Theory and practice are seen as reciprocal ends of nursing professions meaning that clinical nursing practice are the single most authentic platforms geared towards the testing of theories. Upon the first assessment, the nurse should have considered the first rule of nursing aeration, which is “to keep the air within as pure as the air without” (Beck, 2010). It requires the nurse to look at the patient’s symptoms or sufferings by considering them to be inevitable and incident to the disease. Since the apartment was in disorder with minimal airflow or light, this meant that the nurse needed to provide care through nature reparative process. By so doing, the nurse would be accomplishing the goal of promoting nature in the patient’s healing process with the application of nightingale theory together with the nursing process model. Nightingale asserts that when one or more environmental aspects are out of balance, the patient will use increased energy in balancing the equation. The extra effort applied by the patient drains their energy and this ultimately delays their healing process (Beck, 2010). The symptoms of Mrs. Adams’s disease are not associated to the disease but from something different. Having such a view means that it is coming from a humanized care perspective that bases on environmental control around the patient. This is important because it should be seen as part of the relationships and interactions with the environment.
The assessment of the nurse establishes that Mrs. Adams house is injurious to her health as the room is overcrowded and shared by three cats and a dog. Florence Nightingale believed that it was paramount for patients to be provided with a suitable environment that facilitates their recovery and healing process. This holistic approach looks at five essential points such as cleanliness, pure air, pure water, light, and efficient drainage as aides to securing the health of houses patients are receiving home-based care (Smith & Parker, 2015). The holistic view holds the person at the center of the model and looks at their psychological, intellectual, and spiritual components. Variety is an important element for Nightingale’s model and is attributed to the environmental components. The spirituality component in relation to the disease and illness if attended to presents an opportunity for spiritual growth by viewing all people as equal.
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She asserts that the “nerves of a sick person can suffer from seeing the same ceiling, same walls, and the same surroundings” therefore; cleanliness is important (Smith & Parker, 2015). It applies to the preservation of cleanliness of the walls and room of the patients as it applies to the greater nursing concept. Nightingale links ventilation with cleanliness as without it, cleanliness cannot be achieved and the converse applies. Mrs. Adams room was not well ventilated because her air conditioner was broken. The air in the room was not sufficient for a recovery patient since the flow of air was minimal. Pure fresh air in the patient’s room needs to be kept pure as that of the external air without chilling the patient. Pure water looks at impure kind of water exacerbates the occurrence of epidemic diseases. Therefore, patients need to avoid such water and instead look for clean sources of water. Effective drainage should be present in patient’s homes because sewers are considered to be laboratories; where epidemic disease and ill health emerges from and is later installed into houses. Nightingale was aware of the germ theory and the role ascribed to hygiene in infection control and thus, she emphasized on proper disposal. The kind of light encouraged in patient’s room is direct sunlight as it is useful in treating diseases because it has real and tangible effects to the body (Beck, 2010).
Mrs. Adams lives in a poor neighborhood implying that her economic condition is poor. Therefore, the nurse will need to offer her supportive presence and who will ensure that the room is orderly and free of clutter. The appropriate care plan for Mrs. Adams would be to have a care giver open the windows in intervals to allow for fresh air to circulate in the room (Alligood & Marriner-Tomey, 2014). Since she has no family, it would be important to teach her the importance of proper ventilation as it pertains to her healing and recovery process. Food is the most important factor to be put into consideration because she has not had food for the last five days. The apartment she lives in has no food and this means that she may or may not have been taking her medication. It is very important for the care giver to establish whether or not she has been adhering to all her medications, irrespective of her food situation. If so, then the body is not having enough energy to enable the medicine to work in her body because the patient is malnutrition (Alligood & Marriner-Tomey, 2014). Nightingale’s empirical work and statistical analysis conducted in the nineteenth century continues to guide the scientists present in the twenty-first century.
The care plan will be prioritized in such a way that it ensures that the pain and draining from her surgical site are completely eradicated. The nurse will also look at the dressing over the incision to ensure that no infection has affected the area. From the study, it is evident that Mrs. Adams was not in a position to be self-independent; therefore, chances are that she did not take care of the mastectomy bandage. It is also possible that Mrs. Adams had not emptied the fluid from the detachable drain and may be the cause of her constant pains. Arm exercises are also important for Mrs. Adams to perform and since she was all alone, stiffness is eminent and the arm becomes stiff. The other are of priority will be to monitor her blood pressure because it may shoot up due to the pains she is experiencing. The care giver would then give Mrs. Adams a warm bath, sponge bathe her, due to her current situation of staying alone (Alligood & Marriner-Tomey, 2014).
In nursing practice, Nightingale’s Environmental Theory can be applied to ethics. Since Internet has become an unprecedented phenomenon, then the code of ethics will be applied to Internet use and telehealth. This is possible because through her theory, nursing is brought from an immoral and disreputable vocation to one that is honest and ethically right (Hoyt, 2010). Today, nursing is enjoyed as more emphasis is placed on strict morals in the personal and work lives of nursing students. According to Nightingale, self-care was part of the ethics of care, which is also applied in today’s health care environment. For her students, the ethic of caring and hearing sought to preserve wholeness, which also applied to dying patients. Therefore, they will need to evaluate the credibility of their information (Web sources) because the health information will be used in teaching patients self-care alternatives. The patients will need to be taught how to evaluate the credibility of their Web sites and health information to facilitate their healing and recovery process. In the modern day, ethical principles are useful in the nursing practice because it helps in guiding these professionals. Therefore, it is seen to have relevant connections to morals brought forward by Nightingale’s work. In her days, Nightingale was an individual who had high moral character and this helped her rise in her nursing career and professions. Today, teaching and following ethical principles is fundamental to the nursing practice because it culminates down to nursing as an art and science. This reflects on Nightingale’s underlying worldview, of spirituality and science emanating from her religious and philosophic views, which were operationalized in her nursing practice (Smith & Parker, 2015). It is through these ethical principles that nurses of today are able to consider autonomy, beneficence, and non-maleficence in their careers. Today, the nursing practice is one that is connected to a global electronic community. Therefore, it will be serving a large group of millennials, baby boomers, and other generations.
References
Alligood, M. R., & Marriner-Tomey, A. (2010). Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
Attewell, A. (2010). Florence Nightingale’s relevance to nurses. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 28(1), 101-106.
Beck, D. M. (2010). Expanding our Nightingale horizon: Seven recommendations for 21st century nursing practice. Journal of Holistic Nursing , 28(4), 317-326.
Hoyt, S. (2010). Florence Nightingale’s contribution to contemporary nursing ethics. Journal of Holistic Nursing , 28(4), 331-332.
Smith, M. C., & Parker, M. E. (2015). Nursing theories & nursing practice (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.
