Introduction
In the field of healthcare, in addition to attracting practical knowledge, it is necessary to pay more attention to the theories that have been developed in this field of knowledge. The need to take this aspect into account is that theoretical approaches are the basis for any medical specialist activity. Hence, it frames the leading strategies and policies that are used in providing assistance and support to individuals in need of care.
However, it is necessary to criticize theoretical approaches, which will provide an opportunity to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and determine applicability and reliability. Therefore, Nightingale’s Nursing Theory as a middle-range theory is one of the most widely known, the consideration of which, using the Chinn and Kramer approach, will provide a more complete understanding of its advantages and disadvantages.
Approach to Critique
First, it is necessary to pay closer attention to the approach used to criticize and evaluate Nightingale’s Nursing Theory. The Peggy Chinn and Maeona Kramer framework, which describes and critiques the theory, was chosen as it covers the main concepts that should be considered when analyzing theories. In the model created by the authors, there are several main elements that need to be focused on: purpose, concepts, definitions, relationships, structure, and assumptions (McEwen & Wills, 2018). The main one is to determine the extent to which the theory in question follows its primary purpose.
In addition to the highlighted elements, it is also worth noting several characteristics that stand out within the framework of the criticism and evaluation model developed by Chinn and Kramer. Hence, they highlight the need to analyze such aspects as semantic consistency or clarity, structural consistency and clarity, simplicity or complexity, generality, importance, and accessibility (McEwen & Wills, 2018). These components will contribute to gaining an understanding of not only such aspects as the fulfillment of the main goal but also the benefits and applicability of the theory in a particular field of knowledge.
Florence Nightingale’s Nursing Theory
Nightingale’s middle-range nursing theory is currently one of the oldest yet practical and often applied theories in healthcare. This is primarily because it has become the fundamental basis for the creation of the entire nursing practice. Florence Nightingale’s contribution has a lasting effect to this day and requires special attention when criticizing and evaluating.
Purpose
Critically important for the realization of the primary purpose of the theory under consideration is gaining awareness of its historical development and what influenced it. Nightingale’s Nursing Theory was developed in the 1850s. The girl, who received a rather non-standard education with a focus on mathematics and philosophy, decided to devote her life to nursing. Nightingale went to provide assistance to the victims of the Crimean War, during which she gathered critically valuable experience. It was the knowledge gained in this terrible event that became the basis for the formation of the theory that became the foundation for the modern field of nursing.
Leading Idea
The central assumption that can be traced is that nurses are the foundation for achieving the most favorable results in patient care. This is due to the fact that the concepts and elements highlighted by this theoretical approach provide the basis for holistic care to individuals in need, and it is applicable in the modern field of healthcare. Nurses have a great responsibility, as they are the specialists with whom patients interact the most. Hence, Florence Nightingale’s theory has value and provides the fundamentals on which their activities should rely.
In the context of the model developed by Chinn and Kramer, the leading element of any theory becomes its purpose. For Florence Nightingale, the main task was to form an understanding of the value of the role of nurses, who represented the basis for the entire medical field of activity. In addition, she pointed out that their primary purpose was to create an environment conducive to a faster and more fruitful treatment process. She “promoted the regulated training of nurses at different socio-health levels so that their vocation would take them to the place where they could best apply their nursing knowledge from a scientific base” (Peres et al., 2021, p. 2). Nightingale put much effort into justifying the importance of these specialists, which brought significant changes to this area.
Concepts
The next aspect worth considering is the concepts on which the theories are based. Research states that “Chinn and Kramer define a concept as an idea that is structured and related in theory” (Hidayati & Ismail, 2023, p. 272). Thus, the main element in the theory of Florence Nightingale was “healing, representing the gathering of all aspects of the body, mind, and spirit, to achieve and maintain the integration of a balance, which denotes holistic nursing care” (Riegel et al., 2021, p. 2). In other words, she stressed that it is necessary to comply with specific standards that should encourage this process. Among them, the provision of clean water and air, sanitation, cleanliness, and light were determined. This relationship between nursing practice and patient health is of central importance for the theoretical approach under consideration.
Structure
Regarding the structure, within the framework of the Chinn and Kramer model, it is worth noting that the theory of Florence Nightingale focuses on the consideration of body, mind, and spirit in helping individuals. They become the main justifications for any actions that should be taken by medical specialists. Research indicated that nurses should have “the capacity and a need to think holistically using the brain, heart, and hands in creating healing environments, in order to take care of the trinomial dimensional body-mind-spirit effectively” (Riegel et al., 2021, p. 4). This fact follows that in theory, under discussion, all aspects and concepts interact with each other.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the analysis of the Florence Nightingale theory, with the help of theory description and critique developed by Peggy Chinn and Maeona Kramer, provided valuable insight. It showed that despite the long history of this approach, it still has relevance for modern healthcare and the work of nurses, as it defines the foundations for holistic patient care. Moreover, it focuses on the role of these specialists in creating the most comfortable and favorable environment for recovery in the medical facility.
It is also worth noting that Florence Nightingale’s theory has shown semantic clarity and consistency in explaining the basic concepts and structural clarity and consistency in understanding the relationship between them. In addition, it is simple enough to learn and accessible through the provision of grounded basics. Therefore, the theory under study is vital for accounting in the field of healthcare and study by medical specialists.
References
McEwen, M. & Wills, E. (2018). Theoretical basis for nursing. LWW.
Peres, M. A. D. A., Aperibense, P. G. G. D. S., Dios-Aguado, M. D. L. M. D., Gómez-Cantarino, S., & Queirós, P. J. P. (2021). The Florence Nightingale’s nursing theoretical model: a transmission of knowledge. Revista Gaucha de Enfermagem, 42. Web.
Riegel, F., Crossetti, M. D. G. O., Martini, J. G., & Nes, A. A. G. (2021). Florence Nightingale’s theory and her contributions to holistic critical thinking in nursing. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 74. Web.
Hidayati, E., & Ismail, S. (2023). Theory analysis: Dorothy E. Johnson (Behavioral Theory) According to the Chinn and Kramer model. In 1st Lawang Sewu International Symposium 2022 on Health Sciences (LSISHS 2022) (pp. 270-277). Atlantis Press. Web.