Evolution of Nursing - Research Paper Example

?"Evolution of Nursing" History of Nursing: History encompasses learning of happenings from the times of yore leading up to the current time. Historyreveals the influence of happenings all the way through time and is not confined to the chronology of events. History is imperative as it turns the pages and controls or figure the providence of a group, nation or era. In a similar manner, the nursing profession also developed and evolved through the historical demands right the way through the ages, commencing in ancient times. It is imperative to study of history of nursing as it aids in having a better perception towards communal services and also it helps to develop an understanding towards the issues that were persistently tackling the occupation. With this understanding nurses are allowed to inflate an admiration of the role the occupation has performed in the wellbeing and care system of any country (Donahue, 1991). The present article discusses the history of nursing with an emphasis on communal inclination on the development and proliferation of this occupation. Nursing profession has varied categorization under different cultural domains. In 15th century the nursing profession was associated with the motherly care that is given by a women who looks after the child. Gradually nursing has evolved with this feeling and perception, to nurture or to nourish in complete sense. It encourages the individual towards value for life and existence. Earlier, this was taken care by the nuns and the infantry who provided such provisions. In UK nurses are often called "sisters" (Egenes). Nursing in Antiquity It is not easy to become a care provider and therefore in the ancient times. In the Zuni tribes, this charge was given to the much ahead of the time when the baby actually realize what is her fate to be. If a baby is born, with a segment of placenta, enveloping her face, it was considered as a symbol that the infant is predestined to be a caregiver (Henly, 2007). As the women possess the caring nature by instinct, she has the potential of providing care and attention to her infants and family members, therefore in many cultures and societies women is assigned the task to continue with nursing care to the injured and sick individuals of the society. During the era of inception of nursing care there was no facility of providing any kind of formal education to the nurses and therefore whatever were the traditional methods available with the society, nurses learned them and hence it was passed from one generation to another. Nurses also learned through their keen observation when others do care for the sick people, in certain cases when they found their experience and expertise inadequate they either consulted the physician or they adopted the process of trial and error. If the hit and trial procedure gained success it used to become the standard and was utilized for other similar ailments. Thus the practice of nursing care was instituted (Egenes). It was during the early Christian era when the nurses categorized and systemized themselves in group. The preaching of church encompassed charity, self-sacrifice, help and aids to others. Females with some educational backgrounds (Deaconess) were selected by the authorities of the church to serve and care for the ailing individuals. Deaconesses were females either they were Roman matrons or widows. One of the deaconesses, Fabiola established Christian Hospital in Rome and provided the expert care. The deaconess Phoebe is called as the first "visiting nurse" (Nutting, 1907). During the era of antiquity, the most preferred and the protected care was the care provided by the family members, clansmen and friends. Hospitalizations were rare and was done for those who do not have any close by relative or family to take care. Earlier hospitals were run by the nuns and monks of the religion. Although because of lack of awareness the individuals were placed together, for instance an individual with smallpox could be placed with the individual having fracture. Diagnosis was poor and therefore there was no discrimination between the various diseases like chickenpox and mumps and smallpox. All the patients were kept together (Robinson, 1946). Nursing care in Early Modern Europe: A variety of British social reforms emphasised to formulate a group where women are provided with the charge of hospitals and they were recruited in hospitals for nurses. Florence Nightingle and the Origin of Professional Nursing: The pioneer in the nursing profession, Florence Nightingle, reformed nursing to the best during that era and thus laid the foundation of nursing as a profession. She belonged to a rich British family, was born in Italian city. She was educated in Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian, along with proficiency in mathematics, natural science, ancient and modern literature (Nutting, 1907). She decided to devote her life for caring ailing individuals. It was July 1851 when she returned Kaiserwerth and she constantly worked with deaconesses, educated herself with fundamental information concerning long-suffering concern and observed the Fliedeners' method of education in nursing. Nursing profession paved its way when this English doctor Florence Nightingale, engaged to proceed circumstances of