NOTES ON NURSING BY FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE SECTION 00 PREFACE.

Summary

Florence Nightingale's 'Notes on Nursing' emphasizes the importance of sanitary knowledge for every woman, as they often have charge of someone's health. She argues that nursing is more than administering medicine; it involves providing fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and proper diet. Nightingale challenges the belief that suffering is inevitable in disease, suggesting that much of it stems from poor nursing conditions rather than the disease itself. She calls for women to learn the laws of health to prevent unnecessary suffering and death.

Takeaways

• 📚 Florence Nightingale's 'Notes on Nursing' is not a nursing manual but a guide for thought aimed at women responsible for the health of others.
• 🌟 Nightingale emphasizes that nursing is a fundamental skill for women, as almost every woman will at some point be responsible for someone's health.
• 🌡️ She suggests that disease is often a reparative process by nature to remedy poisoning or decay, and that suffering is not always a symptom of the disease itself but can be due to inadequate nursing conditions.
• 🏥 Nightingale points out that many symptoms considered inevitable in disease are often due to a lack of essential nursing elements such as fresh air, light, warmth, quiet, cleanliness, and proper diet.
• 💊 She criticizes the common belief that administering medicine is 'doing something' while providing basic nursing care is seen as 'doing nothing', highlighting the importance of the latter.
• 🌱 Nightingale argues that the principles of good nursing apply to both the sick and the well, and that neglecting these principles can lead to illness.
• 👩‍⚕️ She challenges the notion that medical knowledge is only for doctors, urging mothers to learn about health and hygiene to better care for their families.
• 👶 The script highlights the high infant mortality rates and questions whether this is due to a lack of basic nursing and health knowledge among mothers.
• 🏠 Nightingale suggests that good nursing includes creating a healthy environment, which is often hindered by poor sanitary, architectural, and administrative arrangements.
• 🌬️ She addresses the common excuse that environmental factors like wind are beyond control, arguing that with proper knowledge and conditions, one can adapt to such factors.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of Florence Nightingale's 'Notes on Nursing'?

The main purpose is to provide guidance and thought on nursing for women who are personally responsible for the health of others, rather than to serve as a comprehensive manual for professional nurses.

According to the transcript, why does Nightingale believe every woman is a nurse?

Nightingale believes every woman is a nurse because at some point in their lives, they are likely to be in charge of the personal health of someone, such as a child or an invalid.

What does Nightingale suggest is the general principle regarding disease?

She suggests that all disease is, at some period of its course, a reparative process by nature to remedy a process of poisoning or decay that has occurred unnoticed over time.

How does Nightingale define the term 'nursing' in the context of her notes?

Nightingale defines 'nursing' as the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and the proper selection and administration of diet, rather than just the administration of medicines and the application of poultices.

What does Nightingale argue is often the cause of suffering during illness?

Nightingale argues that suffering during illness is often not a symptom of the disease itself but rather a result of the lack of proper nursing conditions such as fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and punctuality in diet administration.

What is the importance of understanding the elements of nursing according to Nightingale?

Understanding the elements of nursing is crucial as it can prevent unnecessary suffering and potentially improve the outcome of diseases, by ensuring that the body's natural reparative processes are not hindered.

Why does Nightingale emphasize the importance of sanitary knowledge for everyone, not just medical professionals?

Nightingale emphasizes the importance of sanitary knowledge for everyone because it is distinct from medical knowledge and is essential for maintaining health and preventing disease in everyday life.

What does Nightingale suggest about the role of mothers in the health of their children?

Nightingale suggests that mothers should be educated in the laws of health and nursing, rather than relying solely on doctors, to ensure the well-being of their children.

How does Nightingale view the common belief that medicine is the primary action in treating disease?

Nightingale views the common belief that administering medicine is the primary action in treating disease as misguided, emphasizing that providing proper nursing conditions is equally, if not more, important.

What is Nightingale's stance on the necessity of suffering in certain diseases?

Nightingale acknowledges that some diseases may involve suffering, but she argues that much of the pain and suffering is due to inadequate nursing conditions rather than the disease itself.

