care facilities have implemented regulations based off Nightingale’s theory regarding the environment of …show more content…
It kick-started the modern perception of cleanliness and saved countless lives. Although we now know that unsanitary conditions are detrimental to health, Nightingale sparked a new perception of cleanliness (Medeiros et al., 2015). If she had decided to follow her family’s wishes and pursue life as a housewife, the nursing profession would not be the same. McDonald (2014) stated that she sacrificed years of her life and even contracted Crimean Fever in order to care for wounded soldiers. She was also a true advocate for patients—writing letters to family, friends and loved ones on their behalf. She was hardworking, humble, and an inspiration for all
At first, both the Union and Confederacy discouraged women from nursing at army hospitals, claiming it was too gruesome for delicate women to see. Clara started out by organizing donations to help supply the army, but when she was offered the chance she volunteered as a nurse for the Union and began working at the Washington Infirmary (Civil War Trust). It was at the Washington Infirmary where she first got her idea of going directly to the battlefield to nurse. She heard stories of men bleeding to death because they did not get treatment quickly enough, and many more died on the wagon trip back to the hospital. She asked army officials for permission to enter the battlefield, but was refused....
notices to patients and their families, schedule and lead the meetings. Wishing to be actively involved in the process, I represented nursing along with the charge nurse of the unit and the charge aide.
“Apprehension, uncertainty, waiting, expectation, fear of surprise, do a patient more harm than any exertion. Remember he is face to face with his enemy all the time, internally wrestling with him” (Nightingale, 1992, p. 22). Fortunately, in the nineteenth century, Florence Nightingale recognized uncertainty could cause harm to her patients (Nightingale, 1992). Equally important to the nursing profession are the nursing theorists, their work, and the evolution of the theories that followed Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing (Alligood, 2014).
The war office avoided hiring more after their poor reputation, nevertheless Nightingale received a letter in late 1854. Her success in doing so was due to her concern with the sanitation of the hospital. When Nightingale arrived in Crimea on the British Base, Scutari, she was met with filthy floors, bugs, and rats under the beds (History.com, 2009). This is when Florence took action and began to sanitize and clean the hospital as best she could.
Florence Nightingale was and still is today very important in the study of nursing. She greatly affected nursing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries especially the policies involved with proper care. Due to the fact she was from a wealthy family, Florence pursued her “God-given calling” in which she saw was being a nurse. During the Crimean War, she reduced the death count. “Florence Nightingale established St. Thomas’ Hospital and Nightingale Training School for Nurses in the year of 1860.” She had many achievements in her lifetime which leads to her great legacy that she has left behind. This woman was known as a hero of her time due to the extravagant changes that she influenced. People still yet today benefit from what she did.
In 1849 Florence went abroad to study the European hospital system. In 1853 she became the superintendent for the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London. In 1854 Florence raised the economic and productive aspect of women's status by volunteering to run all the nursing duties during the Crimean War. With her efforts the mortality rates of the sick and wounded soldiers was reduced. While being a nurse was her profession and what she was known for, she used statistics to achieve...
Nightingale thought the correct surroundings could lead to the transformation in the patient's recovery, and on this awareness is the beginning of environmentalist theory (De Almeida Medeiros, Cruz Enders & De Carvalho Lira, 2015).
Sometimes in war a person can learn new things that can befit the world. Nightingale saw that most soldiers were dying from illness and not from there injures that they had received. ("Florence nightingale," 2011) She observed the environment that the patients were in, and notice that most of them did not have adequate nutrition, and their environment was not clean. ("Florence nightingale," 2011) The changes she made in the ward included a better nutrition and a sanitary environment these changes greatly decreased the mortality rate which was at a 42% then drop to 2% ("Florence nightingale," 2011) Nightingale believed that a patient environment affected the healing process for the patient. Nightingale states, “Nursing out to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and then proper selection and administration of diet.” (Alligod & Tomey, 2006) Nightingale created 13 canons, which revolves around nurse to critical think and how the nurse can change the environment. An example of one of her Canons is noise, states “asses the noise level in the client room and surrounding area. Attempt to keep noise level to a minimum.”(Alligod & Tomey, 2006)
The essence of the theory is a “healthy environment promotes patient recovery” (Asif Jetha, 2014, p. 32). Nightingale
Before the modernization and reform of their profession in the mid-1800s, nurses were believed to perform “women’s work”, which implied menial duties, unskilled service, and an overall lack of skill (Garey, "Sentimental women need not apply"). This mentality was substantiated by the “untrained attendants, [including] past patients, vagrants, and prostitutes,” that performed a variety of nursing tasks (Garey). Florence Nightingale’s nursing experiences during the Crimean War, her subsequent publication of Notes on Nursing, and her work to build up professionalism within the field transformed the way that the world and society viewed nursing. She introduced invigorating ideas of patient care, nursing roles and responsibilities, and was a strong proponent of nursing education. Nightingale’s overall work inspired and changed the profession of nursing, laying the foundation for its
Florence Nightingale, named after the city of Florence, was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. She would pursue a career in nursing and later find herself studying data of the soldiers she so cringingly looking after. Born into the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale took the lead role amongst her and her colleges to improve the inhabitable hospitals all across Great Britten; reduce the death count by more than two-thirds. Her love for helping people didn’t go unnoticed and would continue to increase throughout her life. In 1860 she opened up the St. Tomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses before passing August 13, 1910 in London. Her willingness to care for her patients was never overlooked and wound establishing
Born in 1820 in Florence, Italy Nightingale, had all the privileges to become part of the aristocratic society, but chose to serve the disadvantaged and the poor (Butts & Rich, 2015). Florence Nightingale was reported to be “a strong willed and clear thinking individual who was persistently driven to achieve her goals in life (Stanley & Sherratt, 2010). Unlike many Victorian women, she had found a singleness of purpose and in spite of family and social opposition, sought to promote herself into a career as a social reformer” (Stanley & Sherratt, 2010, p.
At first, her parents opposed her decision to become a nurse (Joel, 2006). That did not stop Nightingale from fulfilling her purpose and goals. Before she could achieve those merits, she went through the Crimean war. Many soldiers died, it must have been devastating for a nurse at the time to endure that amount of soldiers dying daily. Soldiers not only died from gunshots,... ...
It was during this training that Florence Nightingale received a request from Henry Parkes, in Sydney, for a team of trained nurses able to implement Florence’s nursing standards in the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary. Florence Nightingale decided that Ms. Osburn, as a middle class woman with nursing training, would be the most appropriate choice to undertake this mission and made her Lady Superintendent (Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1974). Ms. Osburn worked for sixteen years at the Sydney Hospital, implementing many reforms to the nursing structure, hygiene, and facilities. She was eventually successful in implementing Nightingales style of nursing in Australia, before retiring in 1884 (Godden, J. and Forsyth, S.,
At the young age of 17, Florence claimed she felt a calling from God that she will embark in a great journey. At age 25, Florence professed to her parents that she wants to dedicate her life to nursing, but her parents were very displeased with this career choice because it was looked down upon. Finally in 1851, at the age of 31 Florence’s father gave her permission to pursue her dreams and Florence went out into the world and forever changed the meaning of nursing. She traveled to Kaiserwerth, Germany where she spent two years training how to become a nurse at the Institut...