An Evolving Structure of Nature Immersion: Roots in Nightingale's Vital Power

Background: In Florence Nightingale's view, vital power resides in both earthy materials and human nature and is an essential element of health. Vital power is defined as a health force that manifests in states of being while doing in nature to generate well-being, but little is known about the generative process of vital force. Purpose: This secondary study explored the vital power of children who experienced well-being while doing in nature. Methods: Using a framework of the Nature Immersion Model, directed content analysis of parental reflections on their children's vital power experiences sought to explore patterns of being while doing in nature observed in association with parental reports of: (a) change in their children's well-being and (b) qualities of vital power evident in parental descriptions of those changes in well-being. Conclusions: The essence of vital power encompassed feelings of a life-spark, natural energy that prompted a healing shift. Implications for Practice: Linkage between a middle-range Theory of Nature Immersion and Nightingale's perspective adds a new avenue for integrating the spiritual-physical-mental dimension of self during creative nursing praxis.

From Baltimore to Italy: The contribution of Grace Baxter (1869-1954) to the development of Italian nursing

The recent discovery of unpublished documents in the archives of the Camerata hospital, (Florence, I) sheds light on an important chapter in the history of nursing education and the role played by Grace Baxter (1869-1954), of English parentage but born and lived in Florence. The introduction of professional nurses was part of the international movement for the emancipation of women that included education for an active role in society. Her contribution, with other women, to the history of Italian nursing resulted in the secularisation the profession away from the attitudes of the nuns, permeation of relevant ethical standards, and the beginning of professionalisation of nurses in Italy in accordance with Florence Nightingale's teaching.

Why good work in philosophical bioethics often looks strange

Papers in philosophical bioethics often discuss unrealistic scenarios and defend controversial views. Why is that, and what is this kind of work good for? My aim in the first part of this paper is to specify how philosophical bioethics relates to other types of work in bioethics, and to explain the role of the unrealistic scenarios and the controversial views. In the second part, I propose three strategies for doing research in philosophical bioethics that makes a valuable contribution to the bioethics community at large.

Connecting Contemporary Trauma Care to Florence Nightingale's Visionary Work

The impact of Florence Nightingale's visionary work continues to influence the delivery of nursing care in the contemporary emergency department (ED). Her foundational work in the Crimean War resulted in data-based recommendations for using the environment to promote healing and wellness among sick and wounded British soldiers. She advocated for attention to environmental details, including ventilation, air, warmth, drainage, cleanliness, natural light, and low noise levels. These important environmental concepts play a significant role in the nursing management of trauma patients in today's ED. This article features an application of Nightingale's environmental concepts to a trauma patient case exemplar and demonstrates the enduring impact of her work for trauma patients who receive care in the ED.

Britain's forgotten military medical school at Fort Pitt, Kent (1860-1863)

This article considers the history of Fort Pitt (1780-1922), its military hospital (founded 1814) and, in particular, its Army Medical School (1860-63). The museum and library were the work of the hospital's first directors: Dr David MacLoughlin and Sir James McGrigor, the latter the renowned reformer of military medical education. Central to the foundation of the medical school was Florence Nightingale who visited the site in 1856. The school opened in 1860 with five sets of students attending before it was transferred in 1863 to the Royal Victoria hospital, Netley, Hampshire. Fort Pitt was a "practical" medical school with students attending for 4-9 months of clinical experience. This included "instruction in tropical medicine" delivered by members of the Indian Medical Service. The foundation of a military medical school fulfilled an ambition dating back to at least 1796. Nightingale's role (exerted through Sidney Herbert) was omitted from contemporary newspaper reports. Fort Pitt continued as a military hospital until 1922 when it was converted to a school. The medical school constitutes a landmark in British military medicine, a response to the failure of British medical care in the Crimean war (1853-1856) and a forgotten legacy of Florence Nightingale.

Edwin Chadwick: A biographical update

The civil servant Edwin Chadwick (1800-1890) dominated public health policy from 1848 until he was obliged to take early retirement in 1854. Historians have concluded that his activities after 1854 produced no lasting impact. That analysis did not evaluate his contribution to the 1875 Public Health Act. This paper describes how the coordinated activity of Chadwick, Florence Nightingale, and William Farr between 1858 and 1871 produced one of the most successful social reforms in modern history. Unaware of the intellectual capital that this group provided to political decision-makers, historical accounts have tended to attribute the reduction in mortality post-1875 to a natural organic process responding to evident social evils. The rise, fall, and rise again of Chadwick's influence on public health policy shows how, on the contrary, difficult choices are necessary to resolve social problems.

