Runninghead: PERSONAL NURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 1 Theory of Florence Nightingale andPersonal Nursing Philosophy of Misty Sanders RNMisty Sanders1-27-2018Fresno Pacific University PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 2 Theory of Florence Nightingale andPersonal Nursing Philosophy of Misty SandersIntroduction and History of FlorenceNightingaleIn choosing a theorist for this paper Iknew right away that I was going to select Florence Nightingale. I only knew asmall amount about her but it was just enough to intrigue me and provide mewith the desire to learn more about her as a theorist and her theory. Florence nightingalewas deemed the trailblazer for professional nursing theorists and consideredthe founder of modern nursing. Florence Nightingale was the first to suggestthat nursing required training and education.
She is the very first nursingtheorist. Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820, in Florence Italy. Shewas named after the city she was born in. her parents were William “Wen” andFrances “Franny” Nightingale. Nightingales family was considered in that timeto be wealthy and they were well educated. Nightingale lived in the Victorianera and in this time the women who were in their social class were suppose tobe domestic and become wives and mothers.
This was frustrating for Nightingaleas her attempts to get trained as a nurse were opposed by her family and mostlyher mother. Her family viewed nursing to be and inappropriate occupation for awoman of her status. Florence was highly educated because her father valuededucation and thought it to be very important.
He educated her from a youngchild and she was a gifted learner with her strongest subject beingmathematics. She found comfort in her religion and had a calling from God whereshe said he had called upon her to reduce human suffering. (Selanders, Louise,2018, p.2).
At the time she experienced her calling from God she was only 16years old and was not sure about what exactly they meant. After some time wentby she had more of her callings from God and was able to figure out what theymeant. Nightingales family was against her PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 3 becominga nurse because they viewed nursing as an occupation for the lower classes.
Sheenrolled in educational training at the Institution of Protestant Deaconessesat Kaiserworth in Germany in 1850 and then again in 1851. When she finally gotthe chance to study nursing she took full advantage and read everything she couldget her hands on, she volunteered at hospitals, and visited nursing homes. Atthis time she was able to catch on to the fact that some of the moderntreatments were killing patients more often than they were saving them.
Florence realized and truly believed that patients could be spared death ifthey were provided basic care like, warmth, rest, cleanliness, light, and food.She started proving this and was able to utilize these beliefs in the CrimeanWar in 1854 she and 38 other nurses were sent to minister. The conditions atthe hospital were horrible for the wounded soldiers receiving care. They wereunsanitary with incompetent nurse and care givers. Nightingale and the othernurses worked to clean the wards and provide the basic care (that she provedwas beneficial) to the wounded soldiers. The basic care that was provided becamestandards of care that were established and required. These basic standards ofcare were things like having clean clothes, clean dressings for wounds, andfood. Florence would help the solders with psychosocial needs as well likehelping them write letters to family.
Nightingale earned herself the nickname, “TheLady of The Lamp” because she would wander the halls at night and offer supportto the soldiers. Six months after Nightingale and her nurses arrived at Scutari;mortality in the hospital had dropped from 42.7 percent to 2.2 percent. Thisdecrease in mortality made Nightingale famous in England. When she got backfrom the war and discovered her new found fame she was able to open nursingschools to train nurses. Nursing came to be a respectable occupation for womanwho wanted to pursuework outside the home.
Florence used her incredible mathematical skills tobecome aPERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 4statisticianand she created a statistical analysis that analyzed costs and mortality ratesassociated with running military hospitals. One of these analyses was calledthe Coxcomb Chart. Nightingale wrote, “Notes on Nursing: What it is and What itis Not:” This book gave instructions when caring for the sick. Florence gotsick in 1855 with “Crimean Fever”, but it was most likely brucellosis.Brucellosis is contracted by drinking contaminated milk.
Nightingale hadlasting effects from this illness for over 25 years. Florence Nightingale diedin 1910.Detailed Description of FlorenceNightingales TheoryFlorenceNightingale was a religious woman who believed that Gods plan could be awokenand seen for each patient.
Florence Nightingale had a primary focus on nursingeducation. To Florence Nightingale nursing was a career as and a highercalling. Florence is the one who produced the new concept of nursing regardinga patient’s environment. Nightingale believed that disease was Gods way of ohealing the body of things like poison, decay, and other conditions.
Nightingale believed that a nurse’s foundation should start with God and it wasimportant for a nurse to provide an environment with conditions that would notinhibit the healing process. Nightingale believed also that nurses shouldcarefully observe the patient and create a calm and supportive environment forthe patients healing to take place. Florence believed that nurses should havemorals and be representatives for change in society. Some of her other beliefsof what a nurse should be were hard working, noble, and selfless. Somethingthat it very important in nursing that nightingale believed is that nurses areindependent decision makers that should be able to observe the patient andprovide facts about their condition to the doctor. As a result of the timeFlorence Nightingale spent in the Crimean Wars, she was able to PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 5comeup with the environmental theory.
