The Nightingale Pledge - Research Paper Example

?The Nightingale Pledge Introduction Thousands of nursing graduates worldwide recite the Nightingale Pledge as a conscious declaration of loyalty andadherence to traditional nursing standards as initiated by its founder Florence Nightingale, an English nurse. Although the said pledge was written centuries ago, in 1893, the pledge continues as a fundamental part of contemporary nursing educational curriculum and professional practice. This is because the entirety of the one-paragraph pledge encapsulates the duties, responsibilities, and limitations of a nurse. According to Nelson (2012), the enduring significance of the Nightingale Pledge may be attributed to the legacy of the first nursing icon, Florence Nightingale, in her unwavering dedication to cater the needs of the sick and needy, particularly during difficult times, such as war, famine, disease, and natural calamities (pp. 10-11). Considering the eminent influence of the Nightingale Pledge on a nurse’s life, this paper attempts to uncover the underlying historical significance of the said pledge. Further, this paper also attempts to study the various contexts of the Pledge, especially its functions, purpose, ethical significance, limitations, and criticisms. Historical Role As a profession, nursing is deeply rooted in the society due to its outward protection of the rights of humans, particularly in their rights to life and well-being. In fact, Fagermoen (2005) states that the philosophical foundations of nursing are based on the principles of Humanism wherein nurses, even in their early not standardized practice, aim to protect, serve, and preserve human life (p. 157). Florence Nightingale embodies those humanistic values in her devotion to tend the wounded soldiers of the Crimean War, and, while alleviating the physical conditions of the soldiers, she also attempts to advance the care systems and psychosocial environment of hospitals so as to make those more conducive to a faster healing process (Fagermoen, 2005, p. 157). During her tenure as a military nurse, she wrote a series of nursing books and notes outlining the basic responsibilities and duties of a nurse, which, in later years, became the theoretical and practical foundations of professional nursing (Kim, 2005, p. 1). The life and works of Florence Nightingale gave birth to the nursing profession, a profession that overcomes barriers of time, place, culture, and religion. For instance, although her works influenced the nursing profession, Florence Nightingale was not the one who wrote the Nightingale Pledge; instead, the pledge was authored by Lystra Gretter, an American nurse (“The Nightingale Pledge,” n.d.). The pledge was first professed by the 1893 nursing graduates of Detroit’s Harper’s Hospital. Nightingale’s legacy even reached in Japan during the outbreak of the war in 1945 wherein a head nurse in Hiroshima Army Red Cross initiated the recitation of the Nightingale Pledge to restore calm and order in the panic-stricken hospital due to the defeat and surrender of the Japanese militia. Nursing stories around the world relate to the Nightingale Pledge wherein most, if not all, nurses find self-satisfaction in their work through saving the lives of others. Function and Purpose In analyzing the Nightingale Pledge, one can infer that the pledge functions as an ethical guide for nurses in their professional practice while it also aims to indicate the roles, obligations, and limitations of being a nurse. For instance, although the Nightingale Pledge undergoes several legislative revisions and amendments due to socio-cultural concerns, the revised and amended versions of the pledge still maintains the universal nursing standard of conduct, which includes professionalism (“The Code of Ethics,” 2010, p. xiv). For instance, some of the revisions include the ANA 1950 Code and the 1976 Code; each of which outlines the recommended nurse-patient relationship, which is primarily on a professional level. For instance, the prevailing idea of the revised editions delves on a nurse’s role to protect the personal information and the overall psychological and physical well-being of his/her patients. In particular, the Pledge outlines the kind of relationships that nurses should establish with physicians, society, and the patients put under their care. Specifically, Erickson and Millar (2005) state that the Nightingale Pledge puts a nurse under obligation to protect the privacy rights of patients, particularly in ensuring that the patient’s medical records should remain confidential (paras. 3-4). Further, Erickson and Millar suggest that the confidentiality and privacy provisions coincide with the HIPAA Act wherein nurses and other medical professionals are required not to divulge patient information that could affect the integrity and public image of patients (paras. 5-7). This purpose relates to the third statement of Gretter’s version of the Nightingale Pledge wherein nurses should keep “personal matters” of the families and patients put under his/her care (“The Nightingale Pledge,” n.d.). Ethical Benefits The most significant aspect of the Nightingale Pledge delves on the collaborative opportunity between physicians and nurses in promoting the overall welfare of patients. In fact, Storch and Kenny (2007) suggest that the Pledge gives nurses the role as the physician’s aid in patient recovery (p. 478). For instance, the Pledge highlights the role of nurses in supporting the physicians in the patient recovery procedure wherein nurses are expected to follow specific standards, such as efficiency, self-discipline, and confidence (Storch and Kenny, 2007, p. 481). Relatively, it is evident that the Pledge advances the strengths of nurses, particularly in advancing their personal and professional endeavors. Overall, nursing regulation benefits the entire hospital system, particularly in providing appropriate health care treatments. The collaborative aspect of the Pledge is also mirrored in contemporary medical studies and nursing curriculum