NRS 430 Topic 3 DQ 1 Discuss the key leaders and historical events that have influenced the advancement of nursing, nursing education, and nursing roles that are now part of the contemporary nursing profession
NRS 430 Topic 3 DQ 1 Discuss the key leaders and historical events that have influenced the advancement of nursing, nursing education, and nursing roles that are now part of the contemporary nursing profession
Topic 3 DQ 1
How has nursing practice evolved over time? Discuss the key leaders and historical events that have influenced the advancement of nursing, nursing education, and nursing roles that are now part of
REPLY TO DISCUSSION
CAT: What would Florence Think?
Imagine that Florence Nightingale was able to return to see what nursing is today. What would Florence think about today’s nurse and nursing in general. (this is an opinion question- no citations or references needed unless you use a source).
I think if Florence Nightingale were to be around today, she would have embraced the evolution that had taken place in Nursing practice. She would see the art and science she believed inculcated into the nursing of today. Florence had a great interest and limitations during her time. she was able to pull through the challenges with the limited resources available at the time. The nursing practice at the time was limited by education and were seen as a voluntary service for humanity to alleviate suffering and dying. I believe Florence and her team would have had reward compensation commensurate to the effort they put in during the Crimea war and at other times.
Florence would have seen the limitations in the practice at the time and better ways to deal with the challenges.
Also, she might feel some bias about nurses who came into the profession due to its lucrative aspect. She would have laid emphasis on sacrificing without expecting a regard.
It might be a bit challenging for her to adjust completely to the nursing of today and changing world of medicine which has evolved with better training, responsibilities, specialization , safety and quality care.
Thank you for the response. Florence did feel that nursing was a calling from God. There are some that choose to go into nursing because it is a good paying job. Often, there is a quick realization that the money does not fully compensate for the role the nurse has. There has to be a desire or calling to do nursing to be truly happy, in my humble opinion.
I think Florence would see that nurses are now more educated, better trained and able to critically think about their tasks. Nurses of today undergo rigorous training by following detailed and well-defined syllabus. Nurses now have access to advanced technology and medical equipment.
Florence would marvel at the advances in medicine such as changes in medicine, remote diagnosis, surgical procedures, telemedicine etc. This would have been a challenge back in those days. Human lifespan itself has increased through advancements in medicine.
On the other hand, she might be worried about the affordability of healthcare for low-income families.
Thank you, Rose. In general, the use of technology would probably be overwhelming if Florence was just dropped into today’s word. Imagine how many changes have occurred just over the last 50 years.
I think that Florence Nightingale would be very impressed with the evidence based practice method of nursing that we perform our profession with day in and day out. I think by her leading the way with proper hand hygiene and sanitation processes in the patient care environment shows that she was already moving toward and evidence based practice method. I think she would be impressed with our patient care rules and regulations when it comes to HIPPA and safety checks such as scanning medications and proper charting, as well as the fact that we have stuck to a few of her key pillars of care such as disease prevention, risk reduction and overall health promotion all by using our evidence based practice basis in todays age. Florence Nightingale sounds like an amazing person, I really enjoyed reading about her in this weeks chapter, the reading was very informational, factual and educational.
Billie, I think if Florence Nightingale were here today that she would be excited and proud! Excited to see how things have changed since she began and proud that we have come so far! I think she would be especially excited to see how basic hygiene has become the basis for basic nursing care. I am sure she would be particularly interested in learning more about how infectious diseases have been studied and the interventions put in place to improve patient outcomes. Not to mention the public support and education that nurses today receive.
Thank you for sharing. Perhaps Florence’s emphasis on cleanliness and the impact on death rates was truly the beginning to saving the lives of many. This was an amazing accomplishment that has stood the test of time.
I think that if Florence Nightingale could see what nursing has become today, she would be so proud because she started these necessary changes back in the 1800’s. Nursing would not be what it is today without her influential changes. I also think that Florence Nightingale would be blown away by all the technological advances that are saving countless lives at this time. It makes me think about how much farther health care will advance in the years to come. Also, it is impressive how far nurses have come in health care and how much autonomy we have today when caring for our patients.
Thank you for you post. I think Florence would be proud of our profession. We would most definitely not be as advanced as we are without her innovation almost 200 years ago.
I think that Florence Nightingale would be overall proud and impressed with nursing today. Her theory was based on changing the environment to improve health. It was Florence Nightingales critical thinking that paved the way for change in living conditions to improve the health of the household (Whitney, 2018). This has evolved into a basic human rights for proper housing, access to food and water and health care. She has made a huge impact on nursing through evaluating living conditions and health. Her assessments and theory have changed the way people live. I think she would be proud of where we evolved. Nurses can work independently or under supervision in various specialties. Nurses have a voice because Florence Nightingale knew that nursing was more than doing what the doctor told them to do. She knew that we could improve the quality of care by looking at the patient as a whole.