This theory was defined by Nightingale in herbook, “Notes on Nursing: What is, What it is not”, said “the act of utilizingthe environment of thepatientto assist him in recovery”. Nightingale is considered the first nursingtheorist and a huge pioneer of for the nursing profession. Nightingale has beenconsidered the founder of modern nursing but did not start out her journeylooking to create a nursing theory but she did want to define nursing.
Her environmentaltheory includes essential components of a healthy environment like fresh air,pure water, effective drainage, cleanliness, warmth, light (especially directsunlight), and sufficient food supplies. These basic components can affect a patient’shealth and alter the environment. The nurse’s role is to create an environmentthat is specific for each patient and is at optimal and ideal surroundings thatpromote healing. The theory focuses on patient care and not on nursing process.The assumptions made in the environmental theory are: natural laws, mankind canachieve perfection, nursing is a calling, nursing is an art and science,nursing is achieved through environmental alteration, nursing requires aspecific educational base, and nursing is distinct and separate from medicine.The ten major concepts called Nightingale’s cannons:Ventilationand warmingLightand noiseCleanlinessof the areaHealthof houseBedand beddingPersonalcleanlinessVarietyOfferinghope and adviceFoodobservation PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 6Thistheory was considered pioneering in its time but these principles are stillbeing utilized and practiced and she has influenced nursing significantly.Why the theorist represents me as aprofessional nurseFlorenceNightingale was highly religious and based all of her nursing care, research,theory, and teachings on her belief in serving God.
In the book Understandingthe Work of Nurse Theorists: a Creative Beginning, I read a sentence that mademe realize I would be doing my paper on Florence Nightingale. The sentencesaid, “people who choose to become nurses should do so out of desire to serveGod and humanity” (Sitzman, Kathleen PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, Eichelberger, LisaPhD, RN, 2017). As a child, my grandmother was an RN. My mother always told methat nursing was a respectable field and it was a path that serves the lord andhumanity. This encouraged me to start my path to becoming a nurse. Florence Nightingale sought out tobecome more than a wealthy social figure, mother and wife.
Florence wanted tobe of service to humanity and God. For this reason I feel that she representsme. The reason I wanted to become a nurse was to first serve God and do Godswork and I wanted to help people which would be serving humanity.
I worked inthe ICU and we were with patients and families at their most vulnerable timesin life. We were encouraged to pray with our patients and support them in anyway we could. Florence Nightingale is an inspirationto me because she was highly intelligent and not afraid to go against what her familyassumed she should do. She was confident in her calling to become a nurse. Shewas a strong and independent woman of God who was not afraid to break out ofsocial norms. I may not be as strong and influential as she is but I aspire tobe. PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 7Examples of how Florence NightingalesTheory can be implemented into my professional role as a Nurse Since Florence Nightingale was areligious person, I believe it to be an example that she felt God should be apart of nursing and that nursing should be considered a higher calling.
Thiscan be implemented in practice through my previous example of praying with patientsif they would like. Most of us become nurses because we want to help people andserve humanity. If we take the idea of nursing as a higher calling we canaccomplish our goal in helping people. In nursing we are always making surethat our patients have the most optimal environment to promote healing. We arerequired to bath them, brush their teeth, and provide clean bedding andsunlight. Her theory is in everyday practice in the nursing field.
Hospitalshave protocols and rules for keeping a clean optimal environment but ultimatelyit is up to the nurse to create this environment for the patient. Innightingales theory she mentions the nurse has to be observant and able tobring facts to the doctor about the patient. This is a practice that is highlyimportant in everyday day nursing. It is up to the nurse to catch any change inthe patient’s condition. We need to be educated and have critical thinkingskills.My Philosophy Beforetaking this class I had never thought of nursing theory’s and could never havecome up with my own nursing philosophy. Nursing is a profession where care isprovided to the sick or ill. At a young age I knew I wanted tobecome a nurse when I was old enough because I believed it could be a way to“help people’.
I also thought it would be a way to help my PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 8communityand serve God. I believe just like Nightingale, that nursing is a calling. Ittakes a certain type of person to care for people in the hardest and mostdifficult times in their lives. Onceyou get that license, you gain a responsibility to a person who has to be ableto make critical decisions. The patients, their families and others in societydepend on us and our skills. I personally believe that nursing isa calling and it should be something we are proud to do.
