Community Nursing versus Real Nursing - Term Paper Example

Name Essay (Health and Social Care) 24 May 2008 Is Community Nursing Really About Ivory Tower Nursing Community Nursing v/s Real Nursing Nursing is indeed one of the few professions that command an aura of nobility beyond pecuniary considerations. It is a profession that has its moorings in the exalted spirit of selfless service. As with other professions, the vocation of nursing has evolved with time to include multiple specializations. Now days we often come to hear that community nursing is primarily about an ivory tower concept of nursing that stands no match to real nursing. Such conjectures are primarily motivated by a narrow and restricted understanding of the profession of nursing. Particularly in the 21st century era of super specialization, community nursing is as much a challenging career as any other specialty pertaining to nursing. The profession of nursing originated owing to the philanthropic endeavors of an immaculate woman of substance i.e. Florence Nightingale (Wikipedia, 2008). In the contemporary times, nursing is infact a career choice that strives to aid individuals, families and communities in attaining, re-attaining and maintaing a perfect health and functioning. It would certainly not be wrong to say that nursing is both a science and an art at the same time, which strives to help people in achieving optimal health right from birth till the end of one’s life. The profession of nursing has literally evolved beyond its religious and military origins, to penetrate into all aspects of community health and well being. This profession is not merely restricted to helping and assisting doctors as is popularly believed. Infact it is a full fledged field of specialization in itself. Today we hear of nurses who actively work with communities to promote health related education, and to provide referrals to community support agencies. Whether it be a so called real nurse or a community nurse, the professional ethics and credentials expected of them are essentially the same (gourt, 2008). All the genres of nursing constitute an essential part of society to which they belong. The foundations of nursing are based on an uncompromising acceptance of a social contract that includes in its ambit a range of professional rights and responsibilities as well as a mechanism for ethical and professional accountability. No genre of nursing stands an exception to these expectations. In the current times, all the aspects of nursing are going through a broad augmentation of knowledge and associated skills. Whether it be ER nursing or community nursing, all the nurses have to undergo the essentially same basic rigorous training procedures that entail an in depth study of nursing theory and practice and acquisition of desirable skills. All the aspects of nursing, be it the community nursing or some other specialty, come under the ambit of similar laws and an entry to them is governed by the similar appropriate boards of nursing. Nursing specialties Like all healthcare related professions, nursing is a highly diverse and variegated profession (UniXL, 2007). Infact over the years, this profession has evolved into a number of specialties and classifications. So far as nursing in the USA is concerned, there exist at least 200 nursing specialties and sub-specialties. There exist nursing organizations and certifying boards that impart certification in a number of these areas of specialization. Such specialties are classified according to the diversity of human healthcare needs and requirements. The nurses who specialize in a particular area of nursing have an expert knowledge and relevant skills specific to that area. Each area of specialization in nursing has its own importance and significance in the national, state and private healthcare facilities. Community nursing is one such area of specialization that is of great importance in the overall framework of healthcare. It has its own professional niche and scope in the overall scenario of nursing services. Thus it will be immature and myopic to say that community nurses are less then or inferior to other nurses. The human and professional aspects of nursing In nursing, the need for specialization intervenes at a very late stage. In the beginning, all the nurses are expected to have the same basic qualities, abilities and aptitude (Julie, 2007). People vying for this profession mostly have an inbuilt capacity for empathy, service and care giving. All the nurses are expected to be able to adapt quickly to change as each medical scenario is different and unique in itself. The patience, tolerance and perseverance expected from all the genres of nursing are essentially the same. Most of the times, nurses have a really good sense of humor and a diehard positive personality, irrespective of the field of specialization to which they adhere to. The critical thinking abilities expected of a community nurse or an ER nurse are again the same. The tolerance for body fluids, the ability to get along with people, the willingness and ability to transfer skills, and the sense of discretion and prioritization expected from all the nurses are fundamentally the same. Whether it is the community nurses or the real nurses, both are expected to update their skills on a regular basis. Thus it is evident that so far as the aptitude, basic abilities, people skills and professional considerations are concerned, there exist no difference between community nurses and nurses hailing from other fields of specialization. Both the type of nurses are expected to be proficient, thorough and up to date, so far as their commitment, training and requisite skills are concerned. The nursing profession is required to cater to a wide range of settings and needs ranging from hospitals, ICUs, community centres, homes and pharmaceutical companies. Nurses are required to render services in a wide range of settings varying from cruise ships to military services. Nurses even work as attorneys and legal nurse consultants. Sometimes out of necessity, nurses have to work in a wide variety of temporary jobs. Thus every genre of nursing commands a place of its own in today’s specialization driven society. Hence resorting to any attempt to affect a comparison between various fields of specialization in nursing amounts to being ill informed and self conceited. Community nursing versus real nursing A considerable segment of nursing professionals hold that community nursing is not real nursing and is more akin to be classified as ivory tower nursing. The question that deserves one’s attention is that what is community nursing all about? Community nursing is basically concerned with providing primary health care that is dispensed through a number of facilities designed to meet the needs of a particular community in which they are placed (Yukon, 2007). In a few words, community nursing is all about extending basic health care facilities, advice and reference in a community. The programs catered to by this specialty include school health, home visiting, immunization, adult health, communicable disease control, geriatric, health education/promotion, women health, mother-child health, chronic disease follow up, etc. Contrary to this what we call the real nursing is usually associated with critical care in ICUs, emergency wards and multi specialty hospitals. This requires knowledge of high tech procedures like handling state of the art central venous access devices, Broviac catheters, TPN, PICC line dressing, midline catheters, peripheral venous catheters and much more. Considering the high-tech tasks performed by these nurses on a daily basis, quite a few of them sometimes end up thinking that they are a cut above community nurses. This smacks of a lack of understanding about and appreciation of community nursing. If regular nursing requires knowledge of high-tech procedures, community nursing is all about people skills, data collection and statistical analysis. Both these types of nursing are equally important and have a definite role in the society. Ultimately it depends on the temperament and basic aptitude of a nurse which makes him/her decide in favor of a particular field of specialization. If regular nursing has a critical care aspect, community nursing has a very strong social and preventative aspect. Conclusion Hence it is imperative for health care professionals to have a genuine respect for and understanding of community nursing. It is an important aspect of a highly diverse profession called nursing that definitely has an important role in a developed and evolving society. In a humane profession like nursing, people skills hold almost as much if not more importance then complex, high-tech procedures. Reference List Community Nursing, Yukon Health and Social Services, Retrieved, 24 May, 2008, from http;//hss.gov.yk.ca/ Programs/nursing/. Julie, Qualities Required for an ER Nurse, ER RN, Retrieved, 24 May, 2008, from http://rern.blogspot.com/2007/10/ Qualities-required-for-er-nurse.html. Nursing Careers, UniXL, Retrieved, 24 May, 2008, from http: //www.unixl.com/dir/health_services/nursing/. Nursing, gourt, Retrieved, 24 May, 2008, from http;//articles. Gourt.com/en/Nursing. Nursing, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved, 24 May , 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursing. Read More