warriors in the Crimean War, geared up the supporting nugget of specialist nurturing by means of the principles mentioned in Notes on Nursing. Other noteworthy physicians who contributed to the development and progression of the field of nursing encompass Mary Seacole, who also was also employed as a physician in the Crimea; Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Linda Richards, who recognized the worth and significance of appropriate nursing schools in the United States and Japan. The other contributor was Linda Richards, she holds the honor of America's first taught doctor, accomplished graduation in the year 1873 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. A poster from second World War was utilized by US Navy that depicted a Naval nurse in the midst of a hospital ship. The primary native soil to standardize physicians, was New Zealand, with adoption of the Nurses Registration Act on the 12th of September, 1901 and the first registered nurse was Ellen Dougherty. In USA the foremost state to surpass a nursing licensure regulation in 1903 was North Carolina (Right Health Results for History of Nursing). The year 1854 witnessed the Crimean War, Nightingale understood that British troops were facing a mortality rate of 41%, the situation became more grave when it was noticed that French possessed nursing nuns while the British were deprived of the same and therefore more deaths were occurring due to diseases instead of injuries that occurred in the battlefield. Soon Nightingale exploited her knowledge for the betterment of soldiers fighting for her nation and exploited her political influence, gained permission for her as well as a band of ladies and took the charge for caring for sick and wounded individuals. She applied her intelligence to get fresh air and sunlight to evade the diseases. This act reduced the death toll markedly. Nightingale applied statistics to formulate a data and utilized it for further inventions (Woodham-Smith, 1951). British people in her honor established a trust and with the funds she could manage to establish Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas' Hospital in London. The school provided a formal education in nursing with theory as well as clinical experience. Thereby a new era of nursing education was set in. When the civil war broke in USA, there was no trained staff to take good care of wounded and injured. Catholic Religious community's members came forward and more than 3,000 women were sent to the battlefield to serve as nurses. They were not formally trained but had elementary knowledge to treat the ailing family members. Thus Civil War established the basis for the nursing profession in United States. This act performed by the women changed the outlook of the people towards women and her contribution towards the health care facilities. In United States, Samuel Gross, MD, President of the American Medical Association, approved the establishment of nursing schools in the country for appropriate training of the nurses. This was announced in 1868, 3 years after the conclusion of war (Larson, 1997). Subsequent to Civil War, United States encountered speedy growth in all sectors, including industries. Various immigrants from Asian and European countries made a move towards big cities of the United States, thereby doubling the population of big cities between the years 1880 and 1920. As the cities crowded it brought diseases as well. this raised the necessity of nursing school in the country (Egenes). Till this time, Nightingale School of Nursing already gained popularity and so request was made to send a trained and skilled hand to open a school in United States too. Meanwhile a small concerned women also developed interest in devoting their time in serving people who are ailing and suffering and needed care. Later, in 1872, the first school of nursing was established in United States called the nurse training school of Women's Hospital of Philadelphia. The school followed the footsteps of Nightingale's nursing school and established a curriculum, equipped with instructors and instruments required for training nurses, also provided them access to library and books. Later School of Nursing came up in Boston and gradually the roots of nursing training and education spread to the entire nation (Egenes). Although conditions in training schools were not congenial for the women, it is hard to stay in the hospital and work at nights, in some cases they were victimized also that is still prevailing in many countries. Moreover, all the nursing graduates do not get job in the hospitals some remain un-appointed. Classes in some cases were not scheduled and cancelled out if they are required by the staff, in certain circumstances some hospitals earn money by sending their nursing staff to remote locations (Kalisch, 1995). However, besides all these the will power of women to join nursing course and serve people could not be defeated and nursing schools started proliferating and by the year 1900, there were 432 schools of nursing (Egenes). With the advent of newer technologies, skills are desired in nursing schools also to cope with the modern technologies. They were required to keep abreast with the situations and happenings in the environment, latest trends in medicines and latest technologies and therefore in 1896, the Nurