Florence Nightingale's Environmental Theory: Analytical Essay

Florence Nightingale is considered the founder of modern nursing. She was a nurse during the Crimean war who believed that the environment plays a role on the patient’s health (Alligood, 2018, p. 2). The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory which provides the concepts, and basics of a healthy and clean environment.

Summary of Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory

Many people died during the Crimean war in part due to unsanitary conditions. Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory focuses on a clean environment for patients. The concepts within her theory are pure air, light, cleanliness, efficient drainage, and pure water (as cited in Alligood, 2018, p. 53).

Benefits of the Theory

An environment and its surroundings can affect a patient’s health. One benefit of this theory is that it is still used in practice today to provide the basics of a clean environment for patients. Today’s hospitals have efficient drainage by having toilets, and sewage lines to remove waste. They also have windows in patient rooms to provide light and ventilation, as well as air conditioning and heating. Nurses help to keep the patient clean by giving patients bed baths and changing their bedding when needed. Janitors clean the hospital by mopping floors and sanitizing patient rooms. Another benefit of this theory is that by providing the basics of a clean environment it helps to reduce the risk of diseases and infections in patients.

Limitations of the Theory

This theory has a few limitations. One limitation of this theory that can be noted is that having a clean environment still does not prevent patients from getting diseases, or infections. Another limitation of this theory is that it does not address how the environment can impact a patient’s health in patients of different acuity levels. The last limitation is that even though technology was non-existent at that time, the theory does not address how technology can impact a patient’s health. Technology is a part of the healthcare environment in today’s time. Technology has helped improve healthcare.

Clinical Application of Nightingale’s Theory Article

Summary

This article is about a scenario at a hospital where the patient was not getting better due to unsanitary conditions on the patient’s unit. The patient was dirty, and the surgical unit that the patient was on was dirty and had a bad smell. The patient’s health was deteriorating. The nurse that wrote about this clinical scenario used Nightingale’s theory as the basis of how to improve the patient’s environment, so that the patient’s health would improve.

Critiquing the Application of the Theory in the Article

The theory was applied well in this article. In the article the authors talked about how the patient, and the patient’s bed was dirty (Sher & Akhtar, 2018, p. 2). Florence Nightingale talked about the need for rooms, bed, and bedding to be clean in her theory (as cited in Alligood, 2018, p. 53). The patient’s windows were open to allow the smell on the unit to dissipate. The theory would be the basis for how the patient should be clean, and how the environment should be kept.

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Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory to Clinical Practice

Clinical Practice Issue

A clinical practice issue that is talked about a lot in both the work, and clinical education setting is hospital acquired infections. Patients are susceptible to hospital acquired infections in many ways. Some ways in which patients may obtain a hospital acquired infection are from ventilators, inadequate hygiene, and Foley catheters. Proper patient hygiene care, handwashing, and following hospital protocols are ways to prevent hospital acquired infections.

Theory Guides My Nursing Care

Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory can be used to guide my nursing decisions, and actions related to hospital acquired infections by advocating for cleanliness. Another way is by making sure to use proper hand hygiene, and sterile technique when needed. Some other ways that this theory guides my practice is by me making sure my patients are clean, have a clean bed and room, and making sure they have fresh food and water.

Theory to Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Part of my personal philosophy of nursing is making sure that a patient is clean and has a clean bed. These things are very important to my philosophy of nursing because for a patient to get healthier they need to have a sense of feeling clean. Advocating for a patient to have a clean environment would help reduce the chances of the patient getting an infection and becoming sicker.

Learning from Completing this Assignment

This assignment allowed me to go more in-depth and get a better understanding of Nightingale’s theory. By completing this assignment, it allowed me to assess a clinical scenario, and critique how well the theory was applied to the article. By doing this it gives me a better understanding of ways to connect Nightingale’s theory to my practice as a nurse, which would help improve a patient’s health.

Conclusion

The paper assessed Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory, and how it can be applied to everyday nursing. It also allowed me to explain how the theory applies to my personal philosophy of nursing. This paper also includes a critique of an article that applies the theory to a clinical scenario.

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References

1. Alligood, M. R. (2018). Nursing theorists and their work (9 ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier.
2. Sher, A. N., & Akhtar, A. (2018). Clinical application of Nightingale’s theory. Journal of Clinical Research & Bioethics, 9(4), 1-3. doi:10.4172/2155-9627.1000329