As the profession of nursing became prevalent, nursing theories began to develop. Meleis (1997) defines nursing theory as a formulated theory that relates to existing nursing standards while proposing new concepts of nursing. These theories are used to direct nurses in their research and actions (as cited in George, 2002, p. 5). They are also used to predict outcomes of actions taken and to predict the patient’s response (George, 2002, p. 5). Nursing theories are a compilation of information used to provide a universal structure of how one should practice nursing (Parker, 2001, p. 8). Many leaders in the nursing field have developed nursing theories; but in this paper the theory of Florence Nightingale will be the focus of discussion. It was her belief that the environment can be altered in order to improve the state of a patient and promote healing (Selanders, 2010, p. 83). Nightingale’s work changed nursing, and heavily impacts health care today. The purpose of this paper is to clearly explain Nightingale’s theory and its current importance in the nursing field.
Background
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), is thought of as the founder of modern nursing. One of Nightingale’s experiences that greatly influenced her later work was her contribution to the Crimean War (1853). Shortly after the war began, very ill British soldiers began to arrive in Turkey for care. Within a few short weeks thousands of men were suffering from several diseases and infections. In 1854, Nightingale was asked to take a group of 38 nurses to Turkey for assistance. Nightingale and her team of nurses found the conditions in the army hospital absolutely dreadful (Fee & Garofalo, 2010, para. 1). The soldiers were still wearing their dirty uniforms, were wi...
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...s of our holistic nursing care. Florence Nightingale “the lady with the lamp” was indeed a woman ahead of her time.
References
Fee, E., & Garofalo, M. E. (2010). Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War. American Journal of Public Health, 100(9), 1591. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.188607
George J. B. (2002). Nursing Theories: The base for professional nursing practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Julie L. Alexander
Monteiro, L. (1984). Florence Nightingale on public health nursing. American Journal of Public Health, 75(2), 181-186. Retrieved from http://ajph.aphapublications.org/
Parker, L.M. (2001). Nursing theories and nursing practice. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company
Selanders, L.C. (2010). The power of environmental adaption: Florence Nightingale’s Original Theory for Nursing Practice. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 28(1), 81-88. doi: 10.1177/0898010109360257
In the todays century, the responsibilities, roles, and opportunities for nursing and nurse education has grown abundantly to that of modern day nurses. Many nurses in the eighteen century were not educated nurses and never attended nursing school; however, they still provided care for the sick, poor, and needy and played a vital role in health maintenance. With the hard work from many notable nurses in history such as Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Isabel Robb and the persistence and dedication for change from influential nurses such as Mary Mahoney and Mabel Staupers; nursing today has transformed in many aspects of practice. Although nursing as a profession is continuously evolving throughout the years, the core foundation of nursing hasn’t changed in that nursing is a profession of caring for others and servicing those in need.
Nightingale, F. (1898). Notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not. New York, NY:
Philosophy of Nursing When one thinks of the evolution of nursing, several noteworthy women come to mind, yet one stands out, Florence Nightingale. In Notes on Nursing, Nightingale says “.put the patient in the best conditions for nature to act upon him.” (1859, p.75) She established standards that reformed the industry.
Florence Nightingale was the Nurse of Nurses. In nursing school she is the first person you will hear speak of. She is known as “The lady with the lamp”. Her theory focused on the adjustment of the environment provided to protect the patient. She thought that a sleeping patient should never be awaken. Noise should always be avoided because it can startle the sleeping patient. This was a serious problem to her. She delegated tasks to other nurses, always keeping the patients safe and away from harm.
One of the many theorists that followed the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, was Merle Mishel (Alligood, 2014). However, Florence Nightingale’s theory is different
“I stand at the altar of the murdered men and while I live I shall fight their cause.” These words, spoken by Florence Nightingale, very neatly sum up her life’s ambitions. Florence Nightingale: “The Lady with the Lamp”, creator of the nursing profession, hero in the Crimean war, and so much more. She was born into an upper class family on May 12, 1820, in Florence Italy. As a woman, working during the Victorian time period was uncommon, let alone pursuing a career in nursing. Florence led the way for future female nurses, saved many lives, and improved healthcare in hospitals.
Parker M. E., & Smith M. C. (2010). Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.).
Watson, J. (1985). Nursing: Human Science and Human. Norwalk; CT: Appleton – Century – Crofts.
This interactive grand theory is grounded in humanist philosophy, which expresses the belief that humans are unitary beings and energy fields in constant interaction with the universal energy field. This model guides the nurse who is interested in “physiologic” and “psychological” adoptions (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 177). This model views the nurse as holistic adaptive system constantly interacting with different stimuli. And also explains how different sets of interrelated systems maintain a balance between various stimuli to promote individual and environmental transformation (Alkrisat & Dee, 2014). This model creates a framework to provide care for individuals in health and “in acute, chronic, or terminal illness” (Shah, Abdullah, & Khan, 2015, p. 1834). It focuses on improving basic life processes of individuals, families, groups of people; nurses see communities as holistic adaptive systems. It consists of three basic assumptions: philosophical, scientific, and cultural. And it also contains many defined concepts about the environment, health, person, goal of nursing, adaptation, focal, contextual, and residual stimuli, cognator and regulator subsystem, and stabilizer and innovator control processes (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p.
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)
To this day, the most admired person in nursing history would be Florence Nightingale. She will forever be an influential figure in the world of nursing due to her perseverance and critical thinking skills that saved so many lives during the Crimean War. There is no way to tell how long it could have taken nursing to evolve without the help of Nightingale. In her book, Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, Nightingale described a multitude of factors that must be considered when helping the ill to recover and to have the healthy maintain their well-being (Nightingale, 1860/1969). Four chapters in her book are of high importance, chapter two, on Health of Homes, chapter
Nursing theory can be used to empower nurses by giving autonomy and improve skills. With the rise of healthcare, administrative decisions involving nurses could have a negative effect on patient care. There are four concepts that make up the nursing metaparadigm, person, environment, health and nursing and act as the model for nursing care. All theories in the nursing practice proves valuable within the profession but may vary between different theorists depending on what their beliefs are. Some theorists can view the same situation entirely different. Both Rogers and Neuman were theorist that developed theories for viewing and caring for patients but in two different ways. Professionalization, coherence, and enhanced communication are three arguments when determining the importance of theory in nursing. Multi-disciplinary nursing becomes necessary to achieve positive patient
Nursing is more than merely a job, an occupation, or a career; it is a vocation, a calling, a frame of mind and heart. As a nurse, one must value the general good of others over his own. He must devote of himself nobly to ensure the well-being of his patient. However, today’s well-recognized nurses are notably different from nurses of the recent past. Service is the core of the nursing profession, and the essential evolution of the vocation reflects the ever-changing needs of the diverse patient population that it serves. As a profession, nursing has evolved progressively, particularly in its modernization throughout the past two centuries with the influence of Florence Nightingale. The field of nursing continues to grow and diversify even today, as nurses receive greater medical credibility and repute, as its minority representations
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
Her work on environment modification was proven to have improved the hospital mortality rate from 32 % to 2 % in six months indicating the empirical precision of the model (Winkelestein, 2009). Nightingale defined health as the ability to use one’s power well and to be well and believed health is affected by nature stating “nature alone could cure disease” (Butts & Rich, 2015, p. 381). The other element of Nightingale’s model of care was nursing, which was viewed as caring that fostered health and teaching to ensure health promotion for those who are sick and those who are well (Butts & Rich, 2015). The derivable consequence of Nightingale’s model is corroborated by the continued importance of scientific knowledge and critical thinking Florence Nightingale set out that still dictates the practice of nursing in the 21st