Good Example Of How Nursing Has Changed As A Profession Overtime Essay

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Nursing Profession embraces an exceptional place in health care all over the world. While many of us think nursing as someone who takes care of hospitalized patients, nurses also filled a wide variety of positions in health care in various settings. In order to understand the concept of professionalism in Nursing, we first need to define the word nursing. (cited in Webster) Describes nursing as a caretaker of sick, wounded or aged people. Nurses play an essential role in bringing care to those living with long-lasting care services such as nursing homes.

Nursing in Olden Times

In England, during protestant reformation, care of the unwell was taken by common women who were elderly or with no jobs. During the first half of the 19th century, many British social reformers supported for the development of groups of dutiful women to organize the opened hospitals.
In 1848, a religious community was founded by the nurses of St. John’s House. Students remunerated 15 pound sterling for a training course of 2 years and required to work for 5 years in return.

Florence Nightingale and Foundation of Nursing

The agenda for professionalism in nursing began with an origin with Florence Nightingale, who gave herself to nursing practice.
Florence Nightingale founded the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London for the teaching of professional nurses. Here student nurses received theory classes connected with clinical experiences in the hospital area. A program of study was planned for the students so that they could obtain training in nursing care for patients in many of the hospital’s departments. As the Nightingale School had the Nightingale Fund, student’s skills were proposed by Nightingale and her trainers. (Baly, 1997; Scyma, 1960). Importance was to be found in nursing education rather than the requirements of the hospital.

Organization of the First Training Nursing School

After the accomplishment of the Nightingale School of Nursing in the world, social reformers from around the world asked Nightingale to send one of her graduates in their city to found a nurse training school. Small groups of women were anxious to work for the wellbeing of the patients. The first enduring school of nursing in the United States was apparent to be the nurse training school of Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia, founded in 1872. In the same year, a training school for nurses was founded in the New England, Hospital for Women and Children.

Circumstances in Nurse Training Schools

In 1833, 35 training schools were set up. Unlike the Nightingale School, training schools in the United States were efficiently dependent upon the hospitals in which they were situated. Physicians soon understood the use of students’ efforts in the deliverance of care to hospitalized patients. The care students provided was cheap than if graduated nurses had been employed by hospitals. Students worked 12 hours with little or no clinical administration.

Proceedings in Science and Medicine

The growth and progression in Science i.e. the advancement of microscopes, new tools, and anesthesia were associated with the enlargement of nursing. New educated nurses were needed to support the care and handling of patients.

Licensure for Nursing

The first nursing permit was approved in North Carolina in 1903 in United States. This offered nurses as listed nurses. (Birnbach, in School & Kennedy,1999).

Advancement in Nursing Education

(Goldmark Report 1923), suggested that nursing education widen learning values, schools of nursing take on a main focus on education and be encouraged university students, and nurses obtain highly developed education.

Progress in Nursing Practice

The expansion of master’s degree programs in nursing unlocked many new and advanced tasks for nurses, including the roles of clinical experts, nurse practitioners, examiners and nurse supervisors. The responsibility of a nurse has extended. The designation nurse practitioner was first used at the University of Colorado. The growth of nurses’ roles demanded changes in the existing state nurse practice regulations. Progresses were also made in nursing research. In the mid-1930s hospital and public health nursing organizations were recognized as graduate study for nurses. In 1950s, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation set up 13 universities in order to start graduate nursing programs that equipped nurses for hospital nursing supervision. In 1970s, certification for nursing was also recognized.

Nursing in Context

The framework of professional nursing has changed noticeably over the last 100 years. Nurses are no longer be treated as servants. Today’s nurses are health care experts and are much more responsible and energetic. They bring a strong nursing outlook to health care.

Nursing Uniforms in History

Nurses in 1960s wore dresses and stockings as their uniforms. The dresses then changed and belts and cuffs were added. Pillbox was a necessary part of nurses’ uniforms. Further in 1970s and 80s more changes came to the way nurses dressed. Now dresses were a little shorter. However, nursing caps came to an end. Now they wore aprons, and there was a limitation to jewelry and cosmetics. Today nursing dresses have been restored with washable suits in a variety of colors and styles.

Salaries of Nurses

A fixed annual sum for nurses raised at an astonishing speed. In a broad-spectrum duty nurse received $5,200 for a year’s service. Today’s nurses earn as much as $72, 000 a year.

The Position of Nurses in HealthCare

Eventually, the demand for nurses changed as well as the role that nurses take part in the medical health. Nurses are becoming more dedicated in technology run. Their role has become more supportive for patients.

Function of Men and Women in Nursing

The old labels do not seem to be relevant when it comes to nursing as an occupation. Men and women are evenly competent in managing the requirements that a career in nursing presents. Though women still outnumber men in nursing, there are many male nurses who receive great salaries and stand out in nursing.

Conclusion

Nursing has a long and conceited history of familiarizing to changes in a culture and its health care needs and countering to what the public wants from it. This was the case 100 years ago and sometimes to be so at the start of 21st century. Each decade has brought a new approach into ways the profession can enhance meet those challenges.

References

Baly, M. (1997). Florence Nightingale and nursing legacy (2nd ed.). London: Whurr.
Birnbach, N. (1999). Registration. In Schorr, T. and Kennedy, M. (Eds.). 100 years in American nursing: Celebrating a century of caring. Hagertown, MD: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, p.17-22.
Goldmark,J. (1923). Nursing and nursing education in the United States. New York: Macmillan.
Meriam – Webster, Inc. (2015). Dictionary: Nursing. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nursing.
Karen J. Egenes. History of Nursing. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from
http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763752258/52258_ch01_roux.pdf
Dice Holdings, Inc. (2010, February 2).Nursery 50 Years Back and Today: How the Nursing Field Has Changed over the Last 50 Years. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from http://www.healthecareers.com/article/nursing-50-years-back-and-today-how-the-nursing-field-has-changed-over-the-last-50-years/158432