Virginia Henderson : The Mother Of Modern Nursing

Virginia Henderson is famous for her definition of nursing, “The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge, and to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible" (Blais, 2012). Her philosophy supports that caring is the foundation, the center of all patient healing.

“If a patient is cold, if a patient is feverish, if a patient is faint, if he is sick after taking food, if he has a bed-sore, it is generally the fault of not of the disease, but of the nursing. I use the word nursing for want of a better” (Nightingale, 1860, p. 8). While Nightingale stressed the impact of one’s environment to promote healing, Virginia Henderson aimed to establish on the fundamental needs as a knowledge base to guide Professional nursing practice. Henderson emphasized on fourteen components required for effective nursing care which includes: breathing normally, eating and drinking adequately, elimination of body wastes, movement and posturing, sleep and rest, select suitable clothes-dress and undress, maintaining body temperature, keeping body clean and well groomed, avoiding dangers in the environment, communication, worship according to one’s faith, work accomplishments, play or participate in various forms of recreation, and learn, discover, or satisfy the curiosity (Fernandes et al., 2015). Her division of the fourteen components acknowledged patient needs with a holistic approach that is applied through the nursing process in a clinical setting.

Virginia Henderson’s contribution to the nursing profession has been very influential. One of her contributions is her well known definition of nursing which request the nurse to be an expert independent practitioner equipped with the right knowledge in basic nursing care to achieve the goals of proper patient care (McCrae, 2012). Her definition along with the fourteen basic needs brought huge changes in nursing practice. The fourteen fundamental needs gives support and assistance to provide proper nursing care. In addition, Henderson also understood the importance of using the nursing process, she stated as part of the nursing process, it was vital for the nurse to collect, analyze and develop an optimal plan of care to ensure the best quality of care and patient outcomes (McCrae, 2012). Henderson defined nursing as a concept. Henderson regarded person, health, environment and nursing as follows, Person: The patient is a person who needs support attaining independence and well-being or sometimes peaceful passing. The body and mind are one entity, not to be separated in care. Patient and

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.

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.

When people think about nurses, many ideas come to mind. They think of the hideous old starched, white uniforms, a doctor’s handmaiden, the sexy or naughty nurse, or a torturer. The media and society have manipulated the identity and role of nurses. None of these ideas truly portray nurses and what they do. Nurses are with the patients more than the doctors. People do not realize how little they will encounter the doctor in the hospital until they are actually in the hospital. People quickly realize how important nurses are. Because nurses interact with their patients constantly, nurses are the ones who know the patients best.

Nursing as a profession is an incredibly varied field, with as many opinions on how and why as there are nurses. It is therefore incumbent on each nurse to determine what aspects of nursing research and history will influence her practice. This work is presented as a Professional Nursing Mission Statement for the author. In the following pages, the governing bodies, ethical code, professional traits, nursing theorist and theory, and historical figure that guide personal nursing practice are presented with scenarios demonstrating their effects. Providing the building blocks for an individual approach to nursing will result in a deeper understanding of practice.

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 nursing profession has lost that idea of independence are often viewed as an extension of medicine rather than nursing (William, 2015). Although the theories from Nightingale are still applicable, healthcare has changed vastly from that time and we need to have theories that reflect the current nurse practices.

The profession of nursing has matured from the time of Florence Nightingale. Nursing has gone from just treating dying soldiers on the battlefield to helping guide people through their entire lives from birth to death. The maturation of nursing has led to changes in nursing philosophy and allowed for practitioners of Nursing to meld these philosophies together to form their own philosophy. In this paper I will explain my philosophy of nursing and compare it to Virginia Henderson 's definition of nursing along with discussing some of the changes to Nurse philosophy I will also discuss some of the difficulties to being a patient advocate.

Throughout the history of nursing, nursing has evolved over time due to the impact of many women. These women have made a path that has both encouraged generations to follow in their footsteps, but also allow the best outcomes for them. Sister M. Berenice Beck’s greatest contributions to nursing were the development of the Code of Ethics and becoming the first female PhD and dean of nursing.

Like any scientific discipline, the nursing profession has evolved over time. Nurses, once regarded as housemaids and lower class citizens, now hold positions of authority and stature in our modern society. These changes in the profession are attributed to the many nurse theorists who devoted their lives to the improvement of patient care. Through their theoretical advancements, the public perception of nursing has gone from dismissive to reverential. Today, our culture considers the nursing profession to be one of the most rewarding and respected career paths an individual can pursue. Through a review of one such patient theorist, Dorothea Orem, one can witness this change in the perception of the nursing profession. As a first semester student in a professional nursing course of study, Orem has already influenced my personal nursing philosophy.

The salient point in Henderson’s definition is describing the duty of a nurse as one that cares or assists an individual whether sick or well in obtaining a state of health in order to live an independent lifestyle (paraphrased). Henderson also described the independent and dependent role of nurses and the importance of a collaborative work with the other members of the multi-disciplinary health care team especially the doctors (Henderson, 1966). The Royal College of Nursing, on the other hand, described nursing as the utilization of clinical judgement in extending the care necessary for the people to maintain and achieve an optimum state of life throughout their lifetime (RCN, 2003). Other significant definitions of nursing were those given by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Nurses Association (ANA).

In life one has to take risks in order to bring forth a vision to life. Through risk taking, Faye G. Abdellah achieved her inner most dreams which was furthering the science of nursing research. Faye was a pioneer nursing researcher that helped transform nursing theory, nursing care and nursing education. In 1960, she was influenced by the desire to promote patient-centered comprehensive nursing care. Abdellah described nursing as a service to individuals, to families and therefore to the society. She was a rebel from the start in her efforts to promote nursing. Through time, she learned to disguise her rebellious leadership methods under the title “politically correct.” Even when faced with setbacks Faye continued to persevere and thrive for change (Houser & Player, 2004).

Modern nursing is a rewarding, but challenging, career choice. The modern nurse's role is not limited only to assist the doctor in procedures, however. Instead, the contemporary nursing professional takes on a partnership role with both the doctor and patient as advocate caregiver, teacher, researcher, counselor, and case manager. The caregiver role includes those activities that assist the client physically, mentally, and emotionally, while still preserving the client's dignity. In order for a nurse to be an effective caregiver, the patient must be treated in a holistic manner. Within the subject of nursing, there are often times in which different aspects of the practice must be analyzed by using primary research from other scholars. Nursing scholarship is vital to the profession, as we have seen, in order for the modern nurse to remain current with scholarship and practice. At the very core of this paradigm, though, is the manner in which the blend of art and science in nursing will be expressed to others, to the next generation, and through pedagogical theory (Alligood & Tomey, 2002). To do this, however, requires a new approach to the paradigm of nursing leadership strategic thinking, planning and action and above all appropriate integration of a more holistic and multidisciplinary approach to professional nursing.