Florence Nightingale

ENVIRONMENTAL THEORY OR
ENVIRONMENTAL PHILOSOPHY
 PERSON

• The one who is receiving care; a dynamic and complex

being.
• Refers to it as the patient.
• It comprises physical, intellectual, emotional, social and
spiritual components.
• Nurses should perform tasks to and for the patient as
well as control the patient’s environment (passive); but if
can perform self-care asks preference.
 HEALTH

• Being well and using every power that the person

has to the fullest extent.”
• DISEASE – a reparative process that nature
instituted from a want of attention.
• Prevention and health promotion through
environmental control is added to nursing patients
from illness to health.
 ENVIRONMENT

• Anything that can be manipulated to place a patient in

the best possible condition for nature to act.
• Both physical and psychological.
• Physical components: ventilation, warmth, light, nutrition,
medicine, stimulation, room temperature and activity.
• Psychological components: avoiding chattering hopes
and advices and providing variety.
 NURSING

• It is a spiritual calling. Nurses were to assist nature to repair the

patient.
• Types: “nursing proper” (nursing the sick), “general nursing”
(health promotion) and “midwifery nursing”
• Viewed nursing the “Science of Environmental Management”
• Nurses are to use common sense, observation, and ingenuity to
allow nature to effectively repair the patient.
• “Observation may always be improved with training --- will
seldom be present without training; for otherwise the nurse does
not know what to look for.
NIGHTINGALE’S 13 CANONS
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 NIGHTINGALE’S 13 CANONS:

1. Ventilation and warmth 8. Variety

2. Light
3. Cleanliness of rooms and
walls
4. Health of houses
5. Noise
6. Bed and bedding
7. Personal cleanliness
9. Chattering hopes and
advices
10.Taking food
11.What food
12.Petty management
13.Observation of the sick
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS

• Central to the theory is “Environmental Sanitation”

• It includes: proper ventilation, adequate lighting,
cleanliness, adequate warmth, quiet and diet.
Management is rarely-associated.
• Viewed the manipulation of the physical environment as a
major component of nursing.
• These are the physical, social & psychological aspects of
the environment.
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
• It is believed that when one or more aspects of the environment are
out of balance, the client must use increased energy to counter the
environment stress.
• These stresses drain the client of energy needed for healing.
• HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT or HEALTH OF HOUSES
Pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness and light.
• PROPER VENTILATION or VENTILATION & WARMING
Keeping the air that patient breathes pure as external air without
necessarily chilling him. Normal body warmth through positioning,
opening the windows and regulate room temperature.
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
• ADEQUATE LIGHT
Direct sunlight has “… quite a real and tangible effects on the
human body … who has not observed the purifying effect of
light, and especially direct sunlight, upon the air of a room?”
• CLEANLINESS of ROOMS & WALLS
Specifically focused on the patient, the nurse and the
environment. A well-ventilated environment is nothing if the
environment itself is dirty. Recognized the presence of organic
matter in a dirty environment which can contribute to the
development of diseases. Taking a bath daily is emphasized.
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
• NOISE (Quiet)
Unnecessary noise can be harmful to the patient who is ill.
Patients should never be waked intentionally or accidentally
during the first part of sleep.
• PERSONAL CLEANLINESS
Function of the skin is important. Taking a bath daily is
emphasized. Keep patient dry & clean. Advocated that
personal cleanliness extended to the nurse & that every nurse
ought to wash her hand very frequently during the day.
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
• VARIETY
The mind greatly affects the body. Change of color & form, advocates
reading, writing & cleaning, needlework & other activities that could
relieve sick of boredom.
• BED & BEDDINGS
Keep beddings clean, neat & dry & position the patient for maximum
comfort.
• DIET or NUTRITION & TAKING FOOD
Assess the meal schedule and its effects on the patient, as well as dietary
intake. Variety of food served & on time. No distraction while eating.
 CONCEPTS & DEFINITIONS
• CHATTERING HOPES & ADVICES
Should not give false hopes, it worries patients & become fatigue, Avoid
personal talk. Talk to the client as a person & stimulate their minds.
• OBSERVATION OF THE SICK
Obtaining accurate information about the patient – it should be precise,
specific & individualized. Assure that appropriate actions are taken.
• PETTY MANAGEMENT
Ways to assure that “what you do when you are there, shall be done
when you are not there.” The house & hospital needed to be well-
managed.