Analysing Florence Nightingale's Nursing Theory and Philosophical View
Background
Nursing theory offers a structure for identifying what nursing is, explaining who nurses are, how many nurses are required, and the therapeutic goals of nursing. The basic elements of nursing theory are concepts and propositions, with propositions reflecting how concepts communicate with one another and concepts acting as the theory's basis. By identifying and tracking the desired outcomes of nursing care procedures, nursing theory distinguishes itself from other fields and activities. The patient, form and describe nursing practise, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, the patient, Nursing and Health. The theoretical principles and hypotheses that often characterize and explain desirable responses to and outcomes of treatment guide all phases of the nursing process, including planning, implementing, and evaluating nursing care. Grand theories, middle-range theories, and micro-range theories are the three types of theories available. A grand idea isn't supposed to be used to establish practical nursing interventions. The theory of Florence Nightingale is an example of a grand theory. According to Torres, the basic theory characteristics are:
- the principles must provide a specific way of viewing a phenomenon;
- logical;
- straightforward yet generalizable;
- testable;
- contribute to general knowledge through research;
- should be used as a reference practise.
Importance of Nursing Theories
Explain the phenomenon of nursing, distinguish the basis of practise by explicitly describing nursing, improve patient care, enhance professional status for nurses, improve communication between nurses, and provide research and education guidance. For interpreting and describing what nurses do, the theory is needed.
Common Concepts in Nursing Theories
While Florence Nightingale thought textbooks were unsuitable for teaching the 'art' of nursing, she did admit that they could be used to teach environmental management and sanitary aspects of nursing. The practical side of nursing was unimportant to Nightingale. Individual (patient), setting, health, and nursing are four principles in nursing philosophy that affect and define nursing practice (goals, roles, functions).
Florence Nightingale Theory
Nursing was established as an essential and well-trained part of healthcare by Nightingale. Her establishment of the Nightingale School in London in 1860, as well as the worldwide distribution of trained nurses, laid the foundation for nursing education.
The philosophy of Florence Nightingale stems from her deep devotion to God and sense of faith, which she formed as a child and carried throughout her life. Nightingale did not use religion as a social acceptance criterion. She saw nursing education as a secular pursuit in which church affiliation could not be a factor in the student selection process, since no religion needed health care and no one had the right to deny them access. She has seven conceptual assumptions that serve as the foundation for the creation of the model. The nurse's job is to change the environment in such a way that it obeys natural rules, creating an environment in which excellence can be achieved. The environment is a key idea in the Nightingale theory since it can be changed to improve conditions and enable natural laws to heal. Unhealthy or difficult environments, according to the Nightingale theory, lead to poor health and disease. Food, fluids, and drugs that reach the body, according to Nightingale, have a significant impact on breathing, light, noise control, relaxation, and room temperature. The most critical of these elements, according to Nightingale, was ventilation. Since it was widely believed that night air could cause disease, houses were kept tightly shut, resulting in poor air circulation and recurrent pollution.
Modern Concepts and Nightingale’s Canons
The individual receiving nursing care is referred to as a person, and Nightingale believed that improvements in the welfare of individuals and families contribute to improvements in the health of society. Nightingale recognised the importance of addressing psychological and social factors such as thought patterns, self-concepts, emotions, intelligence, and interpersonal relationships. She cautioned against a lack of variety (stimulation) in the sickroom and stated that illnesses are caused by psychological processes. Nightingale did not explicitly discuss the role of spirituality in personal health. The perception that an integrated whole has a reality separate from and greater than the sum of its parts is known as holism. Human beings, according to Nightingale, are holistic beings. To be well, one does not need to be disease-free; rather, one must optimize one's optimum potential. This is the nurse's affirming target, and it helps to characterise the profession's caring rather than healing existence. Disease was a healing mechanism, implying that signs alert one to the presence of illness, allowing for effective interventions.
Nightingale’s Models for Nursing Practice
Nightingale’s nursing process is a four-step sequence includes:
- observation,
- identification of the needed environmental alteration,
- implementation of the alteration,
- identification of the current health state.
Health promotion, disease prevention, health repair, and recovery are all appropriate states in which this model can be applied in health nursing. It is believed that both the needs provided by disease and the needs created by the adoption of the canons are met. The nurse is the more involved participant in the model, which is linear. This does not exclude mutuality of treatment or outcome; however, the nurse will be in charge of initiating the mutuality procedure. In today's practice, nurses are trained to tailor treatment to the person and to recognize and respond to symptoms and diseases as early as possible. Nightingale's trust in nurse continuing education has been shown to be crucial in today's rise in quality health care. Nightingale's principle, which includes direct sunshine, fresh air, and cleanliness, is still used in today's health care and treatment of tinea pedis to reduce the risk of secondary infections.
Conclusion
Overall, Florence's nursing care plans incorporated human beings, the world, and nature as a means of professional development through the interaction between wellness, care, and cure. The Nightingale system was considered a model in the development of the first nursing courses, and she was concerned with teaching nurses how and what to observe in patients. Florence Nightingale's contributions also spread around the globe, making the Nightingale system to be considered a model in the creation of the first nursing courses, and she was concerned with teaching nurses how and what to observe in patient.
