Societal Influences on Nursing as a Profession - Research Paper Example

? Societal influences on nursing as a profession Societal influences on nursing as a profession The development of nursing profession is directly linked to historical impact throughout the ages starting in antiquity. Initially, the safest and preferable mode of nursing offered in a person’s own home, where family members cared for their sick. Hospitals provided care for those individuals who had no family members nearby or people who were destitute. Early hospitals were started by members of religious groups, monks and nuns, who devoted their entire lives to the care of the sick in hospital. The trends and changes in nursing profession can be understood from historical perspective. Since the onset of nursing as a profession in the 19th century nurses have been controlled by professional ethics. Florence Nightingale provided the impetus for nursing practice as a profession. Her contribution to establishment of ethical codes led to its formal adoption in 1950. Ethical codes has helped several profession including nursing have helped in defining professionalism. Recent movements include the International Council of Nursing and American Nurses Association has helped in addressing standards and provision of quality services. Therefore, the current society nursing practices are much different from the ancient practices. Thus, tremendous changes are expected to occur in the profession of nursing due to the current and future societal movements. At family level settings, traditional roles of sisters, daughters, and wives were rooted in nurturing and caring of family members. It is beyond dispute because children have been cared for by women in the history of human beings. Traditional nursing was characterized by accommodative, comforting, and humanistic care (Roux & Halstead, 2008). Wars have been noted to as major contributor to development of the nursing profession, since more services were required to cater for the casualties. Just like in the times of Florence Nightingale, there has been a public outcry for inadequate care for soldiers in war-stricken areas. The makeshift hospitals that have been established to offer services in the affected population have been effective since sanitary services fundamental in caring for the sick are provided by nurses. Moreover, nursing practices have helped in reduction of immorality cases in military barracks because they offer guiding and counseling services apart from medical services. This is mostly evidenced by reduction in cases of sexually transmitted diseases. Civil wars in countries like United States shaped the public perception of professional nursing since it formed its foundation (Jamieson, 1959). Many women became involved in health-care services by providing sanitary services in military camps. The value of education in health-care provision for the sick was realized through the voluntary services women offered during civil wars. It is proposed that these women pioneered the construction of the first training schools in nursing after the completion of the war. As a result, the president of American Medical Association, Samuel Gross, endorsed nursing schools in 1868 (Roux & Halstead, 2008). Throughout the 19th century, the number of community and hospitals continued to expand rapidly. Conflicts emerged because of religious resurgence during this time, especially among Anglican convent. The surgeons and physicians opposed to the roles of the nurses who claimed they were more concerned in spiritual demands of their patients rather than physical needs. Some religious orders were created for lay people who wanted a chance to share in charitable work. The female nurses were called sisters while male ones were regarded as brothers, even though they belonged to a religious group. Nursing has been dominated by religious values such as devotion to duty, spiritual calling, hard work, and self-denial. It is purported that commitment to these values resulted in exploitation rather than professionalism and the monetary rewards. This was affirmed by the nurses’ denial to exclude economic gain from their dedication to offering services, because it was a profession calling (Roux & Halstead, 2008). Nonetheless, religion has been recognized for its fruitful contribution to emergence and sustenance of the nursing profession. Development of western nursing concept was founded on the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan in which Jesus emphasis the importance of loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Thus, love was the initial driving force in provision of health-care to the sick. Researches have shown that there was massive enrollment of several Roman Empire wealthy matrons into Christianity. During this period the poor, homeless, and sick received healing and health-care services in houses and resources that were provided by these wealthy matrons (Stokes, 2011). This act of love led to the conception of hospitals. Despite the dominance of the profession by female workers, there were cases of their male counterpart’s involvement. Several knights' orders were formed because of Christian crusades such as the Hospitalers knights, also referred to as the Saint John knights, Saint Lazarus Knights, and the Teutonic knights. Injured and sick comrades of these knights received health-care services from them. Their contribution is noted in construction of hospitals that became an obligation after being adopted by European hospitals administration through the set standards by management and organizations. Nursing services were offered to people suffering from chronic king skins, syphilis, and leprosy. Subsidence of conflicts and wars in the United States and Britain led to immense growth of the sphere that was attributed to industrial growth. As a result, migration to developed centers was at a high rate due to demand for labor and better living standards. However, unplanned settings emerged leading to prevalence of diseases due to overcrowding. Small health-care centers emerged into public hospitals due to high inflow of sick people in need of medical attention. Since no qualified nurses existed, services were offered by former convicts and drunkards (Easley, 2007). Due to poor services that were offered, there was a demand for training schools to equip individuals with the right professional ethics. Though schools were established, the training was limited to the basics of the profession. However, laywomen introduced more training areas through their activist movements. Importance of students was realized by physicians and hospital boards (Jamieson, 1959). The changes were embraced due to the nursing ethics that had been imparted in students such as efficiency, compliance, and obedience. Moreover, nursing professional provided services that were cheap and cost-effective. In regards to these developments, nursing was affirmed into the society since the students traded their services with professional training to advance in their careers. Nursing profession advanced its position since more schools were created in order to supply the required workforce in hospitals and private sectors. According to studies conducted in America, the statistics of nursing schools revealed that by 1900 the number of training schools had increased up to 432 (Easley, 2007). Several conventions have associated with the spread of nursing since its conception during the time of Florence Nightingale. These conventions were initiated to alleviate the status of nursing in the society. Research has shown that about a tenth of individuals who practiced nursing were graduates, thus, implying that most services were rendered by unqualified people. Measures that were implemented included introduction of nurse licensure to help in protecting the public from incompetent and unqualified nurses. Similarly, nurses' unions called for unity in order to advance the nursing profession standards (Stokes, 2011). In conclusion, nursing as a profession has emerged due to the need for health-care services under the supervision of a qualified individual. Trends in the society such as religion, wars, education, and scientific advancement have contributed to its growth since it was pioneered by Florence Nightingale. Recurrent of these issues have helped in advancement of the profession due to its public demand. Thus, societal trends have helped in addressing the fundamental issue of nursing such as autonomy, shortage, and upholding to the standards of professional nursing practices. References Easley, C. E. (2007). A critical intersection: Human rights, public health nursing, and nursing ethics. Advances in nursing science, 30 (4), 367-382. Jamieson. E. (1959). Trends in nursing history; Their social, international, and ethical relationships. Elizabeth, NC: Saunders. Roux, G. & Halstead, J. (2008). Issues and trends in nursing: Essential knowledge for today and tomorrow. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Stokes, P. (2011). What will you contribute to nursing? Retrieved November 24, 2011 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6853/is_1_56/ai_n57072096/ Read More