It is important to note that nursing theories were essential in shaping modern nursing practices and the delivery of health care. The given critique will primarily focus on Florence Nightingale and Dorothea Orem with their corresponding conceptual frameworks of the environment theory and self-care theory, respectively. Florence Nightingale’s environment theory is among the most influential theoretical notions about the provision of necessary conditions for patient recovery. The five major elements of the conceptual framework include access to light, sanitation, fresh air, cleanliness, and water (Alligood, 2017). The critique of Nightingale can be targeted at the failure to include diet or food as a core aspect of basic patient necessities.
Although she addressed diet in her chapters and writings, her emphasis was not on what is healthy but on what the patient prefers. She wrote that “the patient’s stomach can assimilate or derive nourishment from, and of this, the patient’s stomach is the sole judge. Chemistry cannot tell this. The patient’s stomach must be its chemist” (Oerther & Oerther, 2020, p. 141). Considering the abundance of unhealthy processed foods responsible for many modern metabolic diseases, among other factors, the personal food preference of an individual uneducated in nutrition might not be the best option.
In addition, Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory focuses on enabling a patient’s self-care agency and demand. The core emphasis is put on the ability to faster recovery if a person is given self-care independence (Younas, 2017). The theorist can be critiqued for the poor applicability of the concept in the most deficient situations. Patients are unable to have an agency over their care in cases where they need an enhanced recovery the most.
References
Alligood, M. R. (2017). Nursing theorists and their work – E-book (9th ed.). Elsevier.
Oerther, D., & Oerther, S. (2020). Nightingale’s legacy as a nurse theorist promotes healthful food systems. Perspectives in Public Health, 140(3), 141–143.
Younas, A. (2017). A foundational analysis of Dorothea Orem’s self-care theory and evaluation of its significance for nursing practice and research. Creative Nursing, 23(1), 1-12.