Evolution of Nursing: Changing Social Perceptions

The aim of this essay is to discuss how the social perception of nurses has changed throughout history leading up to the present day. This will include how Florence Nightingale challenged the social class that the nursing profession was put into by society, alongside the effects that social media and news reports have had on the way people view nursing as a whole. Carrying on from news reports and social media, this essay will read into the Francis Report, this being one of the main reports having the biggest impact on how nurses are regarded by the general public. Another topic that will be drawn upon is the changes and progression in nursing legislation and the effect it has had on the standard of care given by nurses.

Due to her upper class status and superior education, Florence Nightingale changed the social perception that nursing, as a profession, was for those of low social class. Nightingale challenged these views and built a team of efficient nurses to care for the soldiers fighting in the Crimean war. Florence managed to reduce death rates from 42% down to 2% by establishing sanitary reform (nwhm.org, 2016). As stated in Contemporary Nursing

These changes in legislation run alongside the new set of values known as ‘The 6 C’s’ bought out by NHS England, nurses as well as all other NHS employees are expected to abide by these. The 6 C’s were put in place to ensure that anyone providing care within the NHS did so with the following aspects, Courage, Care, Competence, Compassion, Commitment and good Communication. This was in attempt to ensure that the quality of care given by the NHS was of a high and professional standard; which in turn would improve the National Health Service’s current reputation. It is thought that this would be achieved by strictly abiding by these values (Stephenson,