[From Florence Nightingale to Resuscitation 4.0]

Complex, rough, trying, work and care in intensive care must be rethought and reorganised to reconcile the concern for the well-being of the patient, his relatives and the carers. A configuration where new technologies, the ethical dimension, prevention and training would contribute significantly to the efficiency and humanity of the premises.

Where in the world is Florence Nightingale's medicine chest?

BACKGROUND

In the 121^st anniversary year of the birth of Florence Nightingale, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is both interesting and salient to be reminded of the foundational work of this famous woman who began modern nursing. Her work in nursing care and nursing, health and public policy has been a continuing strong foundation to practices in societies around the world.

METHODS

In this short communication about historical research, various aspects of Florence's life and work are described, as well as the locations, memorials and museum significant to our remembrance of her.

RESULTS

A particular focus of this paper is the description of a larger but little-known medicine chest located at the College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, SK, Canada, and attributed as belonging to Florence.

CONCLUSION

Best known to this point in time is a smaller medicine chest at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London.

Florence Nightingale's legacy for clinical academics: A framework analysis of a clinical professorial network and a model for clinical academia

BACKGROUND

Clinical academic nursing roles are rare, and clinical academic leadership positions even more scarce. Amongst the United Kingdom (UK) academia, only 3% of nurses who are employed within universities are clinically active. Furthermore, access to research fellowships and research grant funding for nurses in clinical or academic practice is also limited. The work of Florence Nightingale, the original role model for clinical academic nursing, is discussed in terms of how this has shaped and influenced that of clinical academic nurse leaders in modern UK healthcare settings. We analysed case studies with a view to providing exemplars and informing a new model by which to visualise a trajectory of clinical academic careers.

METHODS

A Framework analysis of seven exemplar cases was conducted for a network of Clinical Academic Nursing Professors (n = 7), using a structured template. Independent analysis highlighted shared features of the roles: (a) model of clinical academic practice, (b) infrastructure for the post, (c) capacity-building initiatives, (d) strategic influence, (e) wider influence, (f) local and national implementation initiatives, (g) research area and focus and (h) impact and contribution.

FINDINGS

All seven of the professors of nursing involved in this discourse were based in both universities and healthcare organisations in an equal split. All had national and international profiles in their specialist clinical areas and were implementing innovation in their clinical and teaching settings through boundary spanning. We outline a model for career trajectories in clinical academia, and how leadership is crucial.

CONCLUSION

The model outlined emphasises the different stages of clinical academic roles in nursing. Nursing as a discipline needs to embrace the value of these roles, which have great potential to raise the standards of healthcare and the status of the profession.

Florence Nightingale and the Spanish nursing school of Santa Isabel De Hungría (1896)

PURPOSE

The Spanish surgeon Federico Rubio-Galí worked at St. Thomas Hospital in England at the time when Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale Training School for Nurses (1860). Apparently, he was quite aware of Nightingale's nursing work and expertise and it is known that founded the first Spanish nursing school, in Madrid, in 1896. This led us to wonder if the emergence of his school was purely by chance or was connected to what its founder learned in England. Likely, this learned knowledge led him to apply Nightingale's ideas and to put them into practice in his institution.

METHODS

We used content analysis techniques and developed categories and subcategories to search for ideological similarities between Nightingale and Rubio-Galí.

FINDINGS

The results reflected similarities and coincidences on several issues, mainly related to ventilation, light, infection, hygiene, food, rest, practical training, and observation, among others.

CONCLUSIONS

The concepts listed by Nightingale and Rubio-Galí are important for the analysis of nursing from an epistemological and ontological perspective. We concluded that Rubio-Galí was fully aware of Nightingale's ideas and that he implemented several of them in his institution.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Historical research always implies progress in the field of practice and knowledge, permitting arise new issues. The data presented in this article open new questions for practice and the history of Spanish nursing.

