This assignment will discuss and introduce the different aspects of the nursing profession. A detailed investigation of the topic will help to understand the changes in the nursing role through the centuries and clarify the shape of nursing today. This essay will concentrate on the four main areas of the study such a historical background, professional and ethical influences, philosophical impact and the political effects on the nursing profession. After an analysis of the relevant and professional literature, it is clear, that the professional role of the nurse is highly related and influenced by the stated above subject areas for a number of reasons.
According to the International Council of Nurses (2015), the duty of nurses is to provide
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Replacing by monetized service appeared to be dishonoured (Robinson 2005). According to Dingwall et. al. (1988), since 1948 the idea of the hospital, nurses, doctors and health care started to be pretty clear. Looking at health care system in 1800 there was not legal term which could apply to the medical practice or define the role of the medical professionals. History of the nursing profession started to be shaped towards the organisation with the person of Florence Nightingale who contributed as a nurse in the Crimean War and had influential views (Abel-Smith 1960) on the healthcare sector those days. Although Nightingale high social connection and excellent education she gained could provide her with prospectfull career, she decided that there is higher task for herself where sick, poor and less fortunate calling for her help. Florence influenced by her religion believed that she needs to help others from the will of God (Pulliam 2014). Her attitude and important connections with social politic side made the possibility to introduced the changes and improve the public health, which was noticeable especially in the hospitals. Nightingale had significant impact and shaped modern nursing profession. She was determinate to never repeat the errors she witnessed during the Crimean War. Florence book, Notes on Nursing (1859) according to Alligood (2013) is about the clinical observation where Nightingale presenting the difference between the specifically trained nurses and the care
...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.
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.
Nursing was not always the profession we know it as today. “Nurses were often lower class, usually had no education, and were often alcoholics, prostitutes, and women who were down on their luck” (Finkleman & Kenner, 2013, p. 9). There was a high morality rate due to the lack of training and unkept environment the patients stayed in. However, when Florence Nightingale came into the nursing world everything changed. She believed that nurses shouldn’t be lower-class alcoholic women but women of higher class with an education. Therefore, she opened a school in London to train and educate women because “Nursing is an art and a science” (Masters, 2015, p. 29). She believed an average person should be able to understand medical
According to American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the heath, safety and right of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations.
The progress of nursing theories reflects the development of nursing science. Theories go beyond describing professional abilities, and aim for a synthesis which in turn becomes a reference to practitioners. This interplay between theory and practice currently mirrors specific features of our profession: its focus on the individual, the behavior, and the importance of the experiences, considered in a universal way. In consequence, the biological, psychosocial, cultural and spiritual connections of the human beings are the focus of the nursing discipline. This paper offers a nursing view, analyzing main concepts of the professional nursing roles.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) developed a foundation for which all nurses are expected to perform their basic duties in order to meet the needs of the society we serve. The ANA “has long been instrumental in the development of three foundational documents for professional nursing; its code of ethics, its scope and standards of practice, ands statement of social policy.” (ANA, 2010, p. 87) The ANA defined nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” and used to create the scope and standards of nursing practice. (ANA, 2010, p. 1) These “outline the steps that nurses must take to meet client healthcare needs.” () The nursing process, for example, is one of the things I use daily. Other examples include communicating and collaborating with my patient, their families, and my peers, and being a lifelong learner. I continually research new diagnoses, medications, and treatments for my patients. As a nurse of ...
The power of nursing incorporates multiple aspects within the profession, including the direct patient care approach, which involves providing hope, a caring attitude, and compassion. Although it has yet to be adequately represented in the political realm of policy-making for improvement of quality patient care, the indirect approach to patient care in nursing involves such issues as advocacy and political activism. The purpose of recognizing the power of nursing is to better understand the potential for this evolving profession to become increasingly proactive in the development and regulation of legislation, to create a more sound future for the health care system at both the state and national level, rather than simply maintaining a reactive
In the past, nursing was not considered a career. It was the women’s job to care for the sick. Care of the sick took place at their homes. Sending the sick to hospitals was considered a last resort. Hospitals were viewed as poor houses because of their high death rates, poor hygiene, and lack of infection control. (Balch). Today nursing is viewed completely different thanks to the contribution of nursing theorist, such as: Florence Nightingale, Dorothea Dix, Lavinia Dock, Mary Nutting, Dorothea Orem, Abraham Maslow, to name a few. Nursing has evolved from being a simple occupation to an important profession. A profession
The image of nursing has changed throughout history. According to ten Hoeve, Y., Jansen, G., & Roodbol, P. (2013), “Florence Nightingale saw nursing as an independent profession that was not subordinate, but equal to the medical profession (physicians), for a long time nursing was seen as inseparable from the medical profession” (p.2). The image and the position of nurses was influenced based on the orders of a physician. Nurses were viewed as feminine and caring, not as healthcare providers. As a result, nursing seemed to be viewed as a profession with limited career opportunities. The image of nursing has evolved over time as well as the roles and practices in order to meet the needs of society.
The job of a professional nurse today is one that requires high intellect, accountability, expertise, selflessness, dedication, and a compassionate heart to help those who are hurting. In past years, nursing has been regarded as a job and not a profession. Today, professional nurses assume the vital responsibility of upholding the moral and ethical principles of nursing in order to better advocate and care for their patients. These principles include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, justice, and veracity (Zerwekh and Garneau 2015, 423). Nurses today work autonomously to assist patient and write appropriate care plans, mentor student nurses, and facilitate communication between families, patients,
There are legal requirements and policy to govern specific areas of health care practise. It differentiates nurse responsibilities, help establish boundaries of independent nursing action and assists in maintaining a standard to ma...
Nursing entails self- directed and cooperative health care for the society at large in all contexts. It includes the promotion of appropriate practices to enhance health, prevention of diseases,
One of the goals of nursing is to respect the human rights, values and costumes of a patient and his or her family and with the community as a whole. The International Council of Nurses states that nursing practice can be defined generally as a dynamic, caring, helping relationship in which the nurse assists the client to achieve and maintain optimal health. As health care providers, we have some fundamental responsibilities such as to promote health, to prevent illnes...
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
In the 1980's, the nursing profession was transformed by World War two. The first known nurse during the early years of the Christian church was Phoebe a deaconess. Phoebe took care of both men and woman, in 323 A.D construction of a hospital has begun in every cathedral town. Nursing professionalized in the late 19th century. Larger hospitals set up nursing schools that attracted ambitious women from working-class back grounds. Till the early 1900s, nursing schools came to an end and was controlled by hospitals. The hospitals took control and no longer need book learning just experience, training and used the student nurses as cheap labor. In the late 1920s the women’s specialities in health care included 294,000 trained nurses, 150,000 untrained nurses, 550,000 other hospital workers most women and 47,000 midwives. The nation’s 3.1 million nurses work in diverse settings and fields and are frontline providers of health care services. Most nurses prefer to work in acute care settings. Nurses fill a wide variety of positions in healthcare. Florence Nightingale was not the first to put these principles into action it was a corp of educated women who informed and promoted it. Throughout the history, most sick care took place in the home and was the family, friends, and neighbors with knowledge of healing practices responsibility. In the 19th century, hospitals began to proliferate to serve those who were without the resources to provide their own care. Nursing care in these institutions differed enormously. The first physician was Valentine Seaman from New York. Seaman organized an early course of lectures for nurses who cared for maternity mothers. The outbreak of the civil war created an immediate need for nurses. About 20,000 wo...