History of Nursing and Its Changing Image - Essay Example

History of Nursing & It’s Changing Image No. of pages – 4 – 6530 Over two centuries ago, Health Care Services were first established and sincethen, Australia’s public image of nursing has witnessed a plethora of changes due to many influencing factors. Australian nurses have strived hard to gain public recognition in terms of their respect and identity. An occupation which was once considered suitable only for the socially outcast has now evolved through the decades of reform and change. The public perception of nursing greatly influences a nurses’ performance and her occupational expectations. Nursing in Australia has gradually been revolutionized in its professional, educational, social, political and technological aspects. The question arises whether the public have gone past the traditional image of nursing which projected nurses as unintelligent, passive and highly dependant hand-maidens (Kaler, Levy and Schall, 1989) In 1868, a Nightingale protégé called Lucy Osburn, made a significant beginning in Nursing reform. It was during this time that great advancement was made in medical science and technology such as discovery of anesthetics and disease pathophysiology. As a result of all this medical authorities demanded better improvements in nursing in order to facilitate improved patient outcomes and survival rates. (Keneley, 1988). Lucy Osburn, who was made Superintendent of the Sydney infirmary, made a significant achievement of how the public viewed nurses and their work, just by her remarkable positive influence. Lucy Osburn also introduced the wearing of uniforms and adherence to strict codes of hygiene. She also set the initial foundation for formal nurses training, incorporating formal lectures and teaching sessions into the daily hospital routine (Brodsky, 1968) The image of Nursing began to move towards a very positive direction (Forsyth, 1994) since formal training was introduced and it began to be looked upon as an admirable vocation and soon picked up momentum among all classes of women. It is one of histories greatest paradoxes of the 20th century, for even though it had poor and extremely harsh working conditions, it still remained to be the most sought after and popular female occupations. Nursing as a Vocation: Life was tough for nurses during the 1950’s – 1960’s. Strong emphasis was laid on personal attitudes which contributed to being an “ideal nurse” like selflessness, obedience, kindness, devotion and dignity (Bridges, 1990). The trainees were required to live in hospital accommodation in order to instill morals, good manners and behavior which were considered the basic qualities of a good nurse by Florence Nightingale. The Changing Times and Feminism: During the 1960’s, a majority of the Australian nurses began to be dissatisfied with the conditions and poor wages. This led to the growth of the “Women’s Liberation Movement” which offered an awareness to the Australian woman of her place and role in the society. Nurses Unions helped them to make demands to the government for better wages and good working conditions. Author Susan Gordon, compares and contrasts the historical image of nursing to the present day picture of nurses in the Health care environment and says, “Nurses save lives, prevent sickness and save money” (Suzanne Gordon, 2004) They make a great difference in medical outcomes. Health care institutions are fine-tuning and refining their goals, perspectives and processes and as a result are producing highly qualified and skilled nurses with good expertise to suit the ever changing and demanding Health care environment. If professional Health care establishments across the country are capable of fusing together human compassion with advancing science and technology, then they are in greatest demand. Nurses are shaping up the features of health care that was considered impossible just a decade ago. Skilled nursing leaders would help to mitigate the health care crisis. “Any leader can take people where they want to go, but a transformational leader takes people where they need to be.” (Wolf) In nursing colleges, the latest technology is used to enhance the outcomes or the goals set down by experts in order to build strong foundations to change the public image of the vocation of nursing. The advancements in Information Technology as well as Medical Science, is bound to have a great impact on the way Health care is delivered. Researchers at the School of nursing are developing solutions in technology to assist care givers and enhance the quality of health care to patients. But in so doing they will become more dependant on technology. Their studies include the use of pocket computers, communicating devices used in intensive care units, robotic assistance for the elderly, health care informatics and computer training modules to support evidence based practice. Health care planners are defining the future of nursing practice. The school of nursing will update the nurses by adding new programs and teach them to adapt to the existing ones which would help to educate the nurses on the continuous changing of their roles and thus bring about a positive and effective turn around of the whole nursing fraternity. In response to a demand for more advanced clinically skilled nurses, the nursing school is trying to meet the shortage by including Master’s and Doctoral programs that facilitate nurse educators to teach the next generation of nurses. As the knowledge of health care expands, nurses are expected to evaluate, access, analyze and apply their knowledge to the present situation. “Nursing knowledge does not stop at graduation. The nursing profession changes daily, you need to continue to learn”. (Rosemary Hoffman, PhD. MSN, RN, instructor of the Department of Acute and Tertiary Care.) Current research carried out shows a clear link between improved patient outcomes in relation to higher levels of nursing education. The School of Nursing is considered and ranked as one of the top ten graduate programs in the country today. This reflects the trouble and care taken by all those people who strived to make a change. A new era has begun and as we make an entry into the new millennium of great medical and technological advancement, the traditional public image of nursing is being wiped away and being replaced by a more realistic and accurate image of the dignified and valuable work of the nursing fraternity. Therefore there is no doubt that it is important to be informed about the history of nursing because it helps us to understand nursing in the present. References: The Changing Image of Australian Nursing. www.clininfo.health.nsw.gov.au/hospolic/stvincents/stvin99/Jacqui.htm Nursing Center, Library, Journal Issue, AJN, American Journal of Nursing. www.nursingcenter.com/library/journalissue.asp?Journal_ID=54030 Read More