Basic needs of individual

Introduction

Need is something that humans need to survive and maintain their physical, mental, and emotional health. Humans are sophisticated creatures that are sensitive to their internal and external circumstances. Our actions, self-perceptions, ideals, and self-imposed priorities are all influenced by our physiological and psychological demands. Basic human needs are those that every person has in common with the fulfillment of which is necessary for everyone's health and life. The components necessary for survival and typical bodily and mental well, such as food, water, air, housing, protection, love, safety from environmental hazards, etc., are considered to be basic human requirements.

According to Virginia Henderson "Basic human needs are those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to a peaceful death) that a person would do unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge."

Everybody tries to fulfill their fundamental wants. Because they are shared by everyone, regardless of age, culture, color, sex, nationality, etc., basic needs are universal. An individual's demand could be entirely unmet, only partially met, or both at any given time. Human needs change with time. People's requirements fluctuate along with their health and surroundings. Some needs can be satisfied independently by an individual, but most wants must be partially or entirely satisfied through relationships and interactions with others. The social and physical environment, particularly one's family and community, frequently influences one's ability to satisfy their needs. A person whose needs are satisfied may be seen as healthy, whereas a person who has one or more unmet needs is more likely to get ill or experience other health-related problems in one or more of the human dimensions. Typical human requirements are:

Physical requirements are things that organisms must have in order to be healthy and productive. Because their absence would result in a bad outcome, such as death or malfunction, such as breathing, nourishment, urination, etc., they are distinguished by their desires.

Psychological needs: These are the inborn (innate) human sentiments of deprivation (lack) that are connected to a person's mental health.

Humans are fundamentally emotional beings, and as such, they have emotional needs that they communicate via feelings. Almost all people desire emotional fulfillment in their life. Healthy conduct naturally follows when a person's basic emotional needs are satisfied.

An intellectual need is a particular type of intrinsic drive that stems from a desire to study. It is seen as being essential for efficient teaching and learning. When someone asks a question of oneself or others, whether out of curiosity or to find a solution to a particular issue, intellectual demand is triggered. By encouraging people to engage in activities like writing, thinking critically, reading, and painting, you can stimulate their minds and, after a struggle, satisfy their intellectual requirements.

Environmental requirements: The environment is a significant aspect with which people interact, either directly or indirectly. A healthy relationship exists between a person and his surroundings. Movement, comfort, competence, and control are the four fundamental environmental requirements of people.

Spiritual needs: The term "spiritual" refers to anything that is connected to, consists of, or has the nature of a spirit; they are not physical, material, or related to, affect, or concern the soul.

Florence Nightingale's Needs

The Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), treated sick and injured troops during the Crimean War. She is credited with founding the field of scientific and educated nursing. Nightingale is regarded as the founding figure of nursing theory.

Nursing, according to Florence Nightingale's Environmental Theory, is "the act of utilizing the patient's environment to assist him in his recovery." It entails the nurse's initiative to set up environmental settings suitable for the patient's gradual restoration of health, and it recognizes that external factors linked to the patient's surroundings affect his development and life or biologic and physiologic processes. Nightingale held the opinion that a healing environment is crucial.

Types of Environment

Environments come in three different varieties. Physical, mental, and social

Physical Environment: The location where the patient is receiving treatment has physical components. All other facets of the ecosystem are impacted. Environmental cleanliness has a direct impact on patient mortality and disease prevention. The physical environment has an impact on a person's social and psychological environments.

Psychological Environment: Psychological environment can be affected by a negative physical environment which then causes stress. It requires various activities to keep the mind active. It involves communication with the person, about the person, and about other people.

Social Environment: It includes components of the physical environment such as clean air, clean water and proper drainage. It consists of a person's home or hospital room, as well as the total community. 

Major Concepts of Environmental Theory

Nursing: Nightingale stated that nursing "ought to signify the proper use of fresh air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quietness, and the proper selection and administration of diet, all at the least expense of vital power to the patient." She reflected the art of nursing in her statement that, "the art of nursing, as now practiced, seems to be expressly constituted to unmake what god had made disease to be, viz., a reparative process."

Human Beings: Human beings are not defined by Nightingale specifically. They are defined in relation to their environment and the impact of the environment upon them.  the healthy as well as the ill and she discussed health promotion as an activity in which nurses should engage.

Environment: The physical environment is stressed by Nightingale in her writing. Nightingale's writings reflect a community health model in which all that surrounds human beings is considered in relation to their state of health.

