Nursing Theorist: Group Presentation

1. A brief biography of your chosen nursing theorist.

Florence Nightingale was born on the 12th of May in 1820 in Florence, Italy. She was the founder of modern nursing and the person who established the Environmental Theory. She was also known as ‘The Lady with the Lamp’ as she would walk around the wards at night to care of the sick and wounded soldiers. Nightingale was born to wealthy English parents, William Edward Nightingale and Frances Smith Nightingale. Despite the wealth, the extensive education she received, the places she travelled and visited, and a full social life she led, Nightingale still felt uncontended. At the age of 17, she believed God called her to carry out work and help those suffering. She has always been fascinated in nursing and despite being strongly opposed by her family, at the age of 31, she finally fulfilled her ambition as a nurse. During 1850-1851, she visited Kaiserwerth twice, a Protestant institution in Germany to help her understand the essential components of basic nursing, hospital design, and personnel administration. She was appointed as the superintendent of the Hospital for the Invalid Gentlewoman in London in 1853. In November 5th, 1854, Nightingale arrived at Scutari accompanied by 38 nurses to tend for the sick and wounded soldier of the Crimean War. There she observed environmental problems such as lack of sanitation, presence of filth, contaminated water, contaminated bed linens and soldiers being exposed to unhealthy environment and opportunistic diseases. In 1856, at the end of the Crimean war, she returned to London and was recognised as a National Heroine by Queen Victoria. In 1859, she published Notes on Nursing and opened the Nightingale School of Nursing in London in 1860. She established the East London Nursing society in 1868 and opened the Women’s Medical College in 1869 along with Elizabeth Blackwell. In 1883, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross by Queen Victoria and she became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Merit in 1907. In 1908, she was given the Honorary Freedom of the city of London. Nightingale passed away in August 13th, 1910, at the age of 90 years old.

2. Summarize the theory and how it relates to modern nursing practice. Why is it important? What aspect of nursing care does it promote or assist?

Nightingale strongly believed that the environment has an influence on creating illness in a patient and recognized what a harmful environment can do and the benefit of a good environment in preventing disease. Her theory focuses on five essential components of environmental health which includes pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness and light. She also included the concept of quiet and diet as well as petty management or nursing administration as we referred to it now which are all still relevant today and remain an integral components of nursing care. Nightingale’s nursing principles which includes ventilation, warming, light and noise, cleanliness of the area, the health of houses, bed and bedding, personal cleanliness, variety, offering hope and advice, food, and observation still remain as the foundation of nursing practice as of today. Her environmental principles are important as it has a strong influence on a patient’s healing process and recovery. It showed us that physical environment can contribute significantly to ill health, but it could be altered to be able to improve a patient’s condition and allow healing to occur. The theory encourages cleanliness therefore promotes infection control.

3. Provide one example of the nursing theory and its use in research literature

On the other hand, studies shown that there is a strong correlation between the physical environment and the well-being of a person. According to the studies led by the Department of Nursing Sciences in University of Kabianga in Kenya, isolation wards that houses patients suffering from drug resistant tuberculosis need to meet Nightingale’s five essential elements to control and prevent the transmission of the contagious disease. Tb bacterium are sensitive to light therefore Tb patients are recommended to stay outdoors, and their rooms must be well lit and have wide openable windows. The study also suggested that patient with tuberculosis need a proper ventilation as they have night sweats thus needed pure fresh air circulating sufficiently at all times. As per the study, nutrition plays a key role in Tb care. Tb patients have poor appetite due to the drugs they are taking and sometimes suffer from nausea and vomiting therefore they need a balanced diet in order to maintain their weight. Hygiene or cleanliness is also highlighted through proper coughing etiquette for infection control. In addition to this, Nightingale also promoted interpersonal support therefore the study suggested that Tb patients need psychosocial support from their family members and the community to encourage them to finish their treatment and monitor their disease-promoting fast recovery. Proper documentation and data collection through observation in relevance with the disease is also apparent in the study which was advocated by Nightingale. Concisely, the study concluded that Florence Nightingale’s Model of Nursing and the Environment is a universal tool that would be applicable to nursing care of clients with Tb in Kenya.