What does Nightingale imply about the state of medical knowledge among the general population?

Nightingale implies that there is a lack of understanding and education regarding the basic principles of health and nursing among the general population, which leads to unnecessary suffering and poor health outcomes.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Notes on Nursing

The first paragraph introduces the recording of 'Notes on Nursing' by Florence Nightingale, emphasizing that it is not a manual for teaching nursing but rather a set of thoughts to guide women in charge of others' health. It highlights the importance of understanding nursing as distinct from medical knowledge, which is reserved for professionals. Nightingale stresses that every woman is a nurse at some point in her life, and thus, improving nursing knowledge is crucial. The paragraph also introduces the idea that disease can be seen as a reparative process by nature, often hindered by a lack of proper nursing care, such as fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, and proper diet.

05:02

🌬️ The Misconceptions of Nursing

Paragraph two challenges the common belief that nursing is easy and that every woman is naturally good at it. Nightingale argues that the fundamental elements of nursing are largely unknown. She points out that poor sanitary, architectural, and administrative arrangements often impede proper nursing care. The paragraph also addresses the misconception that medical intervention is the only active form of care, while neglecting the essential role of nursing in providing a conducive environment for recovery. Nightingale emphasizes the universality of nursing laws, applicable to both the sick and the well, and criticizes the lack of education on these laws among mothers and nurses.

10:02

🌬️ The Influence of Environment on Health

The third paragraph discusses the impact of environmental factors, such as wind direction, on health. It refutes the notion that such factors are beyond human control and that individuals are powerless against them. Nightingale suggests that by creating good sanitary conditions, one can be less affected by environmental changes. The paragraph concludes the preface by implying that understanding and controlling these environmental factors is within our reach and is part of the broader scope of nursing and maintaining health.

Keywords

💡Nursing

Nursing, in the context of the script, refers to the care and attention given to the sick or infirm, with the aim of helping them recover their health. It is not limited to medical procedures but includes creating a conducive environment for healing. The script emphasizes that nursing should involve the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, and proper diet, which are essential for the body's natural reparative processes.

💡Sanitary Knowledge

Sanitary knowledge is the understanding of hygiene and health practices necessary for preventing disease and maintaining health. The script suggests that this knowledge is crucial for everyone, not just medical professionals. It is highlighted as a form of common sense that should be part of everyday life, especially for those responsible for the health of others, such as mothers and nurses.

💡Reparative Process

The reparative process mentioned in the script refers to the body's natural healing mechanisms that work to repair damage or fight off disease. Florence Nightingale suggests that disease can be seen as a reparative process, where the body is attempting to correct an imbalance or poisoning that has occurred. Understanding and supporting this process is key to effective nursing.

💡Fresh Air

Fresh air is emphasized in the script as a vital element for health and nursing. It is noted that a lack of fresh air can lead to illness or hinder recovery. The script implies that ensuring a supply of fresh air is a fundamental aspect of creating a healthy environment for patients.

💡Light

Light is another essential element discussed in the script, necessary for both physical and mental well-being. It is suggested that inadequate light can contribute to a decline in health, and thus, providing sufficient light is part of the nursing role in promoting healing.

💡Warmth

Warmth is highlighted as a key factor in the comfort and recovery of patients. The script indicates that maintaining an appropriate temperature is crucial for preventing complications and supporting the body's natural healing processes.

💡Cleanliness

Cleanliness is described as a fundamental aspect of nursing and health care in the script. It refers to the practice of maintaining a clean environment and personal hygiene to prevent the spread of infection and to support the body's healing.

💡Quiet

Quiet is mentioned as an essential condition for patient recovery. The script suggests that noise can be detrimental to health, and providing a quiet environment can aid in the healing process by reducing stress and allowing for restful sleep.

💡Diet

Diet is discussed in the script as a critical component of nursing care. It involves the proper selection and administration of food to provide the necessary nutrients for health and recovery. The script emphasizes the importance of punctuality and care in diet administration.

