Florence Nightingales Environmental Theory - Essay Example

Application of Theory: Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory Application of Theory: Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory Nursing academic Florence Nightingale realized conditions wherein soldiers received medical attention were the causes for a myriad of illnesses. Nightingale made this discovery while serving as a nursing practitioner during the Crimean war of the nineteenth century. These conditions included unhygienic rooms and intense exposure to all sorts of adaptable illnesses. Nightingale decent efforts aided in the improvement of the soldiers’ medical conditions for treatment and recovery. With financial support from the royal family, Nightingale set up a nursing school. Nightingale’s new profession at this school entailed practicing the principle that illnesses were reparative with a procedure that the environment plays a key role in treatment, recovery, or deterioration (Zborowsky, 2014). As a nursing student, I believe Nightingale’s environment principle is highly valuable to my profession. I am interested in practicing Nightingale’s environmental principle along with nursing peers in an effort to determine why nurses do not get corresponding rewards for their responsibilities and duties over their patients’ health and lives. The lack of a nursing license and registration number prevents me from fully practicing nursing. However, I can operate under my scope and gather insight of how I can control the environment to best suit my healing practices. Description of the Problem/Issue Nurses increasingly have to deal with the life and health issues of patients without corresponding increases in reward. The lives and health of patients is usually in the hands of nurses across medical facilities, especially when doctors are not around. However, doctors are the ones usually rewarded with corresponding raises in income. This negligence of reward for nurses’ responsibility over patients is a serious nursing practice issue today. Application of Concepts and Principles If I were to apply Nightingale’s Environmental Theory to a workplace with unrecognized nursing responsibilities, I would begin by changing the community’s obsolete view of nursing. Nursing is no longer a profession dominated by women. This perception arose from an era when women were subjugated. As a result, the perception spread to their professions and behavior. This subjugation gave birth to workplace inequality and eventually the lack of proper recognition for nurses. Second, I would enquire about the patient’s former health patterns. I would thirdly set up a nursing framework. Professional physicians often downplay nurses. In addition, patients’ relatives and workplace superiors do not share similar reverence when addressing nurses. This is a root cause for the overlooking of nurses’ work over patients. Setting up this framework means applying it is the following step, which is the fourth step in my application process. I should apply this nursing framework in the firm of a diagnosis. Lastly, I would ensure the room within the clinical facility is thoughtful and respectful of the patient’s culture. Determining a patient’s comfort and privacy means looking for contradictory signs. I would look for signs of whether the patient is uneasy in the facility. According to the Nightingale environmental model, the patient has to adapt to the medical surrounding because it is necessary for treatment or recovery (Zborowsky, 2014). If the patient is comfortable and private, I continue to figure out his or her history of illnesses. The simplest method of knowing the patient’s health history is by asking him or her. If the patient acquired medical attention from another professional practitioner, I would contact this professional and acquire records or information about this illness. If there is still more time, I would ask about the patient’s life at home and the types or amount of resources the patient can access. The Nightingale environmental model contends that academic backgrounds, household facilities, food, economic abilities, and household dynamics are determinants of health (Warelow, 2013). As a result, more knowledge about these aspects of a patient’s life is helpful. The fact that new nurses are introduced into new work settings twice-yearly means there is additional saturation of the employment base for nursing. As a result, it is an ideal example of the application of a nursing framework within Nightingale environmental model. In this case, there is a consensus that nurses are simply bodies that take over shifts in hospitals (Hoskins, 2009). With a framework that integrates these working and living conditions, I can come up with a method for creating a revering relationship between nurses and physicians that hospital managers can witness and respond to accordingly. After the diagnosis, nursing affected areas involves medicinal care and assisting the patient to acquire resources necessary for treatment and recovery. While applying the framework, I would avoid making any promises of recovery. This is because Nightingale said nurses should try to enable their patients rather than make uncertain claims of recovery (Warelow, 2013). Assisting the patient in the acquisition of resources for recovery comes in handy during release from the medical facility. After discharge, the patient should have a plan for acquiring and using resources necessary for recover while at home or work. Reduced workplace morale is observable at numerous healthcare amenities frequently (Hallett et al., 2012). In such cases, I would exchange facility or room with proper space and a means of moving the patient. If a proper compensation system is in place, physicians can lead the way towards equal treatment of nurses who perform similar crucial work towards the recovery of patients. As part of applying my nursing framework, I would control the patient’s microenvironment. I would also contact any near food stores and arrange the purchase and transportation of recommended diets. I would further discuss the likelihood of training nurses at the facility ways of preparing diets fit for therapeutic purposes. This training would further all nurses’ knowledge of healthy dietary necessities, how to prepare these meals, as well as facilitate good social responsibilities. Academic resources are crucial for employment. Offering my homeless patients knowledge of how to access such resources would be an exploration of the medical facility (Warelow, 2013). If homeless patients acquire education, they can get jobs and eventually afford houses. Showing a patient means of managing one’s environment and resources means he or she would gain more control over his or her life. Controlling the microenvironment is much easier than controlling a patient’s entire environment. Nightingale claimed that clean air, direct sunlight, hygiene, and warmth encourage healing (Zborowsky, 2014). The role of a nurse is controlling a patient’s surrounding to make the most of recovery. Certain medical workplaces comprise of nurses who accept their downtrodden professionals from patients’ relatives, coworkers, superiors, or physicians. In such cases, nurses who see this unethical and poor acceptance of their profession will exhibit low self-esteems and passive aggression of a number of courses (Hoskins, 2009). In addition, I can offer easily available and economic over-the-counter medicine to hinder or regulate infections for homeless patients. There are many ways to become a nurse. The exercise of hiring nurses is widespread instead of the preservation of very experienced nurses (Warelow, 2013). As a result, physicians and hospital managers end up expecting nurses to carry out all tasks responsible for patient recovery while understaffed. Conclusion Nightingale’s environmental principle is a neat and simple model with applications very applicable to today’s nursing profession. Nurses usually lack respect from their fellow professional physicians. In addition, patients’ relatives and workplace superiors do not share similar reverence when addressing nurses. This is a root cause for the overlooking of nurses’ work over patients. In addition, society did not push for women’s education. In spite of these setbacks, Nightingale envisioned change and worked towards it. Nightingale further used her nursing knowledge from her environmental principle and offered care to individuals and her community. References Hallett, C. E., Madsen, W., Pateman, B., & Bradshaw, J. (2012). "Time enough! or not enough time!" an oral history investigation of some British and Australian community nurses responses to demands for "efficiency" in health care, 1960-2000. Nursing History Review, 20, 136-61. Hoskins, S. (2009). Factors influencing staff nurses rejection of nursing leadership positions. (Order No. 3371529, University of Phoenix). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 216-n/a. Warelow, P. J. (2013). Changing philosophies: A paradigmatic nursing shift from nightingale. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing (Online), 31(1), 36-45. Zborowsky, T. (2014). The legacy of Florence Nightingales environmental theory: Nursing research focusing on the impact of healthcare environments. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 7(4), 19-34. Read More