Florence Nightingale's Theory: The Importance Of Nursing Theory

Nursing theory is, “the principles that underpin practice and help to generate further nursing knowledge” (Colley, 2003, p. 33). Nursing theory is important in nursing practice. The two theorists that are relevant to my nursing practice are Florence Nightingale and Hildegard Peplau. Florence Nightingale theory was about the patient having a clean and healing environment (Smith & Park, 2015, p. 51). The theory that Hildegard Peplau created was the importance of nurse-patient relationships (Smith & Park, 2015, p. 68). Both of these theories put the patient’s safety and care first. When I am at work I try to form a healthy and healing relationship with all my patients. I also make sure the environment that they are in is conducive to healing,

70). I believe that the patient’s needs always take priority. A good nurse-patient relationship is important when taking care of patients. If a patient can trust the nurse taking care of him or her and they have a good rapport, the patient’s experience will be positive. Peplau’s theory is considered to be an interaction theory, an interaction theory, “revolve[s] around the relationships nurses form with patients” (Colley, 2003, p. 34). I believe that if a nurse does not have a good rapport with the patient, he or she will not be able to heal adequality. The patient might focus more on him or her not getting along with the nurse and thinking that the nurse does not care, then taking the time to make sure that he or she is healing properly. The patient may not ask for pain medication when they are in pain because he or she does not want to deal with the nurse. The environment also has a lot to do with the patient feeling better and healing

The theory that Florence Nightingale discovered puts the patient’s care first. It is important that the patient has a healthy and clean environment to recover in (Smith & Park, 2015, p. 51). According to Florence Nightingale the “five environmental components essential to an individual’s health [are] clean air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light” (Smith & Park, 2015, p. 51). The environment that the patient is in has a great influence on the patient’s health and recovery. If a patient is in a dark and dirty room the patient might be sad or depressed and then the patient will not heal well. However, if a patient is in a clean environment and has natural light they might feel like they have a little more energy and will heal faster. A clean environment will also prevent infections; infections can cause prolonged