Florence Nightingale Chris Common Mathew Messinger Sarah Obstfeld Brian Totten NUR 324

Who am I ? Florence Nightingale

History Born: May 12, 1829 Nursing Education: 1851 trained in Germany at a Protestant religious community with a hospital and after 3 months she was declared trained as a nurse Nickname: The Lady with the Lamp – she made ward rounds during the night providing emotional comfort to the wounded soldiers (Tomey, 75)

History Turned down several offers of marriage to pursue her career. She served in the Crimean War in 1854 as a nurse; she led a group of 3 dozen nurses and this was controversial because females did not go to war then She worked at changing terrible conditions in hospitals during the time at war She became critically ill during the war with Crimean fever Devoted her energies not just to the development of nursing as a profession, but even more to local, national, and international societal issues and causes in a an attempt to improve the living environments of the poor and to create social change (Tomey, 75)

Nightingale’s theory Her main theory was focused on environment; 5 essential components: pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light -pure air - “keep the air he breathes as pure as the external air, without chilling him” (Tomey, 75) She seemed to recognize the environmental component as a source of disease and recovery -light - “light has quite as real and tangible effects upon the human body... who has not observed the purifying effect of light, and especially of direct sunlight, upon the air of a room?” (Tomey, 75) -cleanliness – she noted that a dirty environment was a source of infection through organic matter it contained. She also advocated for bathing pts on a daily basis; also required nurses to bathe daily, have clean clothing, and hand washing frequently

Nightingale’s theory (con’t) -warmth – she advocated on keeping pts warm; nurses would palpate the pts extremities to assess for heat loss -quite environment – noise created by physical activities in the environment was to be avoided because it could harm the pt Nightingale believed that sick poor people would benefit from environmental improvements that affected both their bodies and minds. She believed that nurses could be instrumental in changing the social status of the poor by improving their physical and psychological living conditions. (Tomey, 75)

Nightingale’s influence Florence Nightingale's two greatest life achievements were pioneering of nursing and the reform of hospitals this was amazing considering that most Victorian women of her age group did not attend universities or pursue professional careers. Her voice was strong and she served as an effective advocate on a number of important health issues, particularly for trained nursing and preventive health care through proper hygiene. (Arnstein, 1956)

Nightingale’s influence “Modern nursing derives so completely from the example and teaching of Florence Nightingale that it is hard to pick out the particular practices that owe their existence to her influence. All nursing has been influenced by her. One might say modern nursing is Miss Nightingale that her name is a synonym for nursing. She demonstrated in a dramatic fashion in the Crimea that nursing-and sanitation-could reduce mortality” (Arnstein, 1956)

Nightingale’s theory Nightingale's theory contains 3 major relationships 1. Environment to patient 2. Nurse to environment 3. Nurse to patient (Tomey, 83)

Nightingale’s theory (con’t) Environment was the main factor creating illness in a patient. She recognized not only the harmfulness of an environment, but also the benefit of good environments in preventing disease. The environmental aspects of her theory remain integral components of nursing care today. Nurses manipulate the environment in a number of ways to enhance pt recovery. (elimination of contamination and contagion; exposure to fresh air, light, warmth, and quiet) (Tomey, 83).

Nightingale’s theory (con’t) Nurse to patient relationship meant that the patient would be protected from emotional distress, letting patients make decisions “Nightingale did not consciously attempt to develop what is considered a theory of nursing; she provided the first definitions from which nurses can develop theory and conceptual models and frameworks that inform professional nursing today” (Tomey, 83).

Nightingale Quotes Florence Nightingale to Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of War 1855, “I am kind of general dealer in socks, shirts, knives, and forks, wooden spoons, tins baths, tables, and forms, cabbages, and carrots, operating tables, towels and small tooth combs, precipitate for destroying lice, scissors, bedpans and stump pillows” I really like this quote because she is talking about the whole person and not just one thing. Florence Nightingale to Poor Law Board May 1865, “The sick and the infirm require special constructive arrangements. They are not paupers they are poor in affliction. Society owes them every care for recovery.” (fnif.org,2009)

Performance Assessment Nightingale had a keen eye for detail and was very adamant about nursing observation and fact finding. Much of Nightingale’s work is still applicable today. Taking into account the era that Nightingale lived, it seems safe to say that she was very much ahead of her time. She developed concepts that have been built upon and are still utilized in today’s nursing practice. Nightingale’s theory focusing on environment could be utilized for the purpose of performance assessment.

How do we as nurses provide for our patients environmental needs? Does the nurse listen to patient concerns regarding the environment? Does the nurse take an active role in communicating with the patient by asking questions related to environment and patient comfort? Is the nurse able to anticipate client needs based on the presenting complications? Is the nurse able to manage the environmental factors such as noise, family members, hospital staff, temperature, equipment, etc…?

How do we as nurses provide for our patients environmental needs? Is the environment safe, sanitary, and secure? Do other members of the health care team need to be involved, such as social workers, or occupational/physical therapists? Are there any potentially harmful environmental factors that need to be addressed? Can the environment be modified to be more accommodating? Is the nurse critically thinking, exploring even the ‘outside the box’ ideas that may be utilized?

How are you at managing your patient’s environment? Think about the questions presented and ask yourself, is there any way that I can better improve my patient’s environmental needs? Keep an open mind when assessing patient environment and pay close attention to cultural differences when planning care. These are questions that Florence Nightingale would most likely ask if she were here today.

References Alligood, M. R., & Tomey, A. M. (2006). Nursing Theorists and Their Work (6th ed.). Mosby, Inc. Ignatavicius,D.D., & Workman,L.M. (2006). Medical Surgical Nursing, Critical Thinking for Collaborative Care (5th ed.). Elsevier Saunders. Kearney-Nunnery, R. (2008). Advancing Your Career: Concepts of professional nursing (4th ed.). F. A. Davis Company.

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