Nursing Environment Theory: The Nightingale's Nursing Environmental Theory

Alcohol abuse

Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance among adults worldwide. In the U.S., alcohol is a legal recreational drug and its consumption is widely accepted as long as people take it in moderate amounts. African married men bear unreasonably higher alcohol-related problems than whites as evidenced by higher cases of liver cirrhosis and overall alcohol-related mortality. Alcohol abuse has been linked to chronic ailments like liver and cardiovascular disease. Nightingale’s Nursing Environmental Theory can address the problem of alcohol abuse among married African men that is linked to social consequence preceding or co-occurring with alcohol dependency.

The Nightingale’s Nursing Environmental Theory focuses on the quality of care and how the surrounding environment impacts health. According to the nursing theory, a combination of nursing and surrounding environment

Living in poorer neighborhood was associated with substantially higher rates of alcohol and substance abuse. About one fifth of the study participants reported current drinking. The study also found out that there were higher rates of alcohol abuse in rural areas compared to urban settings (Mbatia, Jenkins, Singleton & White, 2009). According to the authors, this disparity had several explanations including: reporting biases such as whether traditional brews constitute alcohol, and differing economic aspects between areas.

In the African setting, it is highly likely that traditional brews are more available in rural areas. This is because traditional brews are cheaper than registered brands. Furthermore, the necessity to purchase and abuse alcohol may be a challenge in urban areas. The findings of the study are comparable to reports on alcohol abuse by adult men in other African countries including Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan (Mbatia, Jenkins, Singleton & White,