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History and evolution of nursing
History of nursing practice
History of nursing practice
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Florence Nightingale is the most well known figure in nursing history. She is best known for the advances she made in sanitation, hospital statistical records, public health and community nursing. Nightingale also wrote extensively on her religious, political and philosophical views and how they carried over into her duties as a Christian and nurse. Florence Nightingale’s contributions to nursing were largely influenced by her beliefs about God. Nightingale wrote extensively of her spiritual and religious beliefs and their connection to the way she practiced nursing. The nursing profession, as we know it today, has deep roots in Christianity. The role of spirituality in Florence Nightingales’s nursing practice is comparable to the Christian nurses who gave of themselves before her.
Although it is difficult to trace the history of nursing to the beginning, it is theorized that people have nursed each other to some extent since the beginning of mankind. This primitive nursing was mainly the care of others within families and communities. Nursing as we know today, the care of complete strangers began with Christian nurses who through the following of Christ’s teachings, would care for the disadvantaged. Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ were the foundation of these nurses. His messages resonated of human dignity, putting others before oneself, love and charity. In John 13:34-35 and 15:12-13, Jesus teaches of loving one’s neighbor and instructs “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: That as I have loved you, you also love one another” (as cited in Dolan, 1968, p. 66).
These Christian nurses would help bury the dead, feed the hungry, and comfort the ill. The care of the ill in a more structured f...
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...ng. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co.
MacQueen, J. S. (2007). Florence Nightingale's nursing practice. Nursing History Review: Official Journal of the American Association for the History of Nursing, 15, 29-49.
McDonald, L. (Ed.) (2002a). Florence Nightingale’s spiritual journey: Vol. 2: Biblical annotations, sermons and journal notes. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
McDonald, L. (Ed.) (2002b). Florence Nightingale’s theology: Vol. 3: Essays, letters and journal notes. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Nightingale, F. (1915). Florence Nightingale to her nurses. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited.
Nightingale, F. (1969). Notes on nursing: What it is and what it is not. New York: Dover. (Original work published 1860)
O'Brien, M. E. (2011). Spirituality in nursing: Standing on holy ground (4th ed.). Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Pub.
One of the many theorists that followed the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, was Merle Mishel (Alligood, 2014). However, Florence Nightingale’s theory is different
Registered nurses work to contribute good health and prevent illness. They also treat patients and help go through there rehabilitation and also give support and advice to patients family. Registered nurses are general-duty nurses who focus in the achievement of caring for their patients. They are under the supervision of a doctor. As I researched this career It brought more questions to my life. It became a big interest that soon I would have an opportunity to answer my own questions obviously with the help of others.
Vincent nurses, provides a framework for professional nursing practice guided this research. As the business of healthcare is about taking care of people, the model starts with the patient, and their family, as the central focus. Surrounding the patient, are the concepts of mind, body and spirit, which cause us to think holistically regarding the care provided. Finally, the core values/ faith based practices, guide us in managing our patients in a way that is consist with our culture/ values, supportive of our professional growth, encourages the use of best practices, that result in better outcomes, and makes us productive in a way the encourages giving back outside the hospital as well (Stone, 2011).
When one thinks of the evolution of nursing, several noteworthy women come to mind, yet one stands out, Florence Nightingale. In Notes on Nursing, Nightingale says “…put the patient in the best conditions for nature to act upon him.” (1859, p.75) She established standards that reformed the industry. For example; her practices of sanitation and aseptic methods led to a decrease in hospital mortality rates. By keeping records of care given, techniques used and the outcomes; by utilizing these records, she implemented documentation and evidence-based practice. She started the ball rolling on the transition of nursing from a belittled trade to the profession it is now proclaimed to be. Nightingale, in conjunction with other
Florence Nightingale was the Nurse of Nurses. In nursing school she is the first person you will hear speak of. She is known as “The lady with the lamp”. Her theory focused on the adjustment of the environment provided to protect the patient. She thought that a sleeping patient should never be awaken. Noise should always be avoided because it can startle the sleeping patient. This was a serious problem to her. She delegated tasks to other nurses, always keeping the patients safe and away from harm.
