Biography: By: Caitlin Cade
Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. During the Crimean War, she and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the death count by two-thirds. Her writings sparked worldwide health care reform. In 1860 she established St. Thomas' Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses. She died August 13, 1910, in London.
Florence Nightingale spent her night rounds giving personal care to the wounded, establishing her image as the 'Lady with the Lamp.' |
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Theory Developed By Florence Nightingale:
Nightingale’s theory has broad applicability to the practitioner. Her model can be applied in most complex hospital intensive care environment, the home, a work site, or the community at large.
Major Concepts of Her Theory:
- "Patients are to be put in the best condition for nature to act on them, it is the responsibility of nurses to reduce noise, to relieve patients’ anxieties, and to help them sleep."
- As per most of the nursing theories, environmental adaptation remains the basis of holistic nursing care.
Major Concepts of Her Theory:
- Nursing: “What nursing has to do… is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him” (Nightingale, 1859/1992) Nightingale stated that nursing “ought to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet – all at the least expense of vital power to the patient.”
She reflected the art of nursing in her statement that, “the art of nursing, as now practiced , seems to be expressly constituted to unmake what God had made disease to be, viz., a reparative process. - Human Beings: Human beings are not defined by Nightingale specifically. They are defined in relationship to their environment and the impact of the environment upon them.
- Environment: The physical environment is stressed by Nightingale in her writing. Nightingale’s writings reflect a community health model in which all that surrounds human beings is considered in relation to their state of health.
- Health: Nightingale (1859/1992) did not define health specifically. She stated, “We know nothing of health, the positive of which pathology is the negative, except from the observation and experience. Given her definition that of the art of nursing is to “unmake what God had made disease,” then the goal of all nursing activities should be client health. She believed that nursing should provide care to the healthy as well as the ill and discussed health promotion as an activity in which nurses should engage.
- Other Concepts
- Health of Houses
- Ventilation and Warming
- Light
- Noise
- Variety
- Bedding
- Personal Cleanliness
- Nutrition and Taking Food
- Chattering Hopes and Advices
- Social Considerations
Application to Nurse Aids and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Although Florence Nightingale died nearly a century ago, her contributions to modern nursing are felt today. From proper wound care and the sterile conditions of the modern operating room to the current shift from hospital care to outpatient and home health care, it all started with an affluent, young, visionary woman named Florence. Florence Nightingale still serves as a model for nurses today. With vision, values and voice, nurses care for all people, leading societies around the world toward better health.
Her theories also go along with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and she has some of the same basic summaries just like Maslow, as seen above. |