Whitney, S. (2018). Dynamics in Nursing. Art and Science of Professional Practice. Grand Canyon University. Ch 2. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs430v/dynamics-in-nursing-art-and-science-of-professional-practice/v1.1/#/chapter/2
Thank you, Carly. Indeed, Florence’s vision brought us to where we are today and will undoubtably continue us into the future.
I want to believe that Nightingale would be proud to see how nursing flourished. Along with the number of paths the profession currently offers. But I wonder if she would still be disappointed with the continuation of gender inequality that had existed for so long and somewhat still does. I would love to hear what she has to say to the people who rejected the pandemic. I feel it would be like Greta Thunberg or Katie Porter. Her voice would be fierce and ring in the ears of the legislatures. I think she would be appalled at the cost and inequities of healthcare. I also think she would have something to say about how we care for our post servicemen and servicewomen. Don’t get me wrong, we have some good VA’s but the mental health is suffering greatly. Nightingale has made ground-shattering changes to healthcare, but some of the disparities she fought against in the past are still a problem today, just on a grander scale.
We live in a unique world now. The influence of technology and now of social media has changed our lives.
We live in a more global community and the effects of social media have changed how we view things and how we receive information.
Bloggers have become commonplace and can provide a variety of information. It can be a fun or funny view of nursing or it can provide valid information about trends in nursing.
Here are a couple of lists of some well-known nurse related bloggers.
Yes, technology has done us good. When preparing for NCLEX, being used to lectures in class, and here we have books to read on our own, and prepare for this exam, it was not fun at all, we resorted to bloggers and you tubes, A particular one we followed was nurse Sarah on you tube, ” “, she has simplified the content and its easier to follow and and master. With Nurse Blake consistently posting comics. its very entertaining and informatic at the same time, like that day we saw the other day, on our lectures assignment, it cracked my ribs, the banana represented potassium drip, this is helpful to remember. Being frequent user of you tube, i have gained a lot of information and been entertained too.
Nursing is not a static profession, but changes almost daily and the profession as we know it today is vastly different than how it originated. To begin with, nursing was often done by “medicine men”, and women who cared for the sick were sometimes seen as witches (Solera-Deuchar et al., 2020). Essentially, nursing was seen as a low down profession, and left to people who could find no other work. Then, Florence Nightingale revolutionized nursing with her focus on caring for patients as a whole, and recognizing the role the environment has in a person’s health, and how a nurse can change an environment to help someone get better. Another influential leader was Clara Barton. Although without a nurses training, the need for care of soldiers during the Civil War led her to advertising for nurses and donations and organizing how to get these supplies distributed. This later led to the foundation of the American Red Cross (Lavin et al., 2017.). Around the 20th century the need for education for nurses was recognized, and different hospitals began implementing diploma programs. The students in these programs excelled clinically, as they practiced and learned at the bedside, while helping to staff the hospitals as well. Later, associate degree programs were developed by Mildred Montage in the 1950s. This was to give a better theoretical and knowledge base for nurses, as well as offer college credits at an affordable cost. This was beneficial as the need for nurses continued to grow. ADN schools grew and appeared all over the country, but in recent years there has been a drive for more baccalaureate prepared nurses to enter the practice. A further key development was the initiation of nurse registration. Looking at nursing now, it is evident how this is important to regulate and maintain quality of the nursing workforce. Another important figure is Alice Magaw, who was unique in her time in the 1900s in researching and writing about the practice she worked in, which was largely in the field of anesthesia (Ray & Desai, 2016.). This is important because as we know now, nurses can continue to several different masters and doctoral degree programs, such as specializing in anesthesia. All these programs are based off research and evidence based practice which continues to be essential to nursing.
Solera-Deuchar, L., Mussa, M. I., Ali, S. A., Haji, H. J., & McGovern, P. (2020). Establishing views of traditional healers and biomedical practitioners on collaboration in mental health care in Zanzibar: a qualitative pilot study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 14, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-020-0336-1
Lavin, R., Adelman, D., & Veenema, T. (2017). Society for the advancement of disaster nursing: Exploring the path to excellence. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 11(6), 641-646. doi:10.1017/dmp.2017.10
Ray, W. T., & Desai, S. P. (2016). The history of the nurse anesthesia profession. Journal of Clinical Anesthesia, 30, 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2015.11.005
