Nightingale Theory
Nightingale’s environmental theory of health offers
a framework for providing foot care. Migrant farm
workers and persons who are homeless often wear
ill-fitting, hand-me-down shoes and socks that become
wet and dirty in the environments in which they
work and live. Migrant farm workers work between
rows of vegetables or among fruit trees in fields that
have been treated with liquid pesticides and have
irrigation systems. Farms in the United States are
agribusinesses relying on high production, mechanization,
and heavy machinery. The scale of the farm
operation is different from traditional single-family
farms of Central America where sandals are more
common footwear. In traditional settings, feet would
be in a sandal exposed to air and light. The need for
better foot protection necessitates the heavier shoe
or boot, but brings with it the complication of wet
feet. Because the workers are in the field until very
late in the day, their feet stay wet in their boots or
shoes for extended periods.