Myra Estrin Levine : An Important Influence

The nurse I chose to interview has been a family friend for a while, as she has worked closely with my mother for several years. She is the first nurse I met when I decided I was interested in going into the nursing field, and she is actually the person who encouraged me to apply to Truman State University’s nursing program. I was confident that she would be able to share her capacity of nursing knowledge and wisdom with me when I asked if I could interview her. I will expand on our interview which took place in her office at work throughout the next couple of pages, and to keep confidentiality, I will allude to her by her initials, J.W.

We all know Florence Nightingale as the “founding mother of modern nursing,” (Grand Canyon University, 2015). Current practice is ever-evolving, but one thing that hasn’t changed and will never change is our commitment to “maintaining the standard of our profession as registered nurses…and to practice [our] profession faithfully.” (Grand Canyon University, 2015). Evidenced-based practice will always include our undying commitment, as it is huge

Florence Nightingale was an immense impact on nursing, who “became famous for her revolutionary work as a nurse during the Crimean War” (Kent 30). “She dedicated her life to improving conditions in hospitals, beginning in an army hospital during the Crimean War,” (3 Registered). Her actions were then used by “concerned individuals, rather than by professionally trained nurses” during the Civil War, (Registered 279). Many of Nightingale’s ideas were brought into modern times, but with the improvement of technology and licensed nurses. With the influence and patience of Florence Nightingale, nursing has evolved into an outstanding career.

Growing up I did not dream about becoming a nurse. I graduated from high school with honors and was planning to go to law school. However, several months later, my life drastically changed. Unexpectedly, my beloved mother was diagnosed with stage II ovarian cancer. Spending countless days and nights by her side at the hospital made me recognize how significant and life-saving her care was. Nurses were highly skilled professionals who worked together to provide essential care for my mother, give immense support and encouragement, ensure that her treatment would be delivered timely, promptly assess and address her physical and emotional needs and manage her distressing symptoms.

Nursing is an emotionally, physically, and demanding profession. It truly takes a distinct individual to become a nurse, although, anyone could complete the course work and sit for the NCLEX exam to pass the licensure to become a nurse, with that being said, not everyone that completes the requirements to become a nurse will exhibit the quality nurses should. Nurses require empathy, compassion, knowledge of expertise, time management skills, superb communication and writing technique, and calmness amongst an emergency situation are beneficial attributes to possess. Sarah Cook, RN, BSN, OCN has been a nurse for over seven years, working inpatient oncology for four years and the last one and half years in oncology administration facilitating the building of Parkview Regional Medical Center’s Cancer Institute. Sarah attended college at Ivy Tech Community College where she attained her Associate in Science Nursing degree, continuing her education at Indiana Wesleyan obtaining her Bachelors of Science in Nursing and currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Nursing and Masters of Business Administration.

Imogene King was born in 1921in Iowa. Growing up, she dreamed of being a teacher but began nursing school to escape her small town life. She graduated with a diploma in nursing in 1945, then three years later earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Education and worked as medical-surgical instructor and an assistant director at St. John’s School of Nursing until 1958, fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a teacher wither nursing career. She went on to earn a Master of Science in Nursing in 1957 and a doctorate in education in 1961 (Imogene King, 2011). King then became an associate professor at Loyola University in Chicago and formed a master’s degree program that was based on her nursing concepts, which later became the framework for her theory.

Creasia, Friberg, J. (2011). Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice (5th ed). Mosby. Retrieved from

After more than a decade in his second career, aging registered nurse John Noble “knew as I got older, bedside nursing would potentially get harder.” He knew he eventually would need to move away from the bedside and took advantage of the hospital paying for further education. He chose a Master’s degree as a Nurse Practitioner (NP) as it allowed him the flexibility to decide during school if we wanted to go into management, teaching, or become a practicing NP. In school he really liked the NP role, and the rest is history.

This paper is being submitted on January 17, 2017, for Eugenie Cook’s Fundamentals of Professional Nursing course.

Florence Nightingale, or as soldiers on the battlefield would call her the “Lady with the Lamp”, was an inspirational women of the nineteenth century that had many aspirations and dreams concerning the care of others. Achieving these dreams by “facilitating the reparative processes of the body by manipulating the patient’s environment” (Potter & Perry 2009, p. 45); Nightingale laid the foundations of modern nursing and gave the country and many others a system that has stood the test and remains timeless. In this, Florence has become one of the most widely known nursing theorist to this day.

The profession of nursing tends to be seen as a career that only consists of taking vital signs and “following the doctor’s orders”. When in fact, nursing is a multifaceted occupation which consists of nurses being a direct care taker, advocator, educator, and much more. The movie, The American Nurse: Healing America, follows 5 excellent nurses who specialize in different areas of nursing. Yet they all have a story to tell as to why they chose to be a nurse, and how they want to make an impact on the health of their patients in a holistic approach. This movie shows the hearts of millions of nurses around the country. The nurses in the movie not only worked in the hospital, but cared for the incarcerated, patients in nursing homes, hospice patients,

I have had the distinct privilege and honor of practicing the art of nursing since 2000. Throughout this time, I have seen the profession evolve through technology, practice and theory. With the recent and constant change created by the healthcare reform, today’s nurse must realize that learning is a lifelong process that does not end upon graduation. The nurse is never done learning, especially as technology and medical knowledge are constantly evolving. My most recent endeavor has been the pursuit of my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Western Carolina University. This education has broadened my mind to the opportunities nursing has to offer and has enriched my personal and professional goals.

Nursing as a profession has evolved through the contributions of practicing nurse theorists who have worked rigorously toward improving the way nurses approach the art and science of nursing. Through theory development, nursing models, and their conceptual frameworks, they have provided a foundation for nurses and their practice. Nursing theories have developed from the choices and assumptions about the nature of what a particular theorist believes about nursing, what the basis of nursing knowledge is, and nurses do or how they practice in

Each professional discipline has a responsibility to identify concepts that provide a general description of the discipline. It is these concepts that comprise the profession’s metaparadigm (Fawcett, 1984). Much of the philosophy and theory of nursing stems from the work of Florence Nightingale. The diaries, letters, and books that she left behind containing her statements and beliefs have been fundamental to the development of the concepts comprising the nursing metaparadigm (Selanders, 2010). Fawcett’s (1984) stated there was a general consensus among scholars that the concepts of nursing were person, environment, health, and nursing.

In order to critically examine the concepts central to the discipline of nursing it is important to clarify my understanding of what constitutes a discipline. Nursing literature has led me to understand that a discipline can be, in simple terms, thought of as a field of study with a unique perspective which gives rise to the nature and scope of inquiry of that field and therefore leads to a specialized body of knowledge (Parker, M & Smith, M, 2010). In attempt to cement nursing’s place in the professional world and in an effort to distinguish it from other disciplines it seems imperative that nursing itself agree on the discipline’s most significant concepts. Through early course readings it