There are several theories in the nursing field that are aimed towards enabling nurses to understand their surrounding as well as their role in the society. Nursing makes use of both nursing and non-nursing theories. However, this paper will discuss nursing theories by Florence Nightingale and Virginia Henderson and their applicability in the nursing field today.
Florence was a nurse theorist who stated that nursing makes use of a patient’s environment to come up with ways of speeding up his or her recovery. Nightingale indicated that unsanitary conditions surrounding patients were likely to pose a health hazard (Medeiros, Enders and Lira, 2015). Some of the concepts that Florence brought forward were those regarding a person, health, nursing, health and environment.
According to Florence, a person is a patient who requires the services of a nurse can be affected by his or her environment and has reparative ability. Florence addressed nursing as a crucial part of a patient’s recovery process. Hence, Florence offered clean air, warm conditions, clean and quiet living place and good food to her patients to facilitate their recovery. Florence’ concept of the environment was that it is anything physical, mental or even social that affected her patients. The environment was the foundation of her theory. Regarding health, Florence believed that it was possible to control the environment to ensure good health in patients. Florence also asserted that nurses had the power to maintain the wellbeing of their patients. Illness according to Nightingale is caused by unsanitary conditions near a patient (“Nursing Theorists”, 2017). All the above concepts are the ones that have made Florence Nightingale among the best environmental theorists in the world.