Exploring The Netley British Red Cross Magazine: An example of the development of nursing and patient care during the First World War

Netley Hospital played a crucial role in caring for the wounded during the nineteenth century and twentieth century, becoming one of the busiest military hospitals of the time. Simultaneously, Florence Nightingale delved into the concept of health and developed the theoretical basis of nursing. This research aims to describe the experiences related to nursing and patient care described in The Netley British Red Cross Magazine during the First World War. The analysis displays different nurses' roles and the influence of environmental factors in the delivery of the soldiers' care. There are indications that Nightingale's ideas would have infiltrated the nursing practices and other aspects of the soldiers' recovery at Netley. The history of the Netley Red Cross Hospital shows the theoretical and practical advancement of nursing care towards a holistic approach.

Promoting Sustainable Nursing Leadership: The Nightingale Legacy

The year 2020 features the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. Her legacy is often recalled as simply being "the lady with the lamp" who cared for sick and wounded British soldiers; however, her impact on the nursing profession includes serving as a role model for many leadership behaviors and strategies that have positively impacted the health of communities and populations around the world. Through her tireless endeavors, Nightingale exemplified many leadership roles, including advocate, change agent, interprofessional collaborator, and visionary. The development of effective skills in these leadership roles remains important for all levels of nursing leaders in today's health-care environment. This article showcases Nightingale's leadership in selected leadership roles, and demonstrates her continued impact on contemporary nurses.

Her contributions to health care improvement

In 2020 we celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Florence Nightingale and 110 years from her death (1820-1910). This gives us the opportunity to remember her life and her achievements. She is mainly known for her contribution to the foundation of modern nursing in the British Empire and subsequently to the world. Besides her personal engagement in the Crimean War, she organized a professional training for nurses, wrote the first textbook on nursing ("Notes on Nursing") and took public positions in favor of health care and philanthropic funding. She was a militant for the rights of the women and for social justice. She was a pioneer of medical statistics and hospital management. Her activity is acknowledged worldwide.

The Nightingale Legacy

The World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) has designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife to mark the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. This celebration honors her work and impact on the nursing profession-one of engagement and advocacy for public health. Nightingale's Notes on Nursing (1860) illustrated her observations of social determinants for health wellness and illness. She championed efforts for community access to clean water and public sanitization and emphasized the importance of nutrition and hygiene on healing and wellness. Her calls for action still resonate with enduring worldwide healthcare shortcomings, which contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality.

200 Years Since the Birth of Nursing Informatics?

It is 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale. This keynote paper reviews some of her work relating to health statistics and outlines its continuing legacy to nursing informatics around the world and especially in poorer countries, like South Africa, in the 21st century.

[Reminiscing the pioneers of modern nursing during Covid-19 epidemic: 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth]

Before Florence Nightingale, nurses lacked special skills and training. The nursing mainly relied on nurse's religious passion and feelings to carry out nursing activities, and some vulgar and ignorant women took care of the job. Nightingale, who well-educated, born in an aristocratic family, devoted herself to nursing career despite the opposition of her family. She travelled around the world to investigate the hospital and nursing status. Nightingale practiced her concept of nursing work in the Crimean war. After the investigation of the wounded soldiers, she pointed out that the high mortality rate of British soldiers was related to poor nursing. She put forward suggestions to strengthen military nursing education; then she established modern nursing education institutions and created a new nursing education model, which was the beginning of modern nursing career.

Florence Nightingale: The Making of a Hospital Reformer

OBJECTIVES

The first of two articles is to show how Florence Nightingale became a leading, effective hospital reformer.

AIM

The aim of the first paper is to relate how Nightingale was influenced by the great defects in the war hospitals of the Crimean War (1854-1856) and how she learned the lessons from those defects to set a different course. The article shows how her famous Notes on Nursing is a positive treatment of the lessons learned, turning the sanitary defects, notably in ventilation, into chapters of the book. The importance of the pavilion model of hospital design is highlighted. There is coverage of the advances made by Semmelweis at the Vienna General Hospital.

METHODS

This is a purely historical study drawing on the extensive publications by Nightingale, augmented by her (massive) surviving correspondence and notes. The search for archival materials was done for the publication of the 16-volume Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, written by the author of this article. The collected works was peer reviewed, and the research process succeeded in locating material in more than 200 archives worldwide.

