[Florence Nightingale's concept of home nursing: an analysis of her writings]

The purpose of this study is to identify Miss Florence Nightingale's concept of home nursing in the 19th century. The texts of her 27 writings were analyzed in terms of home nursing. In her writings of 1850's, she discussed patients' own homes as well as hospitals as the settings where nursing care should be provided. "Hospitals are an intermediate stage of civilization" was the recognition which formed the core of her philosophy. Miss Nightingale envisaged "nursing care provided to individuals in their own homes" was more desirable and could replace hospitalization. If in their own homes, patients could be helped to feel the everydayness and independency of their life. Miss Nightingale thought, a concept very similar to the concept of normalization of today. In her later years she expressed that she expected home nursing could become and everyday fact. Miss Nightingale used the term "home nursing" as early as 1900 in the same sense as it is today, the concept of home combined to that of nursing. It is one of the findings that should be noted in the history of home nursing.