Nursing has evolved over the thousands of years we have lived on this world. Sayles from the Nursing School Hub once said:
In essence, the nursing profession has very much been around since the beginning of time, though has drastically evolved over the course of history. Today, nurses are one of the most important professions within the health care industry and are learned in a wide range of occupational duties that are utilized within a variety of settings throughout the world.
This simply shows how important nursing has been in the making and progression of history. During each time period such as the rise of the Roman Empire, Middle Ages, Civil War, Post WWI, and now modern day way of nursing, it has evolved and changed for the better.
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In different parts of the world nursing practices are different, too. It was first thought that the profession of nursing was started during the Roman Empire which was during 300 A.D. (Sayles). At the beginning of time, it was natural for women to be the main caregivers and nurses (Weatherford 187). They were not a popular use at the beginning of time; they were mainly used by the rich or noble. Nurses at first did not work in hospitals or private practices; instead, they would care for the sick in their private home called house calls. The America’s first hospital didn’t even come to exists until 1751 in Philadelphia (Sayles). However, the Byzantine Empire was able to create two fully-developed hospitals in the city of Constantinople. Even after the completion of this new hospital, people would not attend the clinic as they thought of it as a poorhouse or asylum. It would take at least one-hundred years for the public to accept the hospitals as a safe and reliable place to seek medical attention. Nursing became a much more popular use during the Middle Ages due to the spread of the Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, there was an extraordinary amount of advancements and inventions that were the roots of nursing and that are still used today. There was a huge change with the use of religion in medicine. During the Middle Ages, nurses that were available during this period were either nuns or monks. Even though they were not popular more hospitals were forming in Europe. During the late 500’s and early 600’s the first Spanish hospital was formed. Nursing expanded more in the 10th and 11th century, due to all the different rulers in Europe at the time. Each church during this time had to have a hospital or sick room attached to it. This was still basically used for the poor who could not afford a private doctor. More and more countries caught on to the trend of the hospitals. Germany, for example, was able to form well over 150 hospitals between the years 1200 and 1600; nurses now became a vital role throughout Europe. During the 17th century, most monasteries were closed due to the Protestant reformation, as well as the hospitals with them. Thus causing there to be an excess of nurses due to not having enough places for nurses to work at. Sayles …show more content…
said: That being said, the roots of modern nursing began to take shape in the 18th and 19th centuries. During these years, Britain and North America were at the forefront of innovation within the industry, though with each introducing different forms of nursing to the market. This was just the beginning of what new inventions and advancements were to come. The United States was finally catching up to Europe’s advancements in medicine. Within Europe, there was the formation of modern day nursing but the profession changed forever after the influence of Florence Nightingale. Sayles said regarding this: Around the early to late 1900’s, nursing was becoming more important than ever, as nurses were needed on the front lines of the many wars being waged, from the Crimean War to the Civil War. Nurses were sent to attend to the sick and wounded soldiers in battle. Florence Nightingale began her illustrious nursing career as a nurse within the Crimean War that took place in the mid 1850’s, tending to injured soldiers on the battlefield. During wars, there were more deaths due to bad hygiene and lack of cleanliness then from war wounds. Nightingale saw this happening as she was tending to the ill soldiers so she wanted to take action to change this part of nursing in the wars (Ferguson). She received help from the British government to reform and improves hygiene throughout the battlefield and hospitals. This caused the death rate of infections to drop dramatically. She continued throughout her life to improve sanitary living conditions and cleanliness of hospital. The next time period that we saw a change in nursing in the United States was during and after the Civil War.
