Care, to Nightingale, means thinking of the patient's needs and desires for things to do and to be entertained.
Taking Food: The nurse must supply a patient's every need, including the food that brings recovery to the body. She is in favor of hot tea and something to eat every three hours. But she advises never to leave food by the patient and to not let the patient see others' food. Eating is to be done to the exclusion of business talk or things that might discourage digestion.
What Food: Hearty food, of course, should be given to the patient: meat, eggs, tea, milk, butter, bread and jelly. One should not give a patient cocoa.
Bed and Bedding: If the bedding is not correct, the patient will be feverish. Bedding should be cleaned often, airing the dirty sheets, one should use iron spring bedsteads and the bed should not be too wide or high. She also attributes scrofula, bed sores and soreness to improper bedding.
Light: Again, Nightingale extols the great benefit of light to ward off and cure illness.
Cleanliness of the rooms and walls are crucial, and one should remove dust, rather than "dusting" which throws it around. Carpets should also be cleaned.
Personal Cleanliness: "Poisoning by the skin" is attributed to lack of bathing, clean air and ventilation, so one should steam and rub the skin that is being bathed, as one gives the patient the equivalent of a sponge bath.
Chattering hopes and advices: She discourages friends of the ill to air their hopes for the patient in an attempt to cheer the sick. This puts false hopes in the heads...
However, their medical training in no way prepares doctors for what nurses provide to patients. Nurses are called to their profession because of an innate desire to nurture and care for others. In contrast, doctors might be able to care but are not required to. Their job centers on effective praxis rooted in science. A nurse's job demands a caring attitude and an effective means to deliver the best
In 1858, Louis Pasteur identified germs, proving that diseases did not 'spontaneously' arise as nightingale thought (Atwell, 1998). However, it was Nightingale that began work as to the conditions that promoted the growth of germs, but she would not know this for many years. The Crimean War: Putting Theory Into Practice When the Crimean War broke out, she began work at once in a British hospital. Her emphasis was placed on
In the Crimean War, she arranged for the physical set-up of the patients' beds, the discarding of the infested and soiled linens and the ensuring of good and maintained ventilation. After the War, she advocated for social reforms, one of which was the review of the British Poor Laws. The recall of this Law initiated its amendment into the Hardy's Bill on 1867. This bill looked into the state of
Nursing Today VI. Conclusion A. The Call to Vocation B. The Influences: Before and After C. Nursing, Feminism, Service, and the Male Ego Reference List Bloy, M. (2010). Florence Nightingale. The Victorian Web. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/florrie.html This site gives a good history of Nightingale, her service, and the impact she had on nursing. Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Retrieved from http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Series/CWFN.shtml A great source of information for all the written works of
Florence Nightingale -- Nursing Theorist The pioneering healthcare services that Florence Nightingale performed during 1854 Crimean War in Europe is today recognized as the beginning of the organized and sanitary field of nursing. This paper follows the career of Nightingale and recognizes her contribution to the theory of nursing care -- and the development of nursing training -- for the ill and the injured. The Progression of Florence Nightingale's Career From Financial Comfort
Nightingale Florence Nightingale and Environment Theory According to most nursing historians, Florence Nightingale is the leading figure in the development of modern nursing. As an early innovator in the field, Nightingale would pioneer many of the ideologies and approach which are still in circulation today. In particular, nursing professionals in her wake would coin the term Environment Theory in order to describe the mode of care that would be her contribution to
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