💡Health of Others

The health of others is a recurring theme in the script, indicating that nursing is not just a professional role but a responsibility that falls on many, particularly women, who often care for children or invalids. The script encourages an understanding of health care as a shared duty that extends beyond medical professionals.

💡Administrative Arrangements

Administrative arrangements refer to the organizational and management structures that support nursing and health care. The script suggests that these arrangements can either facilitate or hinder effective nursing, emphasizing the need for proper systems to be in place for optimal patient care.

Highlights

Notes on Nursing is not a manual for professional nurses but a guide for women with personal charge of the health of others.

Sanitary knowledge is essential for everyone, not just medical professionals.

Every woman is a nurse at some point in her life, emphasizing the universality of nursing.

Disease is often a reparative process by nature, not always accompanied by suffering.

Symptoms considered inevitable in disease are often due to lack of proper nursing conditions like fresh air, light, warmth, etc.

Nursing should involve the proper use of environmental factors and diet, not just medicine administration.

The art of nursing should include creating conditions that make proper nursing possible.

The value of particular remedies is often uncertain, but the importance of careful nursing is universally recognized.

Nursing principles apply to the well as much as to the sick, with violations leading to less severe consequences in the former.

Mothers and families should be educated on the laws of health to preserve the health of their offspring.

The high mortality rate among infants is a call to action for mothers to learn about health preservation.

The importance of understanding the laws of life and health is emphasized over medical or physiological knowledge.

Circumstances affecting children's health are often within our control and should be managed for better sanitary conditions.

The preface concludes with a call for women to learn and understand the principles of nursing for the health of all.

