Nursing

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, believed that all women would have at least one
experience of being a nurse in their lives mainly because women are accustomed to taking care of their
loved ones at home. Nightingale wrote “Notes on Nursing” which was published in 1859 hoping that it
would not just be a guide to teach oneself how to be a nurse but also to help in the practice of helping
other people who are ill. Professional nurses were still given the necessary training in compliance to the
standards that were set before during Nightingale’s time. They were taught additional scientific
principles with the purpose of the development of their skills in observing and reporting the health
status of patients and caring for them until they reach full recovery.

Health

Health, according to Nightingale, is being free of diseases while having the capacity to live life to the
fullest. She said that sickness is a process in which we repair ourselves when we make the mistake of not
addressing our health concerns. Essentially, the very basic foundations of optimal health are
environmental control and social responsibility. She differentiated the concept of nursing for health
promotion from the concept of nursing for the enhancement of recovery. Nightingale’s notion on health
nursing is used as an example by many health institutions up until today.

Environment

Furthermore, Nightingale also developed a theory concerning the effects of environmental conditions to
the healing process of a patient. When Nightingale was serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, she
noticed the connection between the patients who died and the conditions of their surroundings while
trying to recover (Petiprin, 2016). Her observations resulted to the formulation of the Environment
Theory of Nursing which made a great impact on nursing practice. Nightingale also emphasized that
both nurses at home and professional nurses should exert effort in trying to give their patients a
therapeutic environment. This theory was deemed to be groundbreaking at the time it was formulated
yet, the principles which stemmed from this theory are still being applied to the nursing practices today
thus, it is considered to be timeless.

Person

Another one of Nightingale’s metaparadigms is the Person which refers to the individual receiving care
from the nurses. Her perception about patients is that these people are multidimensional beings,
composed of biological, psychological, social, and spiritual components. Despite of the care that these
patients receive from nurses, Nightingale stated that patients should also perform self-care for them to
have a greater chance at recovery. She indicated the uniqueness of each patient from the other as well.
Her observations as a nurse led her to think and conclude that each patient must be treated as an
individual and with respect regardless of their social standing.