Essay about The Evolution of Nursing Practice

“Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations”. (American Nurses Association website, n.d.) At its core, nursing is a profession that is in the business of providing care to people. These people are diverse in a variety of different ways from common

According to the American Nurses Association, “Nursing is 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” (ANA, 2010b). Nursing has come a long ways. From primitive times when caring for the sick was predominantly the rule of medicine-men who acquired the skills from their ancestors, to the era when it was viewed as a mean profession for prostitutes and nowadays when it is considered a noble profession with trained and skilled personnel.

As time changes so does the nursing profession. From the early 1900’s until now nursing has evolved and has become more complex and well educated. Due to technology, advanced medicine, and having more skills acquired nursing has blossomed into a worthy profession. From caregiving, being a decision maker, communicator, patient advocate, and teacher nursing has more then one role in patient care.

The nursing profession is a challenge. As a nurse, you must remember every day that you can both alleviate suffering patients by administering treatment prescribed by a doctor and by a good word and a smile. For a good nurse should not matter how hard the day was, how much trouble it encountered, but must remember the core values of the profession and why he/she chose this profession. Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system. This is why they have been correctly referred to as the heart

The folk image of nursing is one that is seen in movies or read about in books. This is the image of the medicine man or village healer. The knowledge in this type of nursing was handed down one generation at a time and primarily cared for the children and elderly of the social groups. The religious image of nursing is from a time when nuns or religious ambassadors took over the primary responsibilities of taking care of the poor, sick and elderly. Not too far a concept from this was the servant image of nursing which was marked by a time when the undesirables of society were charged with caring for the sick and elderly. During times of war, the need for nurses increased and

American Nurses Association defines 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 population”( Potter,P.,& Perry, A. 2005,1-5). Thus making nursing dynamic and ever changing. However, when nursing

“Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.” – Florence Nightingale. Healthcare is a very demanding field, as long as people have a need for health care services there will always be a demand for healthcare providers. Due to the demand, healthcare has become a popular choice for many individuals as a career choice. Nursing is The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of nursing and its current status in the

The healthcare profession is an ever evolving world that has changed greatly over the course of history in response to the needs of the communities and world at large. Gone are the days of doctors traveling to homes and communities near and far to provide a service. So much of the care provided now is driven by policies, legal agenda and financial impact. As a result of the changing dynamics within the healthcare industry, the roles of medical personnel have transformed into something once unfathomable. Nursing is a key area where significant changes have been observed over the last half century. Due to the ever increasing number of patients within the healthcare system and a physician pool that is not growing at the same rate, there has

Nursing care was unscientific and consisted of assisting patients with usual body functions; and was typically administered by women of a religious order or by women who by nature of their lifestyle frequented hospitals. Hospital care was for the poor and destitute; since home based medical care was better than risking additional infections in the dirty, crowded, and disease-ridden hospitals. During the typhus epidemic of 1852, hospital staff and patients suffered the greatest morbidity and mortality. (Ranade , 199817-19)

The nursing profession became a recognized vocational during the crusades (1100 to 1200). Criminals, widows, and orphans were recruited to take care of the sick in exchange for housing and food. Health care conditions became extremely bad. In the mid 1800s Florence Nightingale a woman who studied in Germany with a Protestant order of woman who cared for the sick lowered the death rate from 60% to 1%. She train a group of woman to care for the sick and wounded. She believed that cleaning up the environment and providing ventilation and sanitation and proper nutrition will decrease the death rate which she succeeded. Florence Nightingale kept records and statistics that reinforced her believes of care. Many

In modern society, religion and medical science both play vital roles in healing across the world. To become a nurse you must be licensed in order to practice. This ensures quality care to patients. Women are able to practice nursing and obtain education to advance their careers. The Renaissance started the advancement in science. Now, new advancements are made every year in the healthcare field.

The Nursing Practice has come a very long way from what is use to be. Nursing was an unwanted profession, difficult and challenging in many ways. It was thanks to the dedication, great effort and sacrifice of many determined nurses that paved the way for contemporary nursing. Dating back to around middle of the first century Christians use to care and tend the sick, serving as one of the first nurses that history can account. When the small pox epidemic occurred in around 165 to 185 AD, these Christians served as nurses. Now, we can imagine how hard it would have been to be a nurse in those days. The conditions were deplorable, with barely any hygiene. There were harsh conditions to work as nurse, and viruses like the measles outbreak in

In the world history of nursing, roots can be traced to religion, mythology, and Eastern and Western societies. The ancient Egyptians utilized perhaps the first formal nurses, hiring them to assist in childbirth. It is from these beginnings that today's midwives evolved.

Nursing began gaining attention as a profession during the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, when hospitals were built for the many pilgrims needing health care. In the sixteenth century, a shortage of nurses ensued when Westerners became more concerned with warfare and exploration instead of religious beliefs. Women prisoners were released to help care for the sick; they worked for low wages for long periods under stressful conditions. During the mid-nineteenth century, Nightingale introduced nursing that’s still being used today; she gave birth to the nursing profession.

The historical development of nursing today is based upon the lives of many, their contributions, sacrifices and experiences. These things brought about renovations in patient care. Different ways of thinking led to research, theories and evidenced based practice. The importance of studying nursing history has led to overall progression of nursing as a profession. In order to fully study the historical development of nursing we need to study all aspects of nursing science throughout time, explain the relationships between nursing science and our profession, as well as influences of other disciplines on the