Transcripts

preface and start of notes on nursing

this is a LibriVox recording all

LibriVox recordings are in the public

domain

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please visit librivox.org

recording by Corey Samuel

notes on nursing what it is and what it

is not

by Florence Nightingale

preface

the following notes are by no means

intended as a rule of thought by which

nurses can teach themselves to nurse

still less as a manual to teach nurses

to nurse

they are meant simply to give hints for

thought to women who have personal

charge of the health of others

every woman or at least almost every

woman in England has at one time or

another of her life charge of the

personal health of somebody with a child

or invalid in other words every woman is

a nurse

every day sanitary knowledge or the

knowledge of nursing or in other words

how to put the constitution in such a

state as that it will have no disease or

that it can recover from disease takes a

higher place

it is recognized as the knowledge which

everyone ought to have distinct from

medical knowledge which only a

profession can have

if then every woman must at some time or

other of her life become a nurse I.E

have charge of somebody's health

how immense and how valuable would be

the produce of her United experience if

every woman would think how to nurse

I do not pretend to teach her how I ask

her to teach herself and for this

purpose I venture to give her some hints

notes on nursing

what it is and what it is not

Shall We Begin by taking it as a general

principle that all disease at some

period or another of its course is more

or less a reparative process not

necessarily accompanied with suffering

an effort of nature to remedy a process

of poisoning or of Decay which has taken

place weeks months sometimes years

beforehand unnoticed the termination of

the disease being then while the

antecedent process was going on

determined

if we accept this as a general principle

we shall be immediately met with

anecdotes and instances to prove the

contrary

just so if we were to take as a

principle all the climates of the Earth

are meant to be made habitable for Man

by the efforts of man

the objection would immediately be

raised will the top of Mount Blanc ever

be made habitable

our answer would be it will be many

thousands of years before we have

reached to the bottom of Mount Blanc in

making the Earth healthy

wait till we have reached the bottom

before we discuss the top

in watching diseases both in private

houses and in public hospitals

the thing which strikes the experienced

Observer most forcibly is this

that the symptoms or the sufferings

generally considered to be inevitable

and incident to the disease

a very often not symptoms of the disease

at all but of something quite different

of the want of fresh air or of light or

of warmth or of quiet or of cleanliness

or of punctuality and Care in the

administration of diet

of each or of all of these

and this quite as much in private as in

hospital nursing

the reparative process which Nature has

instituted and which we call disease has

been hindered by some want of knowledge

or attention in one or in all of these

things and pain suffering or

Interruption of the whole process sets

in

if a patient is cold

if a patient is feverish if a patient is

faint if he is sick after taking food if

he has a bedsore it is generally the

fault not of the disease but of the

nursing

I use the word nursing for want of a

better

it has been limited to signify a little

more than the administration of

medicines and the application of

poultices

it ought to signify the proper use of

fresh air light warmth cleanliness quiet

and the proper selection and

administration of diet

all the least expensive vital power to

the patient

it has been said and written scores of

times that every woman makes a good

nurse

I believe on the contrary that the very

elements of nursing are all but unknown

by this I do not mean that the nurse is

always to blame

bad sanitary bad architectural and bad

administrative Arrangements often make

it impossible to nurse

but the art of nursing

ought to include such arrangements as a

loan make what I understand by nursing

possible

the art of nursing has now practiced

seems to be expressly constituted to

unmake what God had made disease to be

that is a reparative process

to recur to the first objection

if we are asked

such and such a disease a reparative

process

can such an illness be unaccompanied

with suffering

will any care prevent such a patient

from suffering this or that

I humbly say I do not know

but when you have done away with all

that pain and suffering which impatience

are the symptoms not of their disease

but of the absence of one or all of the

above mentioned Essentials to the

success of Nature's reparative processes

we shall then know what are the symptoms

of and the sufferings Inseparable from

the disease

another and the Communist exclamation

which will instantly be made is would

you do nothing then in cholera fever Etc

so deep rooted and Universal is the

conviction that to give medicine is to

be doing something or rather everything

to give air warmth cleanliness Etc is to

do nothing

the reply is that in these and many

other similar diseases

the exact value of particular remedies

and modes of treatment is by no means

ascertained while there is universal

experience as to the extreme importance

of careful nursing in determining the

issue of the disease

2.

the very elements of what constitutes

good nursing are as little understood

for the well as for the sick

the same laws of health or of nursing

for they are in reality the same obtain

among the well as among the sick

the breaking of them produces only a

less violent consequence among the

former than among the latter

and they're sometimes not always

it is constantly objected but how can I

obtain this medical knowledge I am not a

doctor I must leave this to doctors

o mothers of families

you who say this do you know that one in

every seven infants in this civilized

land of England perishes before it is

one year old

that in London two in every five die

before they are five years old and in

the other great cities of England nearly

one out of two

the life duration of tender babies

as some Saturn turned analytical chemist

says is the most delicate test of

sanitary conditions

is all this premature suffering and

death necessary

or did nature intend mothers to be

always accompanied by doctors

or is it better to learn the piano Forte

than to learn the laws which observe the

preservation of offspring

Macaulay somewhere says that it is

extraordinary that whereas the laws of

the Motions of the heavenly bodies far

removed as they are from us a perfectly

well understood

the laws of the human mind which are

under our observation all day and every

day and no better understood than they

were two thousand years ago

but how much more extraordinary is it

that whereas what we might call the Cox

communities of Education EG the elements

of astronomy are now taught to every

school girl

neither mothers of families of any class

nor School mistresses of any class nor

nurses of children nor nurses of

hospital at all anything about those

laws which God has assigned to the

relations of our bodies with the world

in which he has put them

in other words the laws which make these

bodies into which he has put our minds

healthy or unhealthy organs of those

minds are all but unlearned

not about those laws the laws of Life

are in a certain measure understood but

not even mothers think it worth their

while to study them to study how to give

their children healthy existences

they call it medical or physiological

knowledge fit only for doctors

another objection

we are constantly told but the

circumstances which govern our

children's health are beyond our control

what can we do with winds there is the

East Wind

most people can tell before they get up

in the morning whether the wind is in

the east

to this one can answer with more

certainty than to the former objections

who is it who knows when the wind is in

the east

not the highlands drover certainly

exposed to the East Wind

but the young lady who was worn out with

the want of exposure to Fresh Air to

sunlight Etc

put the latter under his good sanitary

circumstances as the former and she too

will not know when the wind is in the

east

end of preface and start