Final answer:
Nightingale's 'descriptive theory' emphasized considering the patient's environment for better care, reflecting her early contributions to epidemiology and healthcare reforms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Florence Nightingale's "descriptive theory" encouraged nurses to think about their patients and patients' environment. This approach was informed by her understanding of the links between sanitation, hospital conditions, and preventable infectious diseases, which she meticulously documented during the Crimean War.
Nightingale's 'descriptive theory' emphasized considering the patient's environment for better care, reflecting her early contributions to epidemiology and healthcare reforms.
Despite the prevailing miasma hypothesis of her time, Nightingale's work anticipated elements of modern epidemiology, leading to impactful reforms in medical care systems.
She focused on the environmental factors that affect patient health rather than the medical treatment with drugs, which reflects the correct answer to the student's question, option B.