Nursing Timeline

Historically the role of the nurse has been as a patient advocate. Nurses’ have advanced from being seen as low cost labor to an autonomous practioner. Prior to Florence Nightingale the nurse was a member of a religious order or under the direction of the military. Florence Nightingale established the first nursing schools and was responsible for their own practice. In the early 1900’s nursing education was taken over by hospitals and the licensing of nurses began. In the 1990’s nurse practioners, (under the license of a physician), began prescribing

Nightingale, F. (1860).Notes on nursing: what it is and what it is not. New York:D.Appleton And Company.

Florence Nightingale is considered to be one of the most influential theorist in nursing history. Her ground breaking evidence based practices have lead the way in patient care. This paper will discuss her professional experience, environmental theory, philosophies and her extraordinary impact in the healthcare world.

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.

Florence Nightingale, born in 1820, revolutionized nursing as it is today. Throughout her time working with the wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, she noted that more soldiers were dying of infections than from wounds. Therefore, she worked to ensure sanitation as well as sufficient health and healing practices amongst her patients. From care to prevention, Nightingale’s practices were able to set the foundation for nurses today. Nightingale distinguished that a healthy environment is essential to one’s health and thus her tenets of ventilation, cleanliness, light, as well as nutrition set the bases of the City of Toronto’s tuberculosis program for the under-housed, homeless, and the correctional population.

First, Pesut uses the arrangement of her ideas to appeal to the audience’s intellect. The article is arranged through deductive reasoning from broad to more specific, as she first describes the religious cultural context and finishes by suggesting ways to improve individual spiritual care in practice. Pesut states that she will arrange her ideas this way in her article: “I will begin by discussing the context that has created barriers to nursing theorizing about religious care. I will then suggest that this neglect of religious theory has produced a spirituality theory-religious theory gap (…) I will then conclude with three recommendations for integrating theory about religious care into nursing education which complements the teaching of

Salladay, S. A., & Shelly, J. A. (1997). Spirituality in nursing theory and practice: dilemmas for Christian bioethics. Christian Bioethics,3(1), 20-38.

Barbara Pesut’s article, There be dragons: effects of unexplored religion on nurses’ competence in spiritual care and Olson, Paul, Douglass, Simington and Goddard’s article, Addressing the Spiritual Dimension in Canadian Undergraduate Nursing Education illustrate and argue that nurses need to be educated in nursing schools about religion and spirituality and its role in nursing care. It appears that the audience for Olson et al. are Canadian nursing educators, and Pesut’s are nursing students, nurses, nursing educators, etc. Although Pesut’s argument is logical and credible, it is not effective compared to Olson et al. because Olson et al. use a clear and straightforward language to entail the reader to come to their own conclusion, whereas Pesut uses dense and abstract illustrations, explicitly, imposing her argument on to the reader to think is a religious and a spiritual way. This paper is to show that the language used to make an effective argument plays a crucial role in persuading intended audience.

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.

Since nursing began, many different philosophies have helped shape our evolution. Philosophical forces have been spiritual, religious, and gender in nature just to name a few. “Spiritual belief and religious practice contributed significantly to the moral foundation of nursing.” (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 8) When admitting a patient, I am required to ask if my patient has any spiritual beliefs. We do this because spiritual beliefs have long been thought to play an important part to promote healing. For this reason, it is essential to incorporate whatever their belief into their treatment plan. The same can be said for their religious beliefs. Not all procedures, medications, and treatments are universally accepted among the many different religions. But, we do know that “in all cultures, the nursing profession has been profoundly influenced by various aspects of spirituality and religious practice.”

Spiritual integration in nursing includes providing care to an individual as a whole, considering their social and mental factors, rather than just the physical symptoms of the disease that are presented subjectively or objectively. Rom 15:1 (New International version), can be interpreted as that the nurses have the responsibility of providing care to the patients, in their vulnerable time of sickness without taking credit for it, because God have chosen them to do so for his own glory. Spirituality can have different definitions, to some it can mean having faith in religion, and to others it can mean inner strength through life experiences that bring inspiration. Whereas, many people do not even know they practice spirituality on daily basis, but as nurses we are part of healing process. Recognizing how patient view their health and spiritual needs, can help speedup healing process. This paper will address my recent interaction with an ill patient, how I applied my spiritual belief, values, and faith, and my strength and weakness and areas of improvement in taking care of patient.

Spirituality is a delicate topic, and some may not be open to talking about their beliefs. Spirituality is generally understood to be an essential aspect of being human (Lyndo-Lam, 2012). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients is a key component in the nursing process. A compassionate and thoughtful nurse can make a patient feel more secure, making it easier for him to express his spirituality. The participation of both patient and health care provider is vital in promoting spiritual health. The main focus of a spiritual assessment is to gather information regarding the patient’s spiritual needs in order incorporate them into the plan of care, so as to treat

Throughout Notes on Nursing, Florence Nightingale expresses the importance of proper care to patients. Another factor of nursing that was effected by Nightingale is the professionalism of nursing and how nursing is not only a science, but an art. Nightingale states how numerous subjects in nursing should be improved upon. The specific chapters that show how Nightingale has improved nursing within Notes on Nursing were Light, Personal Cleanliness, Chattering Hopes and Advices, and Ventilation and Warming. In chapter 9, Light, Florence Nightingale emphasizes the impact of sunlight on the patient and how it improves their health. Personal cleanliness was reviewed in chapter 11. Nightingale explores the importance cleanliness has on a patient. Within chapter 12, Nightingale states how to properly advise the sick, as well as give hope to patients. In chapter 1, Ventilation and Warming, Nightingale states the need for pure air within a patient’s room. These chapters express the importance of properly taking care of patients. The focus of this paper is how it was applied during Nightingale’s time and how it is still relevant today in nursing practice. The chapters within Notes on Nursing have had a profound impact on the practice of nursing today.

Nursing science provides the basis for professional nursing practice. Nursing theories provide the critical thinking structures to direct the clinical decision- making process of professional nursing practice. The relationship between theory, research, and practice is circular in nature. As new knowledge and discoveries emerge in each of these realms, the cutting edge of the art and science of the discipline of nursing evolves.

The evolution of nursing as a profession had showed through time that it is both an art and science. Before the 19th century, the military and religious orders are the ones who perform the duties of how nurses work today. As time went by, different events throughout history such as wars and epidemics had shaped nursing to its present organization. Nowadays, nursing is pushing further towards the future in improving itself as a profession for better care and service to the community. The objective of this paper is to discuss the historical development of