Florence Nightingale and Nursing - Essay Example

Florence Nightingale al Affiliation Nursing is an ancient career. It is meant for the care of the sick and the wounded in the society. Nightingale is best described as a woman who was very famous during her time, after the most influential queen Victoria. She is known for her heroic acts on Crimea war, was the founder of professional nursing and also a hospital reformer. Her contribution towards public health is still being felt in India, where there are streets, schools, hospitals and pubs named after her. Florence had ventured into a restricted area and Sidney Herbert gave her the chance to prove herself. Nevertheless, in a quest to venture in this career, she faced opposition from the male doctors, but she never gave up. She portrayed many positive characters of a leader like intelligence, care, determination and passion. She advocated for clean air, cleanliness in hospitals, sanitary conditions and public health. She has impacted the modern nurse as she changed how people view nurses and introduced policies that govern them. Keywords: Florence Nightingale, Nursing, Career Florence was born on 12th May 1820, daughter to Edward William and Frances Nightingale (Simmons, 2002). Florence Nightingale can best be described as a very famous woman during her time after the most influential queen Victoria. She will be remembered for her heroic acts on Crimea war, she is the founder of professional nursing and a hospital reformer (Nightingale, 2001). Her contribution towards public health is still been felt in India till today, there are streets, schools, hospitals and pubs that are named after her. During the twentieth century she greatly developed towards social science, applied statistics, epidemiology, political theory, the public health care system, welfare state or comparative religion. During Florence early years she was building up of a character for herself and that of the nurses. Nightingale had very low opinion on the medical profession and she defined a different role for women to be nurses and midwives. She was able to develop professional work for women as nurses, but her contribution towards childbirth mortality is quit unknown to many people. Nursing can be described as an ancient career, and it involved taking care of the sick and the wounded people in the society. Florence Nightingale was a well-educated, brilliant, wealthy and a privileged lady in the society. Very few nurses saw the work of nursing to be a religious service and it involved in a church based nursing (Nightingale, 2001). She also contributed towards liberal views on prostitution and the control and reduction of sexually transmitted diseases, even with her development to nursing many people didn’t take her seriously for many decades. During her early years we get ideas of her character, and that character left many people puzzled. Through the hard time she had for her birth right, nevertheless she had self-expression at her work (Cook & Nash, 1925). When she came from Crimea she was given a place in society, owing to her fame, in a special opportunity and secondly, owing to sickness in a position of special disability. As a result she shaped her life with the two factors and she continued to fulfill her dream to create better public health care. Florence ventured in a restricted area of nursing and Sidney Herberta a reformer gave her the chance to prove herself and her work. With this opportunity she reformed the hospital administration. She was regarded by many as a miracle worker, as she was responsible and she was ready and willing to work with anyone who met the same ends as her (Nightingale, 1997). She also contributed to the earliest data of bio statistical in hospitals conditions. She viewed nursing as a call to service and believed that nurses should be of good moral and decent. Florence Nightingale faced so much opposition but she never gave up on her goal to be a nurse, she worked hard and managed to achieve what she wanted. Characteristics the leader employs to meet health care needs Nightingale had many qualities of a good leader, Florence was a charismatic leader she had a positive and powerful effect on people they meet and deal with. She left a positive mark on many women with her leadership skills and determination to improve the negative thought men had on women as nurses. Her leadership characteristic was an on-going process of new self-hood. Intelligent: She portrayed intelligence and this is a great sign of leadership, this is seen in her attempt to reform the hospital administration, she applied revolutionary ideas to show that social phenomena and medical data had objectively measured to mathematics and statistical analysis (Moss, 2005).Florence was regarded as a leader not because of her contribution but because she changed the status quo. She is also solely responsible for the creation of modern nursing, she left a legacy was remarkable and widely known up to mid of twentieth century Caring: She improved the conditions of the soldiers and commoners in the war and society, which treated women delicate and unable to help. She also improved the value of nurses by proving their value and these nurses improved the health of soldiers. Nightingale had the vision for the vision to better hospitals and show care for the patients (Moss, 2005). She created schools for the needy people in India. Determination: Florence has the enthusiast to transform nurses from the stereo type they had been tagged of drunken and degraded and she believed in good moral character, sober and honest people. She put emphasis on morals, as they were vital as it made one gain respect (Lundy and Janes, 2009). She smoothed and established a proper nursing body and changed the face of the nursing profession, she was determined to prove the male gender that nursing is a good career and they should be respected. Passionate: She was a passionate woman capable of self-torment and that of others. She related well to people in