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Florence Nightingale

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Florence Nightingale’s philosophy of nursing was centered on the patient and their relationship with their surroundings. She believed it was important to focus on the patient by studying their behavior and recording what was observed. She also focused on sanitation or cleanliness of hospitals. She linked five environmental factors that assisted in the recovery of patients. They are fresh water, fresh air, efficient drainage, cleanliness and direct sunlight. Her general concepts of ventilation, quietness, cleanliness, warmth and diet remain an integral part of nursing today. Her model would eventually be called the Environmental Model which suggested that the person must adjust to the surroundings one is in. She felt that the environment was the biggest component to manipulate in the area of nursing care of the sick, injured and the healthy. The model identified that when one of the areas are out of balance, the person must use increased energy to counter the stress they our incurring, thus draining them and their ability to heal. She believed that nurses should focus on the person, not the disease they had, and that the internal and external factors of the environment were important to a patient’s health and recovery. She described health as free of disease. In a controlled environment, if the body is taken care of, health is achieved. She felt nursing was a calling from God and that it was a science as well as a profession. Nurses were meant to offer comfort, ease suffering, and look after patient’s well being. She worked very hard to raise nursing to the respectability that is so deserves. Nightingale stressed the importance of observing the patient. In her book, Notes on Nursing, she wrote: “The most important practical lesson that can be given to nurses is to teach them what to observe, how to observe, what symptoms indicate improvement-what the

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