TABLE OF CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION

2. The theory

3. The Achievement

4. THE CHALLENGES OR SET BACK OF THE THEORY

5. THE IMPLICATION TO THE NURSING PRACTICE

6. CONCLUSION

7. REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION

The environmental theory developed by Florence Nightingale1 in the second

half of the nineteenth century in England, has focused primarily on the
environment, interpreted as all external conditions and influences that affect the
life and development of an organism, that are able to prevent, suppress or
contribute to disease and death.
 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE THEORY

 The theory;
Florence nightingale theory is based on her personal experiences which she
faces during providing care to sick and injured soldiers. In her theory she
described that there is very strong relationship of a person with his/her
environment, health and nurse.

Get to know the concepts behind Florence Nightingale’s Environmental

Theory in this study guide about nursing theories. Learn about Nightingale’s
biography, her career, her works that shaped nursing. The next part is an in-
depth discussion about her Environmental Theory, its metaparadigm, major, and
sub concepts, including its application to nursing practice. 

 Environmental Theory:
Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory defined Nursing as “the act of
utilizing the patient’s environment to assist him in his recovery.”
Nightingale providing care to wounded and ill soldiers during the Crimean War
It involves the nurse’s initiative to configure environmental settings appropriate
for the gradual restoration of the patient’s health and that external factors
associated with the patient’s surroundings affect the life or biologic and
physiologic processes and his development.
She identified 5 environmental factors: fresh air, pure water, efficient
drainage, cleanliness or sanitation, and light or direct sunlight.

 Florence Nightingale - Nursing Theorist:

Florence Nightingale is the most recognized name in the field of nursing. Her
work was instrumental for developing modern nursing practice, and from her
first shift, she worked to ensure patients in her care had what they needed to get
healthy. Her Environmental Theory changed the face of nursing to create
sanitary conditions for patients to get care.

Nightingale's Modern Nursing Theory also impacted nursing education. She

was the first to suggest that nurses be specifically educated and trained for their
positions in healthcare. This allowed there to be standards of care in the field of
nursing, which helped improve overall care of patients.
According to Nightingale, if nurses modify patient’s environment according to
her canons of environment, she can help patient to restore his usual health or
bring patient in recovery. ... Hence, Nightingale provided a basis for providing
holistic care to the patients and it is still applicable today.

 The Achievement;
Florence Nightingale is most remembered as a pioneer of nursing and a
reformer of hospital sanitation methods. For most of her ninety years,
Nightingale pushed for reform of the British military health-care system and
with that the profession of nursing started to gain the respect it deserved.

 Nightingale's Achievements in The 1850's:

While fund-raising to found her school, Florence Nightingale spread her ideas
throughout the hospital and convinced nurses to change their techniques. On
October 14th 1854, Florence Nightingale was invited by Sidney Herbert to lead
a team of 38 nurses to Scutari, Turkey to help care for war victims. In Scutari,
more than 8,000 patients had either Cholera or Malaria, but some also had
Typhus and Dysentery.

The death rates in the hospital were very high: over 60%. After only a couple of
months, the death rates dropped to 42%, and after 6 months, the death rates
were at 2%. This was a direct result of Florence Nightingale's personal efforts to
save each and every patient in the hospital.

At age 38, she contracted chronic "Crimean Fever", which renders a person
disabled. Crimean Fever is a sickness one gets from tick bites, which Florence
Nightingale was frequently exposed to in Scutari. Although Florence
Nightingale was home bound for the next 52 years, she did not let her ambition
fade. She began writing books about nursing regulations for the public to
read. Notes on Hospitals was published in 1859.

Florence Nightingale started an organization called the Nightingale Fund, and

she directed all her income and donations to that fund to raise money to found
the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses. After years of hard work, she had
raised over £59,000 GBP ($89,603.30 USD) to found the institution. It was
founded in 1860 at the St. Thomas Hospital in London. 

Although Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale School and Home for
Nurses, she did not want to be the headmistress. A woman named Sarah
Wardroper, who was a matron at the St. Thomas Hospital, was hired to run the
school. Florence Nightingale kept writing and soon after, Notes on Nursing:
What It Is and What It Is Not was published in late 1860.
Florence Nightingale started an organization called the Nightingale Fund, and
she directed all her income and donations to that fund to raise money to found
the Nightingale School and Home for Nurses. After years of hard work, she had
raised over £59,000 GBP ($89,603.30 USD) to found the institution. It was
founded in 1860 at the St. Thomas Hospital in London.
Although Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale School and Home for
Nurses, she did not want to be the headmistress. A woman named Sarah
Wardroper, who was a matron at the St. Thomas Hospital, was hired to run the
school. Florence Nightingale kept writing and soon after, Notes on Nursing:
What It Is and What It Is Not was published in late 1860.

 The challenges or set back of the theory;

When Florence Nightingale got to the hospital, she saw that wounded men were
sleeping in overcrowded, dirty rooms without any blankets. Wounded soldiers
often arrived with diseases like typhus, cholera and dysentery

The position proved challenging as Nightingale grappled with a cholera

outbreak and unsanitary conditions conducive to the rapid spread of the disease.
Nightingale made it her mission to improve hygiene practices, significantly
lowering the death rate at the hospital in the process.

 The implication to the nursing practice;

Not only did she improve the standards of the nursing profession, she
also enhanced the hospitals in which they worked. While working in a filthy
facility during the Crimean War, Nightingale made recommendations for
sanitary improvements and established standards for clean and safe hospitals.

Nursing implications are the nursing-related consequences of something (a

disease, a medication, a procedure). i.e. not the medical side effects, but the
things which may occur which are up to the nurse to resolve. To work out what
they are, you need to understand about the disease, medication or procedure.

In addition, it promotes critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and

decision-making skills in clinical practice. Providing care via the use of nursing
process increases the quality of care and in turn, increases the level of
satisfaction in individuals who receive care.
Because nursing is a practice discipline, research is conducted to address issues
that directly affect nursing practice, whether in patient care, administration, or
education. Nursing implications are the possible clinical consequences or effects
of implementing the study's findings (Polit & Beck, 2014). Research may have
varied clinical implications.
CONCLUSION

The study allowed us to critically analyse the Environmental Theory of

Florence Nightingale, through an attentive and reflective reading of the book
"Notes on Nursing - what it is and what it is not". It is noticeable that the
theoretical principles were established and serve as parameter nowadays, and
their relevance can be considered a history mark in the history of nursing. We
conclude, therefore, through the critical analysis carried out, that the theory in
focus has significances, clear and understandable language and concepts, which
induce the formulation of proposals and are explained and understood by
variables cited by Nightingale in the construction of the Environmental Theory
and that there is the influence of the practice of nursing.
REFERENCES
1. Nightingale F. Notas sobre enfermagem: o que é e o que não é. Tradução de
Amália Correa de Carvalho. São Paulo: Cortez; 1989. 2. Haddad VCN, Santos
TCF. The environmental theory by florence nightingale in the teaching of the
nursing school Anna Nery (1962 - 1968). Esc. Anna Nery [on line]. 2011
Oct./Dec.;[cited 2012 nov 23];15(4):755-61. Available from:
http://www.scielo.br/scielo. php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1414-
81452011000400014 3. Moreschi C, Siqueira DF, Dalcin CB, Grasel JT,
Backes DS. Homenagem a Florence Nightingale e compromisso com a
sustentabilidade ambiental. Rev. baiana enferm. [on line]. 2011 mai/ago;[citado
2012 nov 23];25(2):203-8. Disponível:
http://www.portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/enfermagem/article/ view/5260/4477