Architectural drawings from hospitals described in Florence Nightingale's "Notes on Hospitals" book

Abstract

One of the oldest records on standards for constructions of health and care buildings dates back to 1863 and it is in Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Hospitals book. Objective: to describe and interpret the architectural drawings of the Notes on Hospitals book. Method: to show the study of a historical nature that describes and discusses prescriptions for the construction and renovation of health and care buildings. The text was read, translated and extracted from Nightingale’s prescriptions on construction of health and care buildings. These were presented together with selected architectural drawings from the book, which have the purpose of illustrating the content presented and highlighting the main topics on concepts. The aspects addressed were rated with those corresponding to the Nursing Theory of Nightingale, according to which the process of health recovery was dependent on the arrangement and combination of environmental conditions.
Result: The book contains architectural drawings focused on the essential conditions for health and principles for the construction of hospitals. Discussion: In modern architecture of health and care buildings the Florence Nightingale principles are still valid. Conclusion: Nightingale demonstrated her interest in the management of physical resources through prescriptions inspired by sanitary
measures, emphasizing principles that were fundamental on the construction of health and care buildings in the nineteenth century and has been extended to the following centuries.