Health: Nightingale did not define health specifically. She stated, "We know nothing of health, the positive of which pathology is negative, except for the observation and experience. Given her definition of the art of nursing is to "unmake what God had made disease," then the goal of all nursing activities should be client health. She believed that nursing should provide care to the healthy as well as the ill and she discussed health promotion as an activity in which nurses should engage.

Sub-concepts of Environmental Theory

Health of Houses: Badly constructed houses do for the healthy what badly constructed hospitals do for the sick. Once ensured that the air is stagnant and sickness is certain to follow. There are five essential points in securing the health of houses: pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness and light.

Ventilation and Warming: Nightingale believed that the person who repeatedly breathed his or her own air would become sick or remain sick. According to Nightingale "Keep the air he breathes as pure as the external air, without chilling him." She was very concerned about "noxious air" or "effluvia" and foul odors that came from excrement. The importance of room temperature was also stressed by Nightingale. The patient should not be too warm or too cold. The temperature could be by appropriate balance between burning fires and ventilation from windows.

Light: Nightingale believed that second to fresh air, the sick needed light. She noted that direct sunlight was what patients wanted.

Noise: She stated that patients should never be waked intentionally or accidentally during the first part of sleep. She asserted that whispered or long conversations about patients are thoughtless and cruel. She viewed unnecessary noise, including noise from female dress, as cruel and irritating to the patient.

Variety: She discussed the need for changes in color and form, including bringing the patient brightly colored flowers or plants. She also advocated rotating 10 or 12 paintings and designs each day, week, or month to provide variety for the patient. Nightingale also advocated reading, needlework, writing, and cleaning as activities to relieve the sick of boredom.

Bed and Bedding: She believed that the bed should be placed in the lightest part of the room and placed so the patient could see out of a window. She also reminded the caregiver never to lean against, sit upon, or unnecessarily shake the bed of the patient.

Personal Bleanliness: Just as it is necessary to renew the air round a sick person frequently to carry off morbid effluvia from the lungs and skin, by maintaining free ventilation, so it is necessary to keep pores of the skin free from all obstructing excretions. Every nurse ought to wash her hands very frequently during the day.

Nutrition and Taking Food: Nightingale noted that individuals desire different foods at different times of the day and that frequent small servings may be more beneficial to the patient than a large breakfast or dinner.

Chattering Hopes and Advices: Nightingale wrote that to falsely cheer the sick by making light of their illness and its danger is not helpful. She encouraged the nurse to notice what is being said by visitors, believing that sick persons should hear good news that would assist them in becoming healthier.

Social Considerations: Nightingale supported the importance of looking beyond the individual to the social environment in which he or she lived.

Environmental Factors Affecting Health

Florence Nightingale believed that five points were essential in achieving a healthful house: "pure air, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness, and light." Deficiency in one or more of  environmental factors could lead to impaired functioning of the life processes or diminished health status.

Pure fresh air - To keep the air he breathes as pure as the external air without chilling him/her."

Pure water - Well water of a very impure kind is used for domestic purposes. And when epidemic disease shows itself, persons using such water are almost sure to suffer."

Effective drainage - All the while the sewer maybe nothing but a laboratory from which epidemic disease and ill health is being installed into the house."

Cleanliness - The greater part of nursing consists in preserving cleanliness.

Light (especially direct sunlight) - The usefulness of light in treating disease is very important."

When Nightingale was alive, there were several variables that were very important, including filthy medical facilities, a lack of knowledge and training, and usually ineffective and untrustworthy healthcare staff. The provision of a peaceful or noise-free and warm atmosphere, catering to patient's nutritional needs through evaluation, documenting of time of food intake, and analyzing its effects on the patient are also highlighted in her environmental theory. The theory has ten main components. As follows:

• Clean air and a temperature-controlled environment should be provided for patients.
• Direct sunshine and no excessive noise should be available to patients, especially when they are resting.
• Rooms must be maintained tidy.
• Well-built hospital facilities are required.
• Regularly switch out the bedding and air it out.
• Nurses should frequently wash their hands and keep patients clean.
• To keep patients from being bored, provide them with a diversity of surroundings, such as fresh books or flowers.
• Although they shouldn't give patients false optimism or minimize their sickness, nurses should be upbeat.
• Instead of large meals, provide a variety of small ones, and avoid providing patient care while the patient is eating because it is distracting.
• Take into account not just the specific patient but also the environment in which he or she lives.