Esaay Exploring Nursing Theories and Contributions: From Nightingale to Peplau

Introduction

The environmental theory developed by Florence Nightingale defined nursing as using a patient's environment to help them recover. In essence, the view illustrates how nurses' initiative in the configuration of environmental settings can benefit patients. Nightingale believed that altering a patient's environment from the onset of care had the potential to encourage their recovery gradually. Therefore, the patients' response to their treatment was also related to their settings during recovery. Nightingale argues that the physiological and biological processes in recovery often depended on the external factors surrounding the patients as they received treatment.

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Some of the environmental theory's significant concepts include nursing. Nightingale asserted that the profession ought to demonstrate the proper use of proper fresh air, light, cleanliness, warmth, and adequate administration of diet at the least expense of energy from the patient. Here Nightingale refers to the environmental conditions within the room of a patient in recovery. She elaborates how proper nursing should involve maximum initiative from the nurse in ensuring that a patient dissipates the minimal energy in altering their environment to their liking. Therefore, the patient should focus all their energy on recovery as the nurse ensures that everything in the background is particular to the patient's preference.

Applications of Environment Theory in Nursing Practice

The environmental theory application often involves nurses using their artistic capabilities to alter the environment where a patient is recuperating. According to the theory, one of the essential aspects of nursing is the cleanliness of the environment within which a patient recovers. Therefore, when nurses practice, they can refer to the environment theory and appropriately adjust the patients' setting to ensure that they recover comfortably. One of the most common ways nurses can achieve this is by providing that the recovery room is free of clutter and tidy.

Moreover, they should also ensure that the room's walls and the equipment are clean, with a proper ventilation system, including the opening of windows to ensure that the patient breathes in the fresh air, especially when their conditions involve their respiratory system. Such precautions are often standard among nurses who care for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is usually imperative for such patients that the nurses ensure that the environment is immediately monitored and altered accordingly from the moment they are admitted.

Environment Theory in Nursing Practice

As indicated above, Florence Nightingale's theory is essential in nursing practice since it explores both the science and art part of patient care. As a nurse, the idea provides the framework with which one can use to provide care for their patients. Using the example in the first part above, for instance, as a nurse, one would refer to the seven canons of the environment as discussed in theory and apply the same in modifying a patient's room to ensure they are comfortable and satisfied with the care they receive.

Contributions of Nursing Figures

Florence Nightingale

As indicated in the section above, Florence Nightingale was the developer of the environmental theory. Often considered as the mother of the Nursing profession, Nightingale's contributions to the discipline are immense. Born into an upper-class family, Nightingale was educated well and served as a social reformer and statistician in Italy. Her significant contributions occurred during the Crimean War of 1854, when she, among other nurses, was sent to the war zones to care for wounded soldiers in the Ottoman Empire. Upon the arrival of Nightingale and a band of volunteer nurses, the number of deaths due to injury reduced significantly.

According to Nightingale, the deaths had been caused by poor nutrition, lack of supplies, insufficient ventilation in the infirmaries, and overworking. Upon her return home, she commenced collecting data regarding the conditions affecting the patient's recovery. Later, she championed the need for sanitary conditions within healthcare settings, especially among recovering patients. Thus, her development of the environmental theory is in use today among nursing professionals while delivering their services.

Hildegard Peplau

Peplau, another notable figure in the profession and considered by many as the successor of Florence Nightingale, was an American professional nurse during the 20th century. Peplau graduated from the Pennsylvania School of Nursing in 1931 before serving as a staff nurse at Pennsylvania General Hospital. She later moved to New York, where she continued working while at the same time continuing with her education, earning a degree in Interpersonal Psychology in the year 1943. After the degree, her interest in the field continued. She pursued a career as a researcher at Chestnut Lodge, exploring psychological issues among patients in the private psychiatric facility.

She later taught nursing classes at Rutgers University before joining the World Health Organization, serving as an advisor and consultant to the US Surgeon General. Peplau's significant contribution was the Nursing theory, where she used her knowledge and background in nursing and psychology to illustrate the impact of interpersonal relationships in nursing interventions. The model includes seven nursing roles that contribute to the development of a relationship between a nurse and their patient, thus contributing to the recovery of the patients.

Differences between Florence Nightingale and Hildegard Peplau's contributions to nursing.

The main difference between the contributions of both personalities discussed above was their approach towards nursing. While Nightingale focused on the environment's cleanliness, Peplau's arguments revolved around the nurses and the patients' relationships. In her environment theory, Nightingale proved that the cleanliness of a patient's environment cleanliness impacted the recovery. The tidier and cleaner the environment was, the better the patients responded to treatment and care. On the other hand, Peplau established that nurses could encourage patients' recovery by developing relationships. Moreover, such relationships proved useful as it would enable the nurses to know their patients and tailor their care programs appropriately.

Applications of Nightingale and Peplau's Contributions

Nurses can apply both the aspects of Florence Nightingale and Hildegard Peplau in their practice since both can be used interchangeably to ensure the patient's benefit. By providing that a patient's environment is clean and tidy while at the same time maintaining a cordial relationship with the patient, a nurse can positively impact the recovery process of the patient. Therefore, both experts' tenets are applicable and encouraged in nursing practice as it contribute positively to the patient's recovery.

Functional differences between the State Board of Nursing and the American Nurses Association (ANA).

Roles of The Board of Nursing and the American Nurses Association

The Board of Nursing in America is an institution that represents all nurses across the nation. Its mandate is the licensing and provision of oversight authority over practicing nurses. In this context, the Board often oversees the disciplinary of practitioners who have broken the rules or have infringed on their oaths of service. The Board of Nursing differs from the ANA by regulating state board nursing practices while the ANA advocates for nurses. Consequently, for any nurse, the former body influences their training by ensuring that one is competent and fit to deliver their duties.

Influence of ANA and The Board of Nursing on Nurses' Careers

The Board impacts one's career by requiring continued education completion to renew my licenses through them. If I need any disciplinary revision, this is the Board would denounce it and could affect my profession from licensure suspension to having my permit renounced. ANA impacts my nursing vocation by setting moral guidelines for the day-by-day practice and initiative aptitudes. Day by day, it encourages me to advocate for safe staffing proportions for medical caretakers and our patients. The ANA has developed my expert information on public medical care strategies.

Requirements for renewal of the professional license in Utah

In America, the requirements for the renewal of a practitioner's license are often under the mandate of the Board of Nurses. However, across the states, there are different boards, each of which has differing criteria utilized in evaluating nurses before reinstating their licenses. In the state of Utah, some of the requirements for renewal of a permit include proof of at least 24 contact hours of nursing education per renewal period for RNs, 36 hours of instruction for APRNs, and certification by a national nursing certifying organization.