Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment

Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment

Nursing Theories

Theory-guided nursing practice significantly contributes to improved nursing care quality since it enhances nurses’ ability to articulate the services they offer patients and when they do it. Nursing theories refer to rigorous and creative bodies of knowledge that guide nursing practice in regard to what nursing is, the roles of nurses, and the time they serve the roles. Nursing theories uniquely define nursing, thus separating it from other disciplines. It is a framework of ideas and objectives created to direct nursing practice in a more detailed and focused manner. The profession of nursing is dedicated to identifying its unmatched collection of knowledge that is essential to nursing practice (Younas & Quennell, 2019). Nurses must recognize, create, and comprehend nursing-related concepts and theories to discern this base of knowledge Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment.

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Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory

Nursing, according to Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory, is the act of exploiting the patient’s environment to support him in his recovery. According to this theory, the nurse should manipulate the environment appropriately to enhance the gradual improvement of the patient’s health. It also stipulates that the patient’s development and physiologic and biologic processes are affected by external factors linked to their surroundings. Florence nightingale is the first nursing theorist who built the foundation of nursing as a profession. The major metaparadigms of the environmental theory are nursing, health, person, and the environment (Riegel et al., 2021). According to this theory, nursing care is provided to a person, and a good external or internal environment improves a patient’s ability to retain energy.

In her writing, Nightingale places a strong emphasis on the natural world. According to Nightingale’s theory, community health is a concept in which everything around a person is taken into account when determining their state of health. She advocated for nurses to participate in health promotion as a professional activity because she thought nursing should treat both the well and the sick. Concepts discussed in this theory encompass ventilation, cleanliness, the health of houses, air, light, nutrition, variety, bedding, and noise. She argued that poorly built homes have the same effect on healthy people as poorly built hospitals have on sick people. When the air is stagnant, illness will undoubtedly follow. She believed that anyone who inhaled his or her own air repeatedly would become or remain ill. She was worried about noxious air as well as foul odors from fecal matter. She also critiqued fumigations believing that the source of the odor should be removed. In addition to fresh air, Nightingale believed that the ill required light (Pfettscher, 2021). She observed that patients preferred direct sunlight. She stated that the patient’s room temperature should be appropriate to accommodate the patient in a comfortable environment.

According to Nightingale, a healthy adult exhales approximately three pints of moisture through their skin and lungs every day. Unless the bedding is often changed and ventilated, this organic material permeates the sheets and remains there. According to her, the bed should be positioned so the patient can see the view out of a window and be in the area of the room that receives the most natural light. She also emphasized that the caregiver should never sit on the patient’s bed, lean against it, or shake it needlessly. Regarding nutrition and food consumption, Nightingale recognized that people have varied food desires at various times of the day and that many modest servings may be better for the patient than large meals. Because it is distracting, she suggested that no activity be conducted with patients while they are eating (Pfettscher, 2021). She also emphasized the importance of considering the patient’s social environment when caring for them.

In my clinical nursing practice, I have incorporated the use of this theory in various settings. The contemporary nursing practice issue I experienced involved a 57-year-old female patient who came to the hospital with complaints of chills, shortness of breath, chest pain, and a productive cough. On physical examination, findings of lung auscultation indicated crackles. The patient had greasy hairs and halitosis, which indicated poor hygiene. She reported being a cigarette smoker for the past 15 years. She lived with her three daughters in a small one-roomed house that had one window, with no adequate sunlight and light passing into it. From the evaluation of this patient’s scenario, smoking and housing infrastructure contributed to respiratory infection development. The body’s immunity decreases with smoking; thus, respiratory infection developed secondary to low immunity, and environmental factors like poor house ventilation, overcrowding, and poor hygiene worsened the symptoms. Nightingale emphasized the significance of accessing fresh air, being exposed to sunlight, and maintaining good hygiene in relation to the patient’s health (Pfettscher, 2021). Her theory was applied in this scenario by modifying the environment and educating the patient and her family on the effects of the environment on health.

