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...
... middle of paper ...
...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
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
Parker M. E., & Smith M. C. (2010). Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.).
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.
Since its establishment as a profession more than a century ago, Nursing has been a source for numerous debates related to its course, methods and development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing definitions and theories have evolved over time. Furthermore it is in a constant process of being redefined.
“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.
Our group has chosen to focus on one of the Grand Theorists. The theorist we chose is Florence Nightingale. She based many of her concepts on the principle that every human being has “cleanliness, fresh air, sanitation, comfort, and socialization were necessary to healing.” (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p.132). During the reparative process any or all of these items are interrupted. Many of Nightingale’s notes and letters were written long before the metaparadigm concepts of human, environment, health, and nursing were labeled as such. Nightingale’s notes on nursing expounded on each of her principles in great detail so much so that they are still referred to and applied to modern day nursing practices.
To make good nursing decisions, nurses require an internal roadmap with knowledge of nursing theories. Nursing theories, models, and frameworks play a significant role in nursing, and they are created to focus on meeting the client’s needs for nursing care. According to McEwen and Wills (2014), conceptual models and theories could create mechanisms, guide nurses to communicate better, and provide a “systematic means of collecting data to describe, explain, and predict” about nursing and its practice (p. 25). Most of the theories have some common concepts; others may differ from one theory to other. This paper will evaluate two nursing theorists’ main theories include Sister Callista Roy’s
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
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
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
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)
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
Florence Nightingale is a respected reformer of modern times. The book Notes on Nursing contains the thoughts about Nightingale by nursing-theorists and some of today’s nurse leaders. Florence Nightingale was committed to improving the misery and unhealthy living conditions of people all over the world (Schuyler, 1992, p.3). In this paper I will be using Nightingale’s Thirteen Canons to discuss what nursing is and what it is not.
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