During the war, a need for nurses emerged on the battlefield. Nurses were not common in the United States yet. More often or not mistresses or wives would follow the men and care for them when they needed it (Weatherford). This soon changed as the development of hospitals in the United States started to become more popular, thus needing certified nurses. As soon as this happened, very distinguished nurses were to rise to the need. A few include: Clara Barton, Sally Tompkins, and Phoebe Pember. Clara Barton was the forerunner for the formation of the Red Cross. This organization helped with sanitary needs within the United States on the battlefield and hospitals. The two other women were very impressive too as they had the lowest death rate in the war and also were in charge of more than three-hundred slave women who helped care for the soldiers (Weatherford). This was very impressive for a war that had a high death count and still not very good nursing practices. After the war, Congress acknowledged the courage and skill of the nurses during the Civil War. Nursing became an even more popular career for women to enter, Weatherford
stated: More important, the war served as the beginning of moving the profession from the home to the hospital and clinic. The result was an explosion of nursing schools in the late nineteenth century. Usually, these schools were closely associated with a hospital, and nurses- all of whom were assumed to be female- lived and worked at the hospital. This was just the start of the popularity for the profession and the skills, knowledge, technology, and advancement that were to come. Nursing improved and changed again in Europe and the United States after WWI. During the years between WWI and WWII, technology started to take a bigger part in medicine (Sayles). A lot of the techniques and different forms of technology that these nurses formed helped to develop the nursing program that will be used in the future. There were two major military nursing services in England during the war with only 10,000 nurses enrolled in the program (Sayles). The nurses saw the same horrors as the soldiers due to being right on the frontline. However, the war helped the government to have a greater respect and support for nursing. Nursing today uses similar techniques as they did in the past, however, they are just embellished and advanced. Nursing as we saw back then was mostly on a volunteer basis or a quick program at a nursing school. Now though you must attend nursing school and come out with one of the numerous degrees (Sayles). Also, now since it is not a volunteer program anymore, the nurses are now paid. Nurses now have the option to specialize in so many different fields, including pediatrics, anesthetist, orthopedic, surgical and so much more. In the past, nurses had to train themselves as the obstacles came their way because they were not necessarily trained in all different fields of nursing. This was important that they did this because of the need to save the sick and injured soldiers in the war and just the normal civilians in everyday life. Now though nurses have a specific degree or specialty in a certain field of nursing making their job easier to get done and for them not to have to retain as much information. Men now also play a much bigger role in the medical field if it comes to being a nurse, doctor, or even a physician assistant. None of this could have been accomplished if it were not for the role of the past nurses in our history. Nursing has been part of our history for thousands of years and has been constantly changing for the better. This means the addition of technology and advancements in the nursing field. Nursing starts out with nurses not being very popular and only making house calls for the rich but then war started to take place throughout the world. This meant that volunteer nurses would have to take to the battlefield and be useful in all types of medicine. Then because of the war and the support of the government, nursing became much more popular. There was increase in the number of hospitals and nursing schools in the world due to this. Finally, we are here today with the modern day of nursing and the excitement of what is to come in the field of nursing.
...re opportunities for nurses. Today’s demand for skilled nurses significantly outweighs the supply of such professionals. In an economically challenged background, all nations are actively looking for ways to change healthcare by expanding value in the care delivery systems. For nurses, everyone’s role adds value to the patients, the communities, the countries, and the world. The development and evolution of nursing is associated with the historical influences throughout different ages. The study of the history of nursing helps understand the issues that confronted the profession. It also allows nurses to gain the appreciation they deserve for playing the role of caring for patients during wartime. The role of the profession has played an important part of history. Through the history, each nurse has efficiently established the achievements of the history of nursing.
She helped with getting the supplies the army needed by receiving donations and giving away her own money. Barton tended to the wounded soldiers out of a tent, and she handed out fresh foods to prevent further sicknesses. She soon became the founder of the American Red Cross. Dorothea Dix was another woman who took part as a nurse during the Civil War. Being dismissed on her request to help out in the U.S Army, Dix decided to rent out a home in Washington as a place for receiving hospital supplies.
When they found out that each side was in need of nurses, women immediately started volunteering to “help the war efforts of their side” (Freemon, 1998). Most of the women focused on helping wounded and sick soldiers (Freeman, 1998). Women of all ages and social classes nursed both Union and Confederate soldiers (Harper, Nurses).... ... middle of paper ...
Registered nurses came through a long way back to the 19th century, when they used to provide care to the injured soldiers and other injures strangers. Florence Nightingale was the first influenced in this career. She was a daughter of a British family who worked her life to improve the field of nursing. Her main goal was to spread this field throughout the countries. As a success the first school was in the United States, in Boston. Then later it was passed to New York and others states. In today’s society we are still acknowledge to her great work. And improve the medical field for a better upgrade towards today’s society and generation.
