FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE

May 12, 1820-August 13, 1910

- The Lady
of the Lamp, as immortalized in the poem “Santa Filomena” (Longfellow, 1857)
- Funds rewarded were used to establish schools for nursing training at St. Thomas’s
Hospital and King’s College Hospital in London
NURSING EDUCATION:
By establishing the two schools….

 She was able to provide framework for the establishment of nursing training schools thru
a universal template that contains principles of nursing training.
 These principles included instructions in scientific and practical experience for the
mastery skills
 She also advocated the separation of nursing training from the hospital to a more
appropriate learning environment in the school or university setting
 She believed that nursing student is learning the art & science of nursing before being
employed in the nursing service
 She believed that good nursing can only come from good education
HER WRITINGS:
 Notes on Matters Affecting the Health Efficiency, and Hospital Administration of
the British Army Founded Chiefly on the Experience of the Late War (Nightingale,
1858a)
 Notes on Hospitals (Nightingale, 1858b),
 Report on Measures Adopted for Sanitary Improvements in India, from June 1869 to
June 1870 (Nightingale, 1871)
HER THEORY:

 focused on environment
  its components
o described the concepts of ventilation, warmth, light, diet, cleanliness, and noise
 believed that healthy surroundings were necessary for proper nursing care and
restoration/maintenance of health.
 Five essential components of environmental health:
1. Pure air,
2. Pure water
3. Efficient drainage,
4. Cleanliness, and
5. Light
 Emphasized:
o Proper venti8lation & Room temperature
o Proper positioning
o Lighting (sunlight)
o Cleanliness- contamination, source of infection
 She also included:
o Daily Bathing
o Hand washing
o Quiet & diet

ANALYSIS & EVALUATION

Degree of Usefulness in:
NURSING RESEARCH:
 Mother of Nursing Research
o Scientific method of inquiry & statistics
o Concepts of her theory still serves as bases for current research & adds to
understanding to modern practice
 Able to provide framework for the establishment of nursing training schools
 Advocate for the separation of nursing training from hospital to school setting
NURSING PRACTICE:
 Principle of nursing practice is still being employed today
 Advent of modernization and technology becomes a threat to the environment
 Global warming, noise and air pollutions, diet and vanity continue to pose challenges to
the nurse practitioner of today
NURSING METAPARADIGM CONCEPTS
PERSON:

 Patient
 Passive person- a patient that depends wholly on the nurse for task and control of his
environment
 Needs nursing care regardless of social worth
NURSING:
  comparable to that of motherly instinct
 a vocation that needs formal learning and application of scientific principles
 be more skilled in observing and reporting patient’s health status while providing care
HEALTH:

 Health as being WELL

 Living to ones potential to the full extent
 Disease & illness are viewed as reparative process that are instituted by MOTHER
NATURE when a person did not attend to his personal health concerns
 Emphasize promotion and prevention of diseases thru
 Prudent control of environment
 Social responsibility
ENVIRONMENT:

 External element which affects the health of sick and healthy individuals
 CENTRAL to the theory
 Therapeutic Environment
 Enhance comfort & recovery of the patient
EVALUATION
 CLARITY
o Clear and easily understood. It contains the following three major relationships:
1. Environment to patient
2. Nurse to environment
3. Nurse to patient
 SIMPLICITY
o Provides a descriptive, explanatory theory
o Objective of setting forth general rules for the practice and development of
nursing was met
 GENERALITY
o have been used to provide general guidelines for all nurse
o universality and timelessness of her concepts remain pertinent
o the role of observation and measurement of outcomes as an essential
component of nursing practice
 EMPIRICAL PRECISION
o Concepts and relationships are presented as truths rather than as tentative,
testable statements
o Practice should be based on their observations and experiences…
 DERIVABLE CONSEQUENCES
o Basic principles of environmental manipulation and care of the patient can be
applied in contemporary nursing settings
o Relevant to the professional identify and practice of nursing