Incorporating Florence Nightingale’s theory of nursing into teaching a group of preadolescent children about negative peer pressure

Abstract

Clinically based nurses often question the value of nursing theory, ultimately resulting in the reluctance to implement nursing theory into practice. This clinical practicum project successfully used Nightingale’s primary tenets, such as building trust, self-assessment, and group leadership, as a theoretical framework in a nursing practice group for the purpose of teaching a group of preadolescent children about negative peer pressure. Preadolescent children are particularly vulnerable to peer group culture. Proactive strategies, as demonstrated through this project, can be used to positively influence children’s behavior toward each other during the formative middle years. Group sessions addressed such topics as moral beliefs and values, bullying, and saying “no” to peer pressure and were structured using a variety of contemporary resources to develop interactive exercises that engaged the children and enhanced group communication. The children and their parents reported positive outcomes from the nurse-led group sessions.