Clara jumped at the chance to help her country when the war started. At first both the Union and Confederacy discouraged women from nursing at army hospitals, claiming it was too gruesome for delicate women to see. Clara started out by organizing donations to help supply the army, but when she was offered the chance she volunteered as a nurse for the Union and began working at the Washington Infirmary (Civil War Trust). It was at the Washington Infirmary where she first got she idea of going directly to the battlefield to nurse. She heard stories of men bleeding to death because they did not get treatment quick enough, and many more died on the wagon trip back to the hospital. She asked army officials for permission to enter th...
Neonatal Nursing has been around since the 1960s. It is a form of nursing that is referred to as the first twenty-eight days of life. Nursing is an important job for everyone because, when you are sick or hurt a nurse can heal your wound or prescribe medicine if they are authorized to. The demand for nurses is expected to grow so anyone that wants to become a nurse will always be able to find a job. The employment rate for nursing as of 2012-2022 is expected to grow nineteen percent which is higher than average.
During World War I and World War II, America called upon thousands of women to become nurses for their country to help in hospitals and overseas units. America’s calling was considered a success and by the end of World War I, 23,000 nurses served in Army and Navy cantonments and hospitals, 10,000 served overseas, and 260 either died in the line of duty or from the influenza pandemic (“Nursing Reflections”, 2000, p. 18). In the early 1930s, nurses experienced the devastation of the depression. Families were very poor and unable to feed themselves let alone pay for a nursing visit. This caused many nurses to seek work elsewhere. Nurses who were lucky to be empl...
Philosophy of Nursing 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.
Since its establishment as a profession more than a century ago, Nursing has been a source for numerous debates related to its course, methods and development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing definitions and theories have evolved over time. Furthermore it is in a constant process of being redefined.
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Nursing has always been a key career in the health care system. Although it is not often focused on media and stories surrounding health care, nursing is a career of great importance. If any patient was asked about their experience at a hospital or a care center, many would mention the capability and care that they received from the nurses. The health care system could not function efficiently, if at all, if nurses were not present to perform their part. Nurses are more than just physicians, support staff.
Nursing is one of the oldest professions. It isn’t a static occupation, as it has changed frequently over time. Its development and evolution has changed differently depending on the historical influences. As of today the nursing profession is changing and becoming larger and greater. Nursing has gone from being a career that did not require an education, to being one that is very respected and demands a high education.
Nursing is a medical profession that involves the care and management of patients majorly in the hospital setting. This paper seeks to illustrate the fact that nursing is both a science and an art. Nursing is a science because it involves evidence based practice, education of the public, lifelong learning for the nurse and administrative roles that are allocated to the nurses. Nursing is also an art because nurses depend on intuition, have the capacity to promote positive change, are understanding and culturally sensitive.
They have gifts, which can be used in conjunction with their faith. They may be a member of the church they serve or another church. Most are women who ages vary between the twenties to the sixties. Generally a mature person in the faith as well as competent in their profession is desired. They can be a listening ear to those in need and bring comfort as well as medical knowledge. The qualifications are based on the role they will have in the church. The Health Ministries Association has set out eight professional standards to measure what is expected from the parish nurse. Evans uses David Carlson’s thoughts that his hospital stresses the pastoral model rather than the medical model (p. 161). The style of parish nursing and their salary are discussed. Hours and days may vary depending on their role in the church or hospital. The parish nurse might be the catalyst for a health ministry within their church. With their training and the approval of their pastor, they can establish a full program including education, preventative medicine, community outreach, and wholistic health issues. It is important that the pastor and the parish nurse work closely together in their health ministry. The congregation will come on board when they see the cooperation between the two. However, the parish nurse does not do this alone. They will enlist the support of the church members to help with various support groups, home visitation, and healing
Nursing is a profession that blends the rich traditions of the past with the ever changing realities of today's health care industry. Nursing is not simply an assortment of special skills and the nurse is not simply a person proficient in performing these specific tasks. Nursing is a profession. I believe this statement to be true because of several factors. The Title 19 Code for Nurses is titled "Standards for Professional Nursing Practice". The status of nursing as a profession reflects the values that society places on the work of nurses and how central nursing is to the good of society. "By being a professional we imply that the person is conscientious in actions, knowledgeable in the subject and responsible to self and others." (Potter & Perry, 1993, p. 27)