Florence Nightingale Nursing Theory

“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).

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

According to Alligood (2014), cognitive schema is used when a patient or individual interprets his or her illness, treatment, or hospitalization. An implication of cognitive schema in evidence-based practice is the example of an individual’s personal feelings regarding multiple sclerosis. Using the example of a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in practice, an astute nurse will begin by assessing the individual’s subjective feelings towards multiple sclerosis, the disease.

Stimuli Frame

The next concept in the uncertainty in illness theory is stimuli frame. This frame is a structure of perceived stimuli organized into an individuals’ cognitive schema. These stimuli frames can include symptom pattern, event familiarity, and event congruence. For example, a newly diagnosed individual with multiple sclerosis may perceive the disease based on another person he or she knew with the disease. Also, a newly diagnosed individual patient may not have knowledge of the various courses multiple sclerosis can take from person to person (Murray, Saunders, & Holland, 2013).

Symptom

These include inference, illusions, adaptation, view of life, and probabilistic thinking. First, inference is the ability to evaluate uncertainty based on previous experiences in life (Alligood, 2014). Second, illusions are beliefs formed out of life’s uncertainty (Alligood, 2014). Third, adaptation is how a person modifies his or her biological, psychological, or social behavior (Alligood, 2014). Forth, new view of life, is the individual’s acceptance of uncertainty of life (Alligood, 2014). Fifth, probabilistic thinking is the belief in a world in which an individual is uncertain and cannot always have a predicted outcome (Alligood, 2014). Each of these concepts can be used in various clinical situations and with different patient