NIGHTINGALE’S

THEORY
 BACKGROUND OF THEORIST
 Florence nightingale was born on may 12,
1820,in Florence, Italy.
 She began her nursing training in 1851 in
kaiserwerth in Germany. She worked as
the nursing superintendent at the
institution for care of sick women in
distressed circumstances, where she
instituted many changes to improve
patient care.
 She is known as “The lady with the
lamp “for her nightly excursions through
the wards to review the care of the
soldiers .
 Nightingale died on august 13,1910.
 she is viewed as the mother of modern
nursing. she synthesized information
gathered in many of her life experiences
to assist her in the development of
modern nursing.
 NIGHTINGALE’S THEORY
 The nightingale’s theory is also called
NIGHTINGALE’S ENVIRONMENTAL
THEORY..
 Nightingale viewed the manipulation of
the physical environment as a major
component of nursing care.
 The inter-relationship of a
THEORY healthful environment with
BASIS nursing. External influences
and conditions can prevent,
suppress, or contribute to
disease or death

Nurses help patients

THEORY retain their own vitality
GOAL by meeting their BASIC
NEEDS through control of
the environment
 Control of the
NURSING’S environment for :
FOCUS Individuals
Families
Community
Three Types of Environments

PHYSICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 PSYCHOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENT

 SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

 Consists of physical elements where the

patient is being treated
 Affects all other aspects of the environment
 Cleanliness of environment relates directly
to disease prevention and patient mortality
 Aspects of the physical environment
influence the social and psychological
environments of the person
PSYCHOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT
 Can be affected by a negative physical
environment which then causes STRESS
 Requires various activities to keep the mind
active (i.e, manual work, appealing food, a
pleasing environment)
 Involves communication with the person,
about the person.
 SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

 Consists of a person’s home or hospital

room, as well as the total community that
affects the patient’s specific environment
 Involves collecting data about illness and
disease prevention
 Includes components of the physical
environment - clean air, clean water,
proper drainage
 COMPONENTS OF NIGHTINGALE’S
ENVIROMENTAL THEORY

 Health of Houses
 Ventilation and Warming
 Light
 Noise
 Variety
 Bed and Bedding
 Cleanliness of Rooms and Walls
 Personal Cleanliness
 CONTD>>
 Cleanliness of Rooms and Walls
 Personal Cleanliness
 Nutrition and Taking Food
 Chattering Hopes and Advices
 Observation of the Sick
 Social Considerations
 Nightingale’s Theory & Nursing’s
Metaparadigm - NURSING
 Stated that Nursing “Ought to signify the
proper use of fresh air, light, warmth,
cleanliness, quiet, and a proper diet.
 Facilitates a patient’s reparative process by
ensuring the best possible environment
 Influences the environment to affect health
 Nightingale’s Theory & Nursing’s
Metaparadigm – HUMAN BEING

 Referred by Nightingale as “the patient”

 A human being acted upon by a nurse, or
affected by the environment
 Has reparative powers to deal with disease
 Recovery is in the patient’s power as long
as a safe environment exists
 Nightingale’s Theory & Nursing’s
Metaparadigm - ENVIRONMENT
 The foundational component of
Nightingale’s theory
 The external conditions & forces that
affect one’s life and development
 Includes everything from a person’s food
to a nurse’s verbal & nonverbal
interactions with the patient
 Nightingale’s Theory & Nursing
Metaparadigm - HEALTH
 Nightingale did not define health
specifically. She stated that health is
maintained by using a person’s healing
powers to their fullest extent .
 It is also maintained by controlling the
environmental factors so as to prevent
disease.
 She viewed as a reparative process
instituted by nature.
She believed that nurse should help
patient through their healing process.
 Nurses should provide care to the healthy
as well as the ill and discussed health
promotion as an activity in which nurses
should engage .
 NIGHTINGALE’S
ENVIRONMENTAL
MODEL
CLIENT AND ENVIROMENT IN
BALANCE
 NIGHTINGALE’S ENVIROMENTAL
MODEL
 Nightingale’s environmental model can be seen in
figure.
 The client, the nurse, and major environmental
concepts are in balance; that is nurse can
manipulate the environment to compensate for
the client’s response to it.
 The goal of the nurse is to assist the client in
staying in balance . if the environment of a client
is out of balance, the client expends unnecessary
energy
Client expanding unnecessary energy by being
stressed by
environment (noise)
In fig 2 the client is experiencing stress
because of noise.
 Nursing interventions focus on reducing
the noise and decreasing the client’s
unnecessary energy expenditure.
 The nurse’s role is to place the client in
the best position for nature to act upon
him, thus encouraging healing.
 SUMMARY
 Back ground of the theorist
 Types of environment
 Components of nightingale’s theory
 Nursing Metaparadigms
 Application
 Bibliography

 Parker E marilyn. Nursing theories and practice.2nd

edition.philadelphia:FA davis company;1995.p. 39-53.
 George b Julia .Nursing theories the base for nursing
practice.4th edition.Person publishers.2001.p 33 -48
 Evelyn M wills, Ewen Mc melanie.2nd edition. Lippincott
Williams and Wilkins.p 133-136.
 Young amne, Taylor susan Gebahardt , Laughlin Mc
Katherine.Connections nusing ,theory and practice 1st
edition.Missouri:mosby Inc.p. 4-5.