Applying Florence Nightingale’s Model of Nursing and the Environment on Multiple Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Infected Patients in the Kenyan Setting

Abstract

Nurses in many resource limited settings have mostly used the medical model which failed to an- swer many of their concerns in managing tuberculosis infected patients. Florence Nightingale’s Model of Nursing and the Environment states that nurses manipulate and mediate the environment to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon. Nursing theory and models have been recognized as key components to evidence based practice today. Every nursing unit in deve- loped countries employs at least one. Kenyan nurses need to realize this and embrace this prin- ciple. This article begins by expounding a commonly known, but not always well understood mod- el by the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. Methodology: The current study was a review and it applied Florence Nightingale’s Model of Nursing and the Environment on drug resis- tant tuberculosis infected patients in Kenyan. The format of this review was completed by using the authors’ adapted “Advanced Theory in Nursing” coursework materials. Secondary sources and seminal works by the theorist were also scrutinized. A case scenario was embedded that was somehow typical to maximize what could be learned about this theory. Conclusion: Nightingale’s model is a generic tool applicable to guide nursing care of clients infected with multiple/extre-mely drug resistant Tb with potential to improve nursing care and provide a basis for case studies.