Organising through compassion: The introduction of meta-virtue management in the NHS

This paper investigates the comprehensive compassionate care reform programme within the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Through a synoptic reading of policy documents, we show how 'compassion' is introduced as an overarching meta-virtue designed to govern relationships and formal positions in health care. Invoking an 'ethics of office' perspective, mainly drawing on the thinking of Max Weber, we evaluate the promotion of compassion as a managerial technology and argue how seemingly humanistic and value-based approaches to healthcare management might have unintended consequences for the quality of care and the conduct of health professionals that in some ways resemble and in some ways exceed those of the more traditional New Public Management measures, which the new compassion paradigm is expected to outdo. In the paper's final sections, we turn to the original work of the nursing icon Florence Nightingale to argue that compassion and other virtues should continuously be formulated and re-formulated in relation to the role-specific skills and duties of particular offices in the healthcare sector.

Florence Nightingale: creator of modern nursing and public health pioneer

In his 2008 series of articles on notable women in healthcare, Professor Harold Ellis celebrates Florence Nightingale's contribution to nursing, research and public health. This month, we republish his article to coincide with the 2020, 'Year of the Nurse and Midwife', celebrating the famous lady with the lamp's work in the Crimean War, as well as her pioneering work in the fields of nursing and public health, that helped shape current practice and research.

Mary Seacole and claims of evidence-based practice and global influence

Aim

The aim of this paper was to explore the contribution of Mary Seacole to nursing and health care, notably in comparison with that of Florence Nightingale.

Background

Much information is available, in print and electronic, that presents Mary Seacole as a nurse, even as a pioneer nurse and leader in public health care. Her own memoir and copious primary sources, show rather than she was a businesswoman, who gave assistance during the Crimean War, mainly to officers. Florence Nightingale's role as the major founder of the nursing profession, a visionary of public health care and key player in advocating ‘environmental’ health, reflected in her own Notes on Nursing, is ignored or misconstrued.

Design

Discussion paper.

Data sources

British newspapers of 19th century and The Times digital archive; Australian and New Zealand newspaper archives, published memoirs, letters and biographies/autobiographies of Crimean War participants were the major sources.

Results

Careful examination of primary sources, notably digitized newspaper sources, British, Australian and New Zealand, show that the claims for Seacole's ‘global influence’ in nursing do not hold, while her use of ‘practice‐based evidence’ might better be called self‐assessment. Primary sources, moreover, show substantial evidence of Nightingale's contributions to nursing and health care, in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and many countries and the UK much material shows her influence also on hospital safety and health promotion.

Rogers

The purpose of this essay is to share Kan Koffi's ideas about scientific revolutions in the discipline of nursing. Koffi has proposed that the works of Florence Nightingale and Martha E. Rogers represent two scientific revolutions in nursing as a learned discipline. The outcome of these two scientific revolutions is a catalyst for critical disciplinary and paradigmatic debate about the universal conceptualization of nursing's distinctive professional and scientific knowledge.

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) and Sir John Forbes (1787-1861): neighbours in Old Burlington Street, Westminster

The year 2010 marks the centenary of the birth of Florence Nightingale and will, no doubt, be universally remembered. Her life and nursing career have recently been fully described by Bostridge. It is less well known that her neighbour from November 1856 was the distinguished Scottish physician Sir John Forbes MD Edin FRCP Lond FRS DCL Oxon. Although they never met, they exchanged copies of each other's books and shared a mutual respect.

Exploring the emotional intelligence of Florence Nightingale

OBJECTIVE

Emotional intelligence (EI) within nursing appears to be a growing interest as evidenced by the expanding number of literature reviews conducted on the subject. The inquiry for this historical research is to understand the work and characteristics of Florence Nightingale and EI.

METHODS

The assumption is that nurses who are emotionally intelligent are the most likely to not only survive the nursing profession but to thrive and make compassionate future leaders. Nightingale's letters, pictures and other writings were used to evaluate her viewpoints as an inspirational nurse and leader.

RESULTS

Nightingale was a catalyst for change; internally motivated to be a great nurse and had the zeal to develop others as well.

CONCLUSIONS

Exploring Nightingale's characteristics of EI such her confidence, determination, integrity and compassion, her teachings and beliefs can transcend time to mold successful nurses more than a century later. "The voice of a leader. It is as resounding as the heart it encourages, as far-reaching as the change it invokes. It is tuned by its keen sense of the voices around it and speaks back in a language they can understand. Its breath enters all that truly hear it, and when it no longer speaks, it can still be heard."-Mae Taylor Moss.