Nursing theories benefit patients because they help providers give consistent explanations, descriptions, and prescriptions. Changes in healthcare require nurses to strengthen their comprehension of reality (Brandão et al., 2019). The understanding can help establish new relationships and produce recursive connections between knowledge and the transformation of humans, the environment and society. Good healthcare practices enable providers to perform their tasks (Brandão et al., 2019). Hence, they should incorporate the theoretical dimension to describe, explain, and predict contextual realities. One of the theories nurses can use in practice is Florence Nightingale’s environmental theory.
Background
Theorist’s Background
Florence Nightingale was interested in the impact of the environment on patient health. Her interests promoted her to write about matters that affect health. She analyzed her experience and proposed changes for other military hospitals that operated under unhygienic conditions (Gonzalo, 2021). In 1860, she wrote a book where she outlined the principles of nursing. In her life, she published 200 pamphlets, books and reports. She also founded a healthcare facility and nursing school. She developed the environmental theory after seeing the conditions of camps where she cared for wounded soldiers. (Gonzalo, 2021)
Phenomenon of Concern
Nightingale’s phenomenon of concern is the effect of the environment on patient health. The theory involves nurses; ability to modify the environmental setting to facilitate the gradual restoration of health (Gonzalo, 2021). She provided concepts that had an impact on health institutions that had poor hygiene. According to Nightingale, nurses should provide a quiet environment, attend to the dietary needs of their patients, document when patients eat, and provide a quiet and warm environment.
Theory Description
The environmental theory defines nursing as using the patient environment to help patients get well. Nurses should change the ecological setting that affects patients’ recovery and other factors that affect the development processes of patients (Gonzalo, 2021). The theory states that the patient environment should have properly constructed houses, proper ventilation and warming, proper light, clean bedding and proper nutrition. Nurses should also help patients maintain appropriate personal hygiene.
Concepts
The concepts of the environmental theory include the health of houses, ventilation and warming, light and noise and personal cleanliness. Nightingale states that poorly built houses and hospitals affect health. They cause stagnant air that causes diseases (Gonzalo, 2021). The condition of homes and hospital design is robust evidence of the development of environmental theory (Gilbert, 2020). The air people should be pure, and when patients continuous inhale their air, they can develop diseases or stay sick until there is proper ventilation and warming in the house. Light is as important as air; patients should be in rooms with adequate access to sunlight. Patients need sufficient sleep to enable them to rest and recover (Gonzalo, 2021). Hence, people around the patient’s environment should avoid unnecessary conversations to avoid irritating patients. Personal hygiene is an important element in the patient environment. Nurses should clean their hands often and encourage patients to maintain proper hygiene.
Diagram
(Gonzalo, 2021)
Relationships
The concepts are related because they contribute to patient health. Nurses must maintain all images to ensure patients stay healthy (Gonzalo, 2021). Ignoring one idea may interfere with the patient’s health or make it challenging for patients to recover.
Evaluation
Weaknesses
One of the weaknesses of the environmental theory is that it has limited data about the psychosocial setting compared to the physical one. It should also address the factors that affect patients’ psychosocial health (Gonzalo, 2021). It should highlight ways in which nurses can use the environment to help maintain the psychosocial health of their patients.
Metaparadigms
Nursing is concerned with placing the patient in a situation where nature can act upon him. It should indicate proper use of light, warmth, pure air, and a good diet. Nurses should alter the patient environment to facilitate recovery (Gonzalo, 2021). The environment includes everything in the patient’s surroundings and can affect his health. Nightingale does not define human beings and health. She believes that nurses should care for the healthy and the sick.
Application
Studies That Used the Theory
Gilbert, (2020) uses the environmental theory to determine its impact on controlling contemporary infections. Contemporary nursing practices are an essential part of patient care. Healthcare providers are responsible for the safety and welfare of themselves, their patients, and colleagues (Gilbert, 2020). Thus, fundamental infection control is their responsibility. Nosocomial infections are common in healthcare facilities, and it is the responsibility of providers to prevent hospital-acquired infections by maintaining hand hygiene. They should also ensure the surfaces in the healthcare environment are clean. During the coronavirus pandemic, infection control is necessary for every setting (Gilbert, 2020). Providers should sanitize surfaces, clean their hands regularly, and wear personal protective gear. Nightingale’s theory established a mainstay of nursing as an occupation and laid the groundwork for modern-day nursing and infection control practices. She advocates for health promotion and disease prevention. Infection control is important in maintaining good health for frontline workers, communities, and patients. Gilbert (2020) operationalized the concepts by discussing their efficiency in preventing contemporary infections.
Lilienfeld et al. (2018) applied the environmental theory to discuss climate change. It is one of the aspects that affect the environment negatively. The study also addresses the role of nurses in addressing climate change. They are responsible for using the theory to create environmental awareness and address social isolation (Lilienfeld et al., 2018). Nurses should engage in advocacy and policy development to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. They can participate in environmental efforts and work with nongovernmental organizations to create an environment that promotes good health. Climate change threatens factors like fresh air, pure water, and adequate sunlight that are fundamental to good health (Lilienfeld et al., 2018). The researchers operationalized the concepts in this theory by discussing how they contribute to climate change.
Area of Practice
The environmental theory can effectively maintain a healthy environment in healthcare facilities and the community. Common hospital-acquired infections lead to prolonged hospital stays and increased workload for healthcare providers (Berglund & Källman, 2020). The infections occur due to poor routines and practices to maintain a healthy patient environment. However, the environmental theory can be used to create a healthy patient environment to prevent nosocomial infections.
Conclusion
The environment has a significant effect on patients’ health. Patients’ health can worsen if they live in a surrounding with poor sanitation, unclean water, and poor ventilation. Healthcare providers should alter the patient environment to help patients get better. It is essential for them to understand the concepts of the theory and apply them in patient care.
References
Berglund, K., E., & Källman, U. (2020). Healthcare staff views the patients’ prerequisites to be co-creators in preventing healthcare‐associated infections. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 34(2), 314-321. https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12730
Brandão, M. A. G., Barros, A. L. B. L. D., Caniçali, C., Bispo, G. S., & Lopes, R. O. P. (2019). Nursing theories in the conceptual expansion of good practices in nursing. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 72, 577-581. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2018-0395
Gilbert, H. A. (2020). Florence Nightingale’s Environmental Theory and its influence on contemporary infection control. Collegian, 27(6), 626-633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2020.09.006
Gonzalo, A. (2021, March 5). Florence Nightingale’s biography and environmental theory: Study guide. Nurseslabs. https://nurseslabs.com/florence-nightingales-environmental-theory/
Lilienfeld, E., Nicholas, P. K., Breakey, S., & Corless, I. B. (2018). Addressing climate change through a nursing lens within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Nursing Outlook, 66(5), 482-494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2018.06.010
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