Every nurse shouldwant to help, and view nursing as a way to do so. If a person gets into nursingstrictly as a way to make money, I believe they will be unhappy and unfulfilled.Nursing is a highly emotional, intense, dirty, bloody, and critical field andwill be difficult to handle if your heart and mind are not both involved. Wemust always advocate for our patients we must be educated, observant,compassionate, and kind. I believe that my part in givingback to society is through friends and family. I receive texts, calls, andpicture messages consistently asking me for advice. I do not mind at allbecause those questions being asked are my way of helping my community. I havealso been blessed with a job that enables me to teach and train other nurses tobe thoughtful in their work.
I have been able to work with people who are inrehabilitation and fighting for a certain level of independence. I have alsoworked in the ICU where people are fighting for their lives, and now I amteaching and training. In all of my work, I believe it is important to becompassionate, and to remember why I became a nurse.
It is not an easyprofession but it is an important one. My philosophy is then; I suppose tobecome a nurse for the purpose of helping others and serving god, not for thefinancial aspect of it. It consists of serving my community, and viewingnursing as a calling. Taking our profession seriously and always use our skillsas nurses even when not on duty. PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 9AACN Professional Values When educated at the baccalaureatelevel a nurse is responsible for developing and understanding professionalvalues. The values are given for nurses to advance their caring, understanding,and ethical behavior. Altruism is a concern for welfare and well being ofothers. In a professional practice, altruism is reflected by the nurses concernand advocacy for the welfare of patients, other nurses, and other healthcareproviders.
When I worked in the rehabcenter the doctor would stay late and do paperwork and ask not to be botheredunless it was absolutely necessary so he could get his work done. One night mypatient was complaining of pain and pain medicine was not helping. We triedmultiple non pharmaceutical interventions until he started to cry. His daughterpulled me aside and told me that was not usual for him and that usually wasable to tolerate pain pretty well.
I decided to notify the doctor even thoughit may just have been for pain; I felt it was the right thing to do. He endedup having an aneurism that was caught in time and the doctor was grateful to mefor picking up on the issue. He had surgery so it could have just been surgerypain but I felt like maybe it was more because of all the signs. Autonomy isthe right to self-determination.
Professional practice reflects autonomy whenthe nurse respects the patient’s right to make decisions about their healthcare. I always think about my patients who refuse their medications when Ithink of autonomy. Patients have the right to refuse, and we as nurses (whoknow the right thing is to take the medication as prescribed) have to respectthose rights. Human dignity is respect for the inherent worth and uniqueness ofindividuals and populations. In professional practice, concern for humandignity is reflected when the nurse values and respects all patients and colleagues.
In the ICU this was PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 10practicedby keeping my patients covered up and keeping their hair done and teethbrushed. At times the last thing we need to worry about is how their hair looksof if they are covered up. But these patients are sedated and cannot speak forthemselves. I would like for someone to keep me covered up if I was in thehospital so I try to give my patients the same respect for human dignity that Iwould want. Integrity is acting in accordance with an appropriate code ofethics and accepted standards of practice. Integrity is reflected inprofessional practice when the nurse is honest and provides care based onethical framework that is accepted within the profession.
There was a medicalassistant that I work with just a few days ago who had a finger stick. Therewas no one around and she came out to find her supervisor and let her know. Shewas embarrassed and upset but I told her that she had shown integrity by beinghonest and I explained that these things happen to lots of nurses. She couldhave just kept it to herself since there was no one around her but she chose todo the right thing.
Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one sees.Social justice is acting in accordance with fair treatment regardless ofeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, citizenship, disability, or sexualorientation. Social justice is shown in nursing in so many ways and we asnurses provide the same care to everyone regardless of the factors providedabove. An example is on the dialysis unit, there are sometimes 6 or 7 patientswaiting and only 3 machines. The way it is decided who gets the chair is not byeconomic status, race, ethnicity, age, citizenship, disability, or sexualorientation. They take the most emergent cases, the patients who need it themost and have the worst labs. These core values embody the professional nurse.
They become values that the nurse should live by and practice in a professionalenvironment. The more knowledgeable we are on these values the more we are ableto use them in our every day work. PERSONALNURSING PHILOSOHY AND FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 11Conclusion Florence Nightingales nursing theoryis a ground breaking theory and has paved the way for nurses since it wascreated. She changed the view on nursing and because of her nursing isconsidered a career and a respectable profession. Florence also changed nursingas a whole by introducing her environmental theory. This assignment has made merealize my own personal nursing philosophy and I feel like I have values andbeliefs that are more clearly defined. The professional values utilized in nursingprovide a basic framework for moral and character development. Each of thedifferent parts of this paper have provided me with better understanding of myown personal character and provided me with moral and professional development.
. Cohen,B. Florence Nightingale. http://www.unc.edu/~nielsen/soci708/cdocs/cohen.htm
