Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence, Italy to an upper-class British family. At a tender age, she traveled to various parts of Europe with her sister and her parents. During the trips, she met Mary Clarke who had significant influence in her life. During her time, women were expected to be respectful wives, not actively involved in economic activities. However, Clerk convinced her that women were also capable of playing major roles in transforming society other than simply being housewives. Her strong desire to serve people drove her to the field of nursing. Given that her rich father was opposed to the idea of her becoming a nurse, she had to teach herself the art and science of nursing. Her commitment saw her start working at institutions of healthcare as a nurse. The experiences that Nightingale had in Crimea during the Crimean War informed the nursing concepts that she developed, especially the Environment Theory. During the war, she and many other nurses and Catholic nuns went to the battlefield to help the wounded and the sick. Some of her patients died while many others survived. She noticed that the environment to which these patients were exposed affected them significantly. She was committed to finding ways of minimizing the deaths of patients under the care of nurses, and that is why she developed this theory to help nurses when offering care to patients.
The Environment Theory developed by Nightingale is widely considered the founder of modern nursing (Capolongo, Bottero, Buffoli, & Lettieri, 2015). It is one of the earliest theories and was primarily developed based on the experience of the theorist. When developing this theory, Nightingale’s primary reference was the personal experiences she had with the patients. She never had the opportunity to go through normal nursing classes as the modern nurses and as such, most of her concepts were based on what she experienced as a person while caring for the patients. Steadman (2014) argues that the fact that Nightingale’s concepts were developed based on real-life experiences they have remained relevant despite the changes witnessed in the field of nursing. The theory has been referenced by many scholars since it was developed. Some of the fundamental concepts of nursing in use today were developed based on this theory.
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Environmental Theory was developed to address the problem nursing environment. A patient admitted to an institution of healthcare needs a certain environment to heal and be discharged, according to this theory. Ventilation and warming are some of the primary factors defined by this theory. Patients must be kept warm and the wards must be properly ventilated to avoid infections and re-infections. Cleanliness of the area, proper lighting, and controlled noise are also identified as important factors. Other critical factors that nurses must take into consideration include personal cleanliness, clean bed and beddings, proper nutrition, close observation, and offering patients hope and advice as may be necessary. This theory also reminds nurses that nursing is a calling and one must be ready to serve. It prepared nurses psychologically, making it easy to deliver on their mandate without complaints.
Environment Theory is based on inductive reasoning. It is based on the premise that several factors within a patient’s environment would enable them to get better or may worsen their condition (Yoost & Crawford, 2015). A patient who is in a clean environment cared for by nurses who are hygienic, offered the right nutrition and medicine, and offered advice and inspiration are likely to get better at a faster rate than those who lack these benefits. This theory reasons that a series of environmental factors when present would make a patient get better. The processes undertaken by the nurses to create the desired environment results in a conclusion that can be positive or negative based on what was presented.
Environment Theory is based on four major concepts. The first concept in nursing. Nightingale argues nursing, as practiced by nurses, entails putting the patients in the best conditions to enable nature to act upon them. Nurses will try to influence nature by providing favorable conditions needed for the healing. Cleanliness, light, warmth, fresh air, and quiet are some of the basics of nursing. The second concept d
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