her quest to fulfill her duties. She loved her work and helping those people in need of her help, which was why she played a big role in sanitary reform in England and paid attention to the problem of cleanliness in hospitals in India. She should care to the poor Unique contribution this leader made to the nursing profession. Florence Nightingale work in the public service and social reform began when she immediately left Crimean war in 1856. She was the main contributor of modern nursing, which was her greatest achievement and sanitary reform in England and paid attention to the problem and challenges of cleanliness in hospitals in India. Due to her interest in caring for the sick and taking care of the suffering, she worked hard to reform the health care in Britain; the Crimea was a great opportunity to prove how efficient she can be (White,2005).She insisted on fresh clean air, cleanliness and good nutrition for the people. During the Crimea she was also known as the lady with the lamp, this was because, she and the nurses worked with oil lamps to give them light in the dark, as they treated the wounded soldiers. She worked tirelessly to make the public aware of the need for educating nurses and brought about the nursing education. She founded the St. Thomas Hospital in London and the Nightingale Training school for nurses. She made the public view nurses in a different way. She tried her best to reduce and prevent death rates from the preventable diseases which had greatly affected people. She stated that for one to be a good nurse she doesn’t require an exam but she stated that one should have ethical standards, kindness, honesty and decency (McDonald, 2004).She never opposed examination for doctors but this examination didn’t pertain to the nurses. The moral qualities that she had could not be put to the test, even her qualities as a nurse. She insisted that a good nurse learns each day. Nightingale concern on the environment was after the Crimea, to provide care for the social challenges that affects the public health, she also advocated for problem solving skills as a nurse and the knowledge to meet the needs of human beings. Nurses can now protect the right of a patient (Lubkin and Carsen, 2009). She is solely responsible for the creation of modern nursing, she left a legacy was remarkable and widely known up to mid of twentieth century (Malka, 2007). Despite the many challenges she faced she conserved the society for the women who made the social reforms, the nurses had strength of character, vision and commitment that inspired the soldiers. She worked without shame to achieve infrastructure to provide the necessary training for the nurses. The school of nursing she established offered the women opportunity to get education and the opportunity to get employment, hence creating a sustainable livelihood for the nurses. With the education level nursing continued to grow and the number of nurses increased in the hospitals. When she came back from Crimea she was awarded 50,000 pounds by the soldiers that she took and the funding was used to establish the Nightingale school of nursing. Advocacy characteristics this leader employs to meet in health care She advocated for nurses to protect the confidence and to avoid criticizing the hospitals. This advocacy made the nurses to be confused about their loyalty to the patient or institution. Advocacy, can be defined as a process of selecting and representing a person’s views and grievances in order to make sure they rights are respected by a people who has little concern of interest (Tom, 2012) She advocated for social reforms and public health measures, she advocated for clean air, cleanliness, public health and the preventation of famine in India (McDonalds, 2004). Every good idea has its beginning, and there are many reasons why Florence nightingale advocated and established the nursing school. During the Crimea war she took 38 nurses to serve, during that time she was shocked at the horrifying and inadequate scenario she had seen. Many soldiers died due to the poor hygiene and unsanitary condition. It was at this time she started her process to reform the military hospitals and the improvement of proper medical care (Simmer, 2009). When she returned from the war she found that there was an increase in the number of death rate and she then encouraged the importance of cleanliness in hospitals. During those days nursing was regarded as a menial and undesirable work to be done, the nurses had no training and many people didn’t have much respect for the nurses. When Florence graduated from Kaiserswerth she began to train nurses so that they can be respected. She faced a lot of opposition as she worked to prove that nursing is a respectable career, during her struggle she attained to achieve her goal and nursing became a respectable career. Barriers, obstacles and circumstances that influenced the leaders’ decision to address the situation Challenges are experienced in newly established ventures or ideas; Nightingale had the intentions to establish a workhouse but this was not possible due to some challenges like the legal status, which was funded by the local taxes. The recruitment of nurses was also hard, because almost every woman had no training, the process was slow and difficult (Nightingale, 2009). Hospitals lacked the help and support of nursing care that was desperately required. The nurses lacked skills, knowledge and training; as a result she opted to modernize nursing by introducing nursing education (DeNisco and Baker, 2009). She played an important role in the environment in Scutari; she found the air to be of a filthy conditions and the high mortality rate, she came up with hospitals that provided healthy and sufficient air, light and space. Since the time of Florence nurses have showed a high level of care among families, individuals and the community at large. She had improved the modern nursing, during those days nursing was not regarded but in the present day nursing is