Nightingale's Environmental Theory

The way Nightingale felt about herself very much mirrored the way she felt about her patients. Individuals control their outcomes and their health. Nightingale never gave up that hope to make a difference in the lives of the sick and she turned to God during her many times of need. This confirms her strength, determination and spiritual beliefs. Ingalls and Tourville (2003) found that "her spiritual beliefs are self-evident in the concept of caring for the whole person-body, mind, and spirit" (p.23).

Nightingale's early beliefs still are present in modern professional practice. Nursing was built on a strong foundation and many nursing leaders still strive for their staff to maintain that high level of care and pride of your surroundings. In current practice this means several different things. Some of the actions are basic, such as, taking out the trash at the end of your shift, making sure your patient has been cleaned and mouth care is complete. Also, fresh linens and a clean work area. Simple basic nursing procedures such as timely dressing changes and flushing peripheral Iv's can all lead to decreased infection rates. The environment was Nightingale's focus. This included air quality, water quality, noise, light, nutrition and cleanliness. We as nurses are there to take away pain and suffering. This was Nightingale's vision.

Nightingale's focus of air quality is still a top concern in today's society. Jas, McRae, and Shaner-McRae (2007) notes that "In work places and schools poor air quality has been cited as a significant contributor to the increase in asthma, a disease that is a leading cause of absenteeism" (p.3). Education is key, especially to parents of today's children who think its ok to smoke around their asthmatic child.

We as nurses are there for the patient. We are there to ease their pain without the patient asking us. Nightingale states in her book Notes on Nursing "A good nurse will always make sure that no blind or curtains should flap. If you wait till your patient tells you or reminds you of these things, where is the use of their having a nurse?" (p.27). Which is why you can understand the importance of the new age call bell. If you have a patient alarming their call bell every hour, do you think this expended energy is beneficial for their healing process? If you look at current patient satisfaction scores of a hospital you will find that Nightingale's passion is still at the top of the list: Pain management, cleanliness, food service at the hospital, and attention from the hospital staff.

In Conclusion, Nightingale's environmental theory is still prevalent today. The Nursing profession is all about helping others and in doing so the biggest component is caring. As Ingalls and Tourville state "Caring is an essential component of nursing. It is an intervention nurses perform when treating