Florence Nightingale

1820-1910

I thought some of you would like this video on everyones favorite nursing theorist, Florence Nightingale.

In addition to the assigned reading for this unit, I would also like you to look at some of these links for information that may not be in your books. Since she is one of the most popular women in this field, she is often referenced in many situations. Did you know she even has her own museum?

Check it out at:

http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/

On the site you can learn many interesting facts about Nightingale and her contributions to nursing.

A few fun facts about Nightingale (Encyclopedia of World Biography | 2004 | COPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. (Hide copyright information) Copyright).

1. She had a pet owl named Athena
2. She used a turkish lantern to light her way during the Crimean War. (one of the most favorable symbols that represent nursing today)
3. She was born in Florence, Italy
4. She and her nurses were able to travel and help soldiers during the crimean war due to a large sum of money raised for the cause by the London Times.



Florence Nightingale was awarded the Royal Red Cross (from Queen Victoria) and the Order of Merit in 1907(from King Edward VII). This was the first time the Order of Merit had been awarded to a woman.

Did you know that Nightingale appears in 9 issues of comic books in the 60's. Read about them and see the comics by visiting http://www.comicvine.com/florence-nightingale/29-19759/issues-cover/.

References

Alligood, M. R. & Tomey, A. M. (2010). Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

Moving forward in our adventure of nursing theories and theorist, we advance to Patricia Benner. She also focuses on caring in health care but incorporates clinical wisdom and ethics into nursing practice.

According to Alligood and Tomey (2010), Benner studies the clinical nursing practice in an attempt to relay the knowledge and ethical decision making that is embedded into every practicing nurse. She states that this clinical knowledge and critical thinking ability accrues over time through relationships with family, patients, co-workers, and in the situations nurses find themselves in on a daily basis.

Benner is known for her ability to differentiate between practical and theoretical nursing knowledge. I believe the difference to be that theoretical knowledge is the knowledge that is acquired in school and practical knowledge is the knowledge that you gain through experience in the clinical setting. Can you think of an experience where you gained practical knowledge that was different from your theoretical knowledge you were taught?

Did you know that Benner's theories are often used as a basis for professional staff development programs?
Also, many orientation programs for nursing programs, universities, and hospitals are based on Benner's model. Check out this website, articles, and videos of how Benner uses her own model in helping nurses excel.
http://www.educatingnurses.com/

http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Patricia_Benner_From_Novice_to_Expert.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxsBVPxS_zg



Patricia Benner

References

Alligood, M. R. & Tomey, A. M. (2010). Nursing theorists and their work (7th ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

Introduction into Nursing Theory

"I think one's feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results."

                                                                                         Florence Nightingale




                                                                Welcome students                                                                    
     
         This blog has been created to help facilitate learning for the course Nursing Theorist 101. I hope that it helps to enhance your classroom experience and provides an area where you can come to receive answers to questions, learn new factoids, and help promote a creative and interactive experience to your learning.



Jean Watson

Transpersonal Caring Model

“The nurse enters the patient’s room, a feeling of expectation is created.” - Jean Watson

      For our first lecture we learned about Jean Watson and her contributions and ideas about theories and health. In 1979 Jean Watson developed the Transpersonal Caring Model. The following are some links to websites that discuss further some of the content we covered in our lecture materials.

http://currentnursing.com/nursing_theory/Watson.html

http://www.innovativecaremodels.com/uploads/File/caring%20model/Overview%20JW%20Theory.pdf

Also check out the Watson Caring Institute. Just click on the link below.

http://www.watsoncaringscience.org/

"We are the light in institutional darkness, and in this model we get to return to the light of our humanity"

    Dr. Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN- BC, FAAN
         Watson Caring Science Institute 

Dr. Jean Watson, Founder, created her international nonprofit Watson Caring Science Institute in 2007 with the mission to restore the profound nature of caring-healing in today’s healthcare systems and to retain its most precious resource, caring professional nurses and transdisciplinary care team members.  

                                                                     

     Dr. Watson has been quoted as saying such things as, "nursing consist of knowledge, thought, values, philosophy, commitment, and action, with some degree of passion " (p. 98). Her theory asks that nurses go beyond the completion of tasks and procedure to develop a therapeutic and caring relationship with the patient that can often do more than the procedures itself.  She is determined to make it known that patients are people and they shall not be treated as a disease, procedure, or a task to be completed before the timeclock punchout.

How do you feel about Watson and her Transpersonal Caring Model?

References

Alligood, M.R., & Tomey, A.M. (2010). Nursing theoriest and their work (7th ed.). Mosby Elsevier.