4. Provide one example of how you may use the nursing theory in clinical practice

Nightingale’s nursing principles remain the foundation of nursing today and the aspects of her theory is still essential components of nursing care. Nightingale advocated cleanliness through improved hygiene. According to Nightingale, the very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm. Hand hygiene is very important in clinical setting as it is the first line of defence for healthcare workers. Hand hygiene also prevents and controls the distribution of healthcare-associated infections. As a nurse, it is my responsibility to promote infection control by ensuring that I practice proper hand hygiene. This act would not only keep me safe and infection-free, so does everybody else that I come in contact with. All in all, Florence Nightingale devoted all her life for the improvement of patient-nursing care by focusing mainly on the impact of physical environment on a person’s health. She believed that healthy surroundings can contribute to the restoration and maintenance of one’s health and that they play an important role for the fast recovery of a patient. The development of Nightingale’s philosophy of nursing have been influenced by a combination of her personal, social and professional values and concerns. All of these were essential to the development of her beliefs which played an important role for the long-term change in nursing care throughout the world.

5. Write an individual reflective piece about the group assignment process. The reflection is to be based on your personal experience and how you worked in the group. Did you participate, contribute and worked within the team? Teamwork and collaboration are part of nursing.

This reflection paper aims to provide an insight about the processes we had to undertake in order for us to successfully complete our task. It focuses on how each and every members of the group performed individually, what their contributions are, my personal experiences and expectations as well as the importance of collaboration and teamwork within the group.

The whole class was required to research and do a group presentation on a particular nursing theorist as a part of our assessment. We self-selected our group members and mutually decided to do research about Florence Nightingale as our theorist. My group was composed of 5 people in total and each one of us was delegated one question each to complete. Since there were five (5) of us and only four (4) questions to do, one of my group members volunteered to do the group PowerPoint instead which we all agreed upon.

The things I liked least about the group assignment process was the absence of planning, organizing and productivity. Despite the task being assigned evenly amongst the members, one person backed out on doing the PowerPoint presentation at the very last minute. According to her, she already answered a part of my other groupmate’s question. This caused annoyance to some members of the group including myself as she decided on her own without consulting with everyone. It left me no choice but to volunteer to do her job for the sake of the group while juggling two tasks at a time with limited time. Luckily, I finished everything the night before the presentation’s due date with the help of my other group members. The lack of communication and collaboration within our group was evident as we only managed to create a group chat two nights before the assignment was due which also resulted in increased stress for every member. Had there been an elected leader who drives us all to a right path would have been very convenient for everyone. It can also be argued that, without communication within the group and leaving an assignment stagnant and finishing it off at the very last minute could cause havoc and stress.

Although the initial plan was not followed, amidst all the misunderstanding, I was still very thankful and pleased with my other team members as they exceeded my expectations; I hope I exceeded theirs too. Their contributions were genuinely useful for me in terms of finishing the PowerPoint presentation on time and with ease. It also showed me that communication and collaboration within the group are just as important as time management and that they all play an integral role for a successful execution of the task. If given the chance to do this all over again, I would make sure that there is going to be a division of labour, strategic planning to minimise stress, effective communication for increased productivity, and leadership establishment for improved coordination and motivation within a team.

To sum it all up, working in a group project has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some might find it comfortable and some might prefer working individually. Looking back at the process of getting the assignment done before its due date was quite overwhelming. All things considered; it can be argued that that my group presented well overall despite some setbacks.

References

1. Alligood, M. R. (2014). Nursing Theorist And Their Work 8th Edition. Missouri: Elsevier.
2. Kamau, S. M., Rotich, R. J., Cheruiyot, B. C., & Ng’eno, L. C. (2015). Applying Florence Nightingale’s Model of Nursing and the Environment on Multiple Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Infected Patients in the Kenyan Setting. Retrieved from https://file.scirp.org/pdf/OALibJ_2016071910161637.pdf
3. Koutoukidis, G., Stainton , K., & Hughson, J. (2017). Tabbner’s Nursing Care Theory and Practice 7th Edition. Chatswood: Elsevier.
4. Richards, L. E. (2014). Florence nightingale: The angel of the Crimea, a story for
5. young people. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.holmesglen.edu.au
6. Selanders, Louise C, RN, EdD., F.A.A.N., & Crane, Patrick C, M.S.N., R.N. (2012).
7. The voice of Florence Nightingale on advocacy. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1), 10-1. Retrieved from https://login.ezproxy.holmesglen.edu.au/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.holmesglen.edu.au/docview/1115569804?accountid=132066
8. The University of Pennsylvania. (n.d.). Notes on Nursing. Retrieved from https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/nightingale/nursing/nursing.html