How Florence Nightingale’s Theory Guides My Life and Practice and How It Supports the Five Core Values

1. Think about an extant holistic theory or theories and related concepts and assess
   how they guide your life and practice (e.g., Watson Newman, Erickson, Parse,
   Rogers, and Nightingale)
   According to AHNCC’s Holistic Certification Handbook, self-reflection, self-assessment,
   healing, self-care, and personal development are prerequisites for nursing practice, including
   service delivery to others and a nurse’s “own” welfare and comprehension of the individual
   professional pathway. As a nurse, I believe this growth is essential in realizing who I am, my
   progress, what I desire in the future, and how to get there. Answering all these questions requires
   specific theoretical or evidence-based models to provide a bearing or direction. More than often,
   nursing theories act as guiding tools that aid nurses in realizing and reflect on their contribution
   to the practice, their personalities, their strengths and weaknesses, and steps they can take to be
   better professionals. Nursing theories are critical to decision-making because they act as “road
   maps” guiding personal life and practice. Several of these theoretical concepts exist today, and
   they perform distinct functions.
   One theoretical concept that I believe guides my life and practice are Florence
   Nightingale’s “Environmental Theory.” This theoretical perspective is anchored on the premise
   that the natural “hygiene environment” can help nurses deliver holistic care without
   compromising their wellbeing. Nightingale proposed a set of four meta-paradigms that nurses
   can use to provide holistic care: human, environment, nursing, and health. As a nurse, I believe
   these four tenets do control my practice and life. For example, I always consider the “human”
   (the individual or patient receiving care) aspect of my practice. I treat my patients with dignity,

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respect their autonomy and rights, promote good, and strive to improve their health (Gupta,
2011). When serving my patients, I also consider the “environment” (or those elements that can
be altered). I am always of the opinion that an environment that encourages health can promote
self-healing. I also constantly advocate for “health” by providing my patients with proper
lighting, a clean environment, organized drainage, pure water, and fresh air. Finally, I often
consider Nightingale’s concept of “nursing” (or adjustment of the patient’s environment) as
integral to the nursing practice because it emphasizes the importance of nursing processes and
services in the recovery of patients (Sher & Akhtar, 2018).

2. How does your selected theory support your practice of the five core values in your
   life and practice?
   Typically, Nightingale’s theoretical framework supports my execution and achievement
   of the five core values that define my life and practice, including Holistic Philosophy of Ethics,
   Holistic Caring Process, Holistic Education and Research, Holistic Nurse Self-reflection and
   Self-care, and Holistic Communication, Therapeutic Healing Environment, and Cultural
   Diversity. These five holistic core values emanate from unique and complex theories and
   philosophies. They are multidimensional, meaning that they incorporate nurses, patients, and
   stakeholders involved in delivering nursing care. Holistic nursing care means that all factors and
   variables involved in the delivery of nursing care are considered (AHNCC, n.d.).
   Nightingale’s theory supports all the five “holistic” core values in the most profound
   way. All the major “concepts” proposed by Nightingale, including nursing, human beings, the
   environment, and health, are inclined to providing holistic care to patients, whether through
   research and education, theoretical concepts, nurse self-reflection, or communication. The theory
   suggests that achieving holistic care is necessary and must bring onboard patients, the

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environment, and the nursing practice. Some environmental considerations include sanitation of
houses, their ventilation and warming, noise, and light, nutrition, personal cleanliness, social
factors, among others (Sher & Akhter2018).

References

AHNCC. (n.d.). Holistic Nursing Certification Examinations Handbook for candidates and
application. Retrieved from http://www.ptcny.com/pdf/AHNCC.pdf

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Gupta, P. (2011). Humanity in medicine. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine,
4(3). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3714107/
Sher, A. N., & Akhtar, A. (2018). Clinical application of Nightingale’s theory. Journal of
Clinical Research & Bioethics, 9(4). doi: 10.4172/2155-9627.1000329