and this is perceived as beneficial for patients who are in need for the combined expertise of the two professionals. Relatively, this results to studies on the viability of teaching ethics to nursing and medical students together. As argued by Hanson (2005), for instance, teaching ethics to both professions together benefits the educational system wherein both physicians and nurses have the same standardized knowledge of the ethical considerations of their professions (p. 168). Relatively, Hanson (2005) predicts that this strategy could help improve the expertise of both medical professionals, particularly in their efficiency in addressing the concerns of patients. Overall, it is noticeable that the Pledge highlights personal responsibility as the most necessary virtue to be learned to become an effective nurse. Relatively, Smith and Godfrey (2002) state that nurses should exercise individual moral discretion in administering care to patients, and this is because of the nature of nursing as a “moral endeavor” (p. 302). Further, Smith and Godfrey (2002) contend that nursing education is a training of personal discipline, moral development, and self-sacrifice, considering that the profession requires an individual to dedicate one’s time to the fulfillment of duties that are, by nature, humanitarian. Criticisms and Limitations Although the Pledge is generally considered beneficial to both nurses and patients, the Pledge still has its limitations and criticism. For instance, in reading the Greeter version of the text, it is noticeable that Greeter uses the male pronoun to emphasize the role of a physical and differentiate the nurse from a physician’s obligations. However, this may be attributable to the historical context during which the Pledge is authored wherein doctors are commonly male and nurses are commonly female, which often relates to the old social standard of gendered professions (Nelson & Rafferty, 2012, pp. 6-7). Relatively, it is likely that the criticism of the Pledge is primarily grounded on the contextual meaning of its words, which includes the era-related language usage. In this case, it is likely that the primary limitation of the Pledge results from its overly brief statement and conclusive declaration of roles that set a gender-related gap between physicians and nurses. As an underlying issue to the gender-related gap emphasized in the Pledge, Melia (1994) added that such a concept of outward differentiation of roles between nurses and doctors may lead to the idea that patients are grounds of contest between the two professions (p. 10). Relatively, one can infer that, in the Pledge, the overemphasis of the divergent roles between nurses and doctors may clash in their “professional boundaries,” particularly in the context of care vs. cure notion. However, as medical practitioners, such as nurses and doctors, continue to revise the Pledge in accordance to existing socio-cultural needs, debates on gender-related gap between the two professions slowly become side topic to the more prevalent and pressing concern to advance hospital systems and medical curriculum. Conclusion Studying the Nightingale Pledge gives way to a thorough understanding of the nursing profession as a humanitarian effort. Specifically, analyzing the underlying theoretical foundations of the Pledge allows one to understand its humanitarian functions and purpose, particularly in its influence in developing the legacy of nursing ethics, as proposed by Florence Nightingale. However, although the Pledge is sufficient enough in outlining the roles and responsibilities of a nurse, it is still not enough to cater and respond to the growing socio-cultural concerns of the contemporary world. For instance, Feminist issues on gender-related roles arise due to the linguistic context of the Pledge while the emphasis of professional gap between doctors and nurses continues to prolong the debate on equal rights and responsibilities between the two professions. Conclusively, one can infer that the legacy of the Pledge relies on its capacity to translate the lives and works of practicing nurses worldwide as it continues to illustrate the unfading virtues of its initiator, Florence Nightingale. References “The code of ethics for nurses: Something old and something new.” (2010). In M. D. M. Fowler (Ed.), Guide to the code of ethics for nurses: Interpretation and application (pp. xiii-xx). Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association (ANA). Erickson, J. I., & Millar, S. (2005). Caring for patients while respecting their privacy: Renewing our commitment. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 10 (2). Fagermoen, M. S. (2005). Humanism in nursing theory: A focus on caring. In H. S., Kim & I. Kollak (Eds.), Nursing theories: Conceptual and philosophical foundations (pp. 157-183). New York, NY: Springer. Hanson, S. (2005). Teaching health care ethics: Why we should teach nursing and medical students together. Nursing Ethics, 12 (2), 167-176. Kim, H. S. (2005). Introduction. In H. S. Kim & I. Kollak (Eds.), Nursing theories: Conceptual and philosophical foundations (pp. 1-9). New York, NY: Springer. Melia, K. M. (1994). The task of nursing ethics. Journal of Medical Ethics, 20, 7-11. Nelson, S. (2012). The nightingale imperative. In S. Nelson & A. M. Rafferty (Eds.), Notes on Nightingale: The influence and legacy of a nursing icon (pp. 9-27). New York, NY: Cornell University Press. Nelson, S. & Rafferty, A. M. (2012). Introduction. In S. Nelson & A. M. Rafferty (Eds.), Notes on Nightingale: The influence and legacy of a nursing icon (pp. 1-8). New York, NY: Cornell University Press. Smith, K. V., & Godfrey, N. S. (2002). Being a good nurse and doing the right thing: A qualitative study. Nursing Ethics, 9 (3), 301-312. Storch, J. L., & Kenny, N. (2007). Shared moral work of nurses and physicians. Nursing Ethics, 14 (4), 478-491. “The Nightingale Pledge: Nursing ethics oath.” (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nursegroups.com/nightingale-pledge%3A-nursing-ethics Read More