highly regarded and people respect them and have a high regard for nurses. In the present day nursing has had many people joining them, and nurses help the doctors in hospitals. The present nurses have continued the legacy of Florence Nightingale, with her great attributes to cleanliness, patience and decency at the workplace. Impact this leader has contributed on the future generation Nevertheless, modern technology has affected some of the things she taught, nurses question if the modern environmental concerns have met the principles of Nightingale of fresh air and proper ventilation. Despite the emphasis of nursing, there still continue to be shortage of nurses and this led to the policy that increased the number of nurses in the country. This made hospitals to have an overflow of nurses due to the education level. Changes made by Florence Nightingale have revolutionary improved the healthcare and the modern day it has transformed the health care profession. The importance of nursing has been recognized, nursing is more than taking care of the ill but getting involved in social reforms and promoting good deed ((Aligood, 2014). Nightingale teachings on nursing continue to be the foundation of nursing until today. In the twenty first century her practices continue to be relevant, although the modern sanitation and water treatment have been controlled and reduced the amount of contaminated water (Aligood, 2014).In the modern day there is plenty of sanitation, adequate water treatment and the establishment of control of modern transmitted diseases still continue to be a global challenge. How does this leader contribute and impact you from a personal and professional perspective; knowledge values and beliefs From my view point, nursing practice is complex and the amount of data available is endless. Nurses must analyze the amount of information about the patient and then make a judgment on what to do next. This helps the patient to predict how they view nursing care. I believe that every women is a nurse in one way or another, this is because one has the responsibility for someone’s health and that why many women learn the basics of nursing. Nurses are responsible for their patients’ health and to respect the patient’s confidentiality. I believe that nurses keep the hospitals going and functioning, and nursing is an ongoing process and training never ends. In conclusion, Nursing can be described as an ancient career, and it meant taking care of the sick and wounded people in the society. Florence Nightingale was known as the founder of modern nursing, she was passionate to her work and she worked hard. She is known for her heroic acts on Crimea war, the founder of professional nursing and a hospital reformer. She had made many contribution towards public health which is still been felt in India, there are streets, schools, hospitals and pubs that are named after her. Nightingale had very low opinion of the medical profession and she soughted a different role for women to be nurses and midwives. She was able to develop professional work for women as nurses, but her contribution towards childbirth mortality is quit unknown to many people. She also contributed towards liberal views on prostitution and the control of the sexually transmitted diseases, even with her development to nursing many people didn’t take her seriously for decades. She made so many contributions, she left a positive mark on many women with her leadership skills and determination to improve the negative thought men had on women as nurses. Her leadership characteristic was an on-going process of new self-hood. She was solely responsible for the creation of modern nursing, she left a legacy was remarkable and widely known up to mid of twentieth century. She established a nursing school that helped educate the nurses. She portrayed many character like she was passionate, caring, determined, caring and intelligent. She was also known as the lady with the lamp, this was because, as they worked the nurses called oil lamps to give them light in the dark. She worked tirelessly to make the public aware for the need for educated nurses and brought about the nursing education. She founded the St. Thomas Hospital in London and the Nightingale Training school for nurses. She tried her best to reduce and prevent death rates from the preventable diseases which had greatly affected people she advocated for social reforms and public health measures, she advocated for clean air, cleanliness, public health and the preventation of famine in India. Her work is still been felt up to the present day. Reference List Alligood, M. (2014). Nursing Theorists and Their Work (8th Ed). Missouri: Elsevier Mosby. Cook, T. E. and Nash, R. N. (1925 ). The Life of Florence Nightingale, Volume 1. New York. Hard Press Publishing. Lubkin, Ilene and Larsen, Pamela. (2013). Chronic Illness: Impact and Interventions (8th ed). Burlington:Jones &Barlett Learning. Lundy, Karen and Janes, Sharyn. (2009).Community Health Nursing: Caring for the Publics Health (2nd ed): Sudbury. Jones and Barlett Publishers. Malka, Susan. (2007). Daring to Care: American Nursing and Second-wave Feminism. Illinois: University of Illinois. McDonald, Lynn. (2004). Florence Nightingale’s European Travels: Collected Works of ..., Volume 7: Canada. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Moss, Mae. (2005).The Emotionally Intelligent Nurse Leader: San Francisco. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Nightingale, Florence. (1997).Florence Nightingale: Letters from the Crimea: New York. Manchester University Press. Nightingale, Florence. (2009).Florence Nightingale: Extending Nursing: Collected Works of Florence Nightingale: Canada. Wilfrid Laurier University PressToBottom of Form Simmons, John. (2002).Doctors and Discoveries: Lives that Created Todays Medicine: Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company. Tom,Wilks. (2012). Advocacy and Social Work Practice: England. Open University Press. Read More