I am grateful to be at an institution of higher learning that understands and respects faith. My philosophy of nursing cannot be explained without God and Jesus. They are a part of each one of us. The reason that someone goes into a healthcare professional is usually to favorably treat a patient’s health. Spirituality of mind and body cannot be separated completely in my nursing philosophy. In this vein, nursing cannot be wholly separated from faith.
To this day, the most admired person in nursing history would be Florence Nightingale. She will forever be an influential figure in the world of nursing due to her perseverance and critical thinking skills that saved so many lives during the Crimean War. There is no way to tell how long it could have taken nursing to evolve without the help of Nightingale. In her book, Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, Nightingale described a multitude of factors that must be considered when helping the ill to recover and to have the healthy maintain their well-being (Nightingale, 1860/1969). Four chapters in her book are of high importance, chapter two, on Health of Homes, chapter
In 1849 Florence went abroad to study the European hospital system. In 1853 she became the superintendent for the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London. In 1854 Florence raised the economic and productive aspect of women's status by volunteering to run all the nursing duties during the Crimean War. With her efforts the mortality rates of the sick and wounded soldiers was reduced. While being a nurse was her profession and what she was known for, she used statistics to achieve...
Florence Nightingale, named after the city of Florence, was born in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. She would pursue a career in nursing and later find herself studying data of the soldiers she so cringingly looking after. Born into the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale took the lead role amongst her and her colleges to improve the inhabitable hospitals all across Great Britten; reduce the death count by more than two-thirds. Her love for helping people didn’t go unnoticed and would continue to increase throughout her life. In 1860 she opened up the St. Tomas’ Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses before passing August 13, 1910 in London. Her willingness to care for her patients was never overlooked and wound establishing
In the todays century, the responsibilities, roles, and opportunities for nursing and nurse education has grown abundantly to that of modern day nurses. Many nurses in the eighteen century were not educated nurses and never attended nursing school; however, they still provided care for the sick, poor, and needy and played a vital role in health maintenance. With the hard work from many notable nurses in history such as Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Isabel Robb and the persistence and dedication for change from influential nurses such as Mary Mahoney and Mabel Staupers; nursing today has transformed in many aspects of practice. Although nursing as a profession is continuously evolving throughout the years, the core foundation of nursing hasn’t changed in that nursing is a profession of caring for others and servicing those in need.
Before the modernization and reform of their profession in the mid-1800s, nurses were believed to perform “women’s work”, which implied menial duties, unskilled service, and an overall lack of skill (Garey, "Sentimental women need not apply"). This mentality was substantiated by the “untrained attendants, [including] past patients, vagrants, and prostitutes,” that performed a variety of nursing tasks (Garey). Florence Nightingale’s nursing experiences during the Crimean War, her subsequent publication of Notes on Nursing, and her work to build up professionalism within the field transformed the way that the world and society viewed nursing. She introduced invigorating ideas of patient care, nursing roles and responsibilities, and was a strong proponent of nursing education. Nightingale’s overall work inspired and changed the profession of nursing, laying the foundation for its
Florence Nightingale was a pioneer in nursing and maintained it as an independent profession which was not secondary to the medical profession but equal. *Nightingale 1969 cited by Hoeve et al 2013
As a Christian nurse, one should care for the whole patient, which encompasses emotional health, physical health and spiritual health. First, a Christian nurse has the responsibility of ensuring that a patient has adequate care of his or her emotional health. The nurse caters for the emotional health of the patient, in several ways. The Christian faith requires that individuals handle others with love. Therefore, a Christian nurse should express love, for her patients. The nurse provides love...
Florence Nightingale is a respected reformer of modern times. The book Notes on Nursing contains the thoughts about Nightingale by nursing-theorists and some of today’s nurse leaders. Florence Nightingale was committed to improving the misery and unhealthy living conditions of people all over the world (Schuyler, 1992, p.3). In this paper I will be using Nightingale’s Thirteen Canons to discuss what nursing is and what it is not.
Though a form of caring existed since the creation of human beings, the image merely consisted of a form of health promotion or health maintenance (Stanley & Sharret, 2010). Florence Nightingale, a pioneer, who took advantage of the contributions women made in society in promoting health and caring aimed to address that caring is something more substantial and based on scientific knowledge and evidence than just simply a given task. The ideas and the care practice approach Nightingale created is the foundation of the nursing profession and continues to influence modern day nursing.