Nightingale’s Environmental Theory vs. Peplau’s Interpersonal Relations Theory Report

The impact of Nightingale’s theory is great as it has changed the main idea of nursing education and practice. Instead of addressing medicine and pharmacological interventions to help patients, nurses learn how to use the physical healthcare environment to achieve positive care outcomes. Peplau’s contributions are also imperative for establishing therapeutic relationships between patients and healthcare providers. This approach allows nurses to decrease anxiety and use communication to support their patients.

If I met each of the chosen theorists, I would ask the same question. I am interested in if they could predict the success of their ideas. Both Nightingale and Peplau introduced interesting ideas for nursing practice. I want to know, “What allowed them to understand that the chosen elements of nursing care should play such a great role?” There is much information about the theorists and their backgrounds, and I would like to know more about their personal motivators in theory-making.

I would prefer to work with Nightingale if I were sick or injured. My reasons are mostly based on recent changes and restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Today, not many people pay enough attention to the environment in which care is offered and medical help is developed. As a result, infections and poor hygiene affect human health. I want a true environmental professional nurse to care for me because her methods predict the penetration of negative external factors.

References

Suhariyantoa, K., Hariyati, R. T. S., & Ungsianik, T. (2018). Improving the interpersonal competences of head nurses through Peplau’s theoretical active learning approach. Enfermeria Clinica, 28(1), 149-153. Web.

Riegel, F., Crossetti, M. D. G. O., Martini, J. G., & Nes, A. A. G. (2021). Florence Nightingale’s theory and her contributions to holistic critical thinking in nursing. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 74(2). Web.