Florence Nightingale
Chris Common
Mathew Messinger
Sarah Obstfeld
Brian Totten
NUR 324
Who am I ?
Florence Nightingale
History
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Born: May 12, 1829
Nursing Education: 1851 trained in Germany at a
Protestant religious community with a hospital and
after 3 months she was declared trained as a
nurse
Nickname: The Lady with the Lamp – she made
ward rounds during the night providing emotional
comfort to the wounded soldiers
(Tomey, 75)
History
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Turned down several offers of marriage to pursue her
career.
She served in the Crimean War in 1854 as a nurse; she led
a group of 3 dozen nurses and this was controversial
because females did not go to war then
She worked at changing terrible conditions in hospitals
during the time at war
She became critically ill during the war with Crimean fever
Devoted her energies not just to the development of
nursing as a profession, but even more to local, national,
and international societal issues and causes in a an
attempt to improve the living environments of the poor and
to create social change
(Tomey, 75)
Nightingale’s theory
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Her main theory was focused on environment; 5 essential
components: pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness,
and light
-pure air - “keep the air he breathes as pure as the external
air, without chilling him” (Tomey, 75) She seemed to recognize
the environmental component as a source of disease and
recovery
-light - “light has quite as real and tangible effects upon the
human body... who has not observed the purifying effect of light,
and especially of direct sunlight, upon the air of a room?”
(Tomey, 75)
-cleanliness – she noted that a dirty environment was a
source of infection through organic matter it contained. She also
advocated for bathing pts on a daily basis; also required nurses
to bathe daily, have clean clothing, and hand washing frequently
Nightingale’s theory (con’t)
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-warmth – she advocated on keeping pts warm;
nurses would palpate the pts extremities to assess
for heat loss
-quite environment – noise created by physical
activities in the environment was to be avoided
because it could harm the pt
Nightingale believed that sick poor people would
benefit from environmental improvements that
affected both their bodies and minds. She believed
that nurses could be instrumental in changing the
social status of the poor by improving their physical
and psychological living conditions. (Tomey, 75)
Nightingale’s influence
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Florence Nightingale's two greatest life
achievements were pioneering of nursing and the
reform of hospitals this was amazing considering
that most Victorian women of her age group did not
attend universities or pursue professional careers.
Her voice was strong and she served as an effective
advocate on a number of important health issues,
particularly for trained nursing and preventive health
care through proper hygiene.
(Arnstein, 1956)
Nightingale’s influence
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“Modern nursing derives so completely from the
example and teaching of Florence Nightingale that it
is hard to pick out the particular practices that owe
their existence to her influence. All nursing has been
influenced by her. One might say modern nursing is
Miss Nightingale that her name is a synonym for
nursing. She demonstrated in a dramatic fashion in
the Crimea that nursing-and sanitation-could reduce
mortality”
(Arnstein, 1956)
Nightingale’s theory
Nightingale's theory contains 3 major
relationships
 1. Environment to patient
 2. Nurse to environment
 3. Nurse to patient
(Tomey, 83)
Nightingale’s theory (con’t)
Environment was the main factor creating illness in
a patient. She recognized not only the harmfulness
of an environment, but also the benefit of good
environments in preventing disease. The
environmental aspects of her theory remain integral
components of nursing care today.
 Nurses manipulate the environment in a number of
ways to enhance pt recovery. (elimination of
contamination and contagion; exposure to fresh air,
light, warmth, and quiet)
(Tomey, 83).
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Nightingale’s theory (con’t)
Nurse to patient relationship meant that the
patient would be protected from emotional
distress, letting patients make decisions
 “Nightingale did not consciously attempt to
develop what is considered a theory of
nursing; she provided the first definitions from
which nurses can develop theory and
conceptual models and frameworks that
inform professional nursing today”
(Tomey, 83).
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Nightingale Quotes
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Florence Nightingale to Sidney Herbert, the Secretary of War 1855,
“I am kind of general dealer in socks, shirts, knives, and forks,
wooden spoons, tins baths, tables, and forms, cabbages, and
carrots, operating tables, towels and small tooth combs, precipitate
for destroying lice, scissors, bedpans and stump pillows” I really like
this quote because she is talking about the whole person and not
just one thing.
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Florence Nightingale to Poor Law Board May 1865, “The sick and
the infirm require special constructive arrangements. They are not
paupers they are poor in affliction. Society owes them every care for
recovery.”
(fnif.org,2009)
Performance Assessment
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Nightingale had a keen eye for detail and was very
adamant about nursing observation and fact finding.
Much of Nightingale’s work is still applicable today.
Taking into account the era that Nightingale lived, it
seems safe to say that she was very much ahead of
her time.
She developed concepts that have been built upon
and are still utilized in today’s nursing practice.
Nightingale’s theory focusing on environment could
be utilized for the purpose of performance
assessment.
How do we as nurses provide for our patients environmental needs?
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Does the nurse listen to patient concerns regarding
the environment?
Does the nurse take an active role in communicating
with the patient by asking questions related to
environment and patient comfort?
Is the nurse able to anticipate client needs based on
the presenting complications?
Is the nurse able to manage the environmental
factors such as noise, family members, hospital
staff, temperature, equipment, etc…?
How do we as nurses provide for our patients environmental needs?
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Is the environment safe, sanitary, and secure?
Do other members of the health care team need to
be involved, such as social workers, or
occupational/physical therapists?
Are there any potentially harmful environmental
factors that need to be addressed?
Can the environment be modified to be more
accommodating?
Is the nurse critically thinking, exploring even the
‘outside the box’ ideas that may be utilized?
How are you at managing your
patient’s environment?
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Think about the questions presented and ask
yourself, is there any way that I can better
improve my patient’s environmental needs?
Keep an open mind when assessing patient
environment and pay close attention to
cultural differences when planning care.
These are questions that Florence
Nightingale would most likely ask if she were
here today.
References
Alligood, M. R., & Tomey, A. M. (2006). Nursing
Theorists and Their Work (6th ed.). Mosby, Inc.
Ignatavicius,D.D., & Workman,L.M. (2006). Medical
Surgical Nursing, Critical Thinking for Collaborative
Care (5th ed.). Elsevier Saunders.
Kearney-Nunnery, R. (2008). Advancing Your Career:
Concepts of professional nursing (4th ed.). F. A.
Davis Company.
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