Virginia Henderson’s Nursing Need Theory

Virginia Henderson developed the nursing need theory, which she derived from her nursing education and practice. She focused on defining the unique concern of nursing practice. In this theory, she emphasized the significance of promoting patient independence so their progress during hospitalization would be hastened. The major components of the theory encompass the environment, the individual, nursing, and health. Henderson argued that people have needs that are fundamental to their health. They might need help getting healthy and independent or getting help dying peacefully. She believed preserving physiological and emotional balance is the key to achieving wholeness since the body and mind are interrelated and inseparable. According to her, achieving good health is challenging since a number of factors influence it, such as emotional balance, cultural background, and age ((Potter et al., 2017). She included the maintenance of a supportive environment that is suitable for health as one of the 14 components of providing holistic care Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment.

Need theory has 14 components that guide nursing activities based on people’s needs. These components holistically cover social, psychological, physiological, and spiritual needs. These needs are: sleeping and resting, breathing normally, drinking and eating adequately, eliminating waste, moving and maintaining appropriate body postures, maintaining body cleanliness, avoiding injuries and environmental dangers, maintaining normal body temperature, selecting suitable clothes, communicating effectively, worshiping based on one’s faith, participating in recreation and having a sense of accomplishment after working (Potter et al., 2017). These 14 components of the need’s theory outline health as a person’s capacity for autonomous functioning. Along with disease prevention and treatment, nurses must emphasize the promotion of health.

In my nursing practice, I have applied the need theory to the management of patients with different health issues. One of my experiences involved a patient who had suffered a stroke in addition to experiencing fibromyalgia. The nursing concepts stipulated by the need theory are that nurses should receive professional education, dedicate themselves to nursing and provide care to patients until they can independently care for themselves (Potter et al., 2017). Utilizing the need theory in this scenario involved focusing on the patient’s individualized needs with the goal of regaining their independence. The patient could not perform activities of daily living due to stroke; thus, his plan of care was aimed at regaining independence through occupational and physical therapy. Patient movement measures were also taken to prevent further injury.

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 References

Pfettscher, S. A. (2021). Florence Nightingale: modern nursing. Nursing Theorists and Their Work E-Book, 52.

Potter, P. A., Hall, A. M., Perry, A. G., Potter, P. A., & Stockert, P. A. (2017). Fundamentals of nursing. Elsevier Health Science.

Riegel, F., Crossetti, M., Martini, J. G., & Nes, A. (2021). Florence Nightingale’s theory and her contributions to holistic critical thinking in nursing. Revista brasileira de enfermagem74(2), e20200139. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0139

Younas, A., & Quennell, S. (2019). Usefulness of nursing theory-guided practice: an integrative review. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences33(3), 540–555. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12670

Final Project Rubric

 

Competency 20 Points 18 Points 17 Points 0 points Points Achieved
Content: analysis Incorporates at least two theories into the paper in addition to a summary on  Nightingale’s influence. Incorporates at least two theories into the paper, but no summary on  Nightingale’s influence. Incorporates one theory into the paper, no summary on  Nightingale’s influence. No theory incorporated into the paper /20
Content: application A contemporary nursing practice issue from the student’s own experience is incorporated into the paper. A contemporary nursing issue from the student’s reading is incorporated into the paper. No issue is discussed or there is no supporting evidence that the issue is relevant to the student’s experience No relevant practice issue included /20
Quality: resources & research Provides references for 4 to 6 scholarly articles and from course texts that support the topic Provides references for 3 articles and references one text to support the topic. Provides references for 2 articles and/or no references to text. No scholarly references included /20
Quality: reflection Includes self-reflection on use of theory in own nursing practice. Includes a brief self-reflection on use of theory in own nursing practice Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment. Includes minimal evidence of self-reflection. No evidence of self-reflection /20
Competency 10 Points 9 Points 8 Points 0 points Points Achieved
Grammar, spelling, and punctuation There are no errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation There are a few minor (1-2) errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation that do not detract from the meaning There are major errors (3-5) in grammar, spelling, and punctuation that do not reflect doctoral writing More than 5 errors in grammar, spelling, & punctuation /10
APA Compliance The paper meets APA formatting guidelines Florence Nightingales Theory And Her Contributions To Holistic Critical Thinking In Nursing Assignment. There are a few minor errors (1-2) in APA formatting. There are significant errors (3-5) in the APA format of the paper. More than 5 APA errors /10
Total /100