Clean Water And Hydration

Keeping patients hydrated by giving them enough clean water and monitoring their fluid intake to prevent dehydration effects, such as dizziness and dry mouth, is seen in the RCN’s enhanced nutritional care, which was formed using Florence Nightingale’s theory on keeping a clean environment for the patients’ recovery. In Nightingale’s environmental theory, making sure that the water is clean and pure can prevent patients from getting sicker when around patients who have other diseases instead of using polluted water from poor drainage to be used for patients’ healing (Nightingale, 1850). Today, there are nearly 38% of hospitals and health-care facilities around the world are unable to use safe, clean water; and the Royal College of Nursing recognized this that they ensure patients in acute care receive clean, fresh water to encourage hydration.
Furthermore, for a patient to have proper hydration, nurses must monitor the patient’s fluid intake, making sure that the patient drinks the right amount of water per day; preventing thirst and being dehydrated, or preventing overhydrated and leading to hyponatremia, which is when the salts, sodium, and blood levels are low due to drinking extreme amounts of water and being intoxicated (DiLonardo, 2014). According to Nightingale, knowing and keeping record on how much water the patient is given will help the nurse’s observation and memory; watching if the patient is drinking the water and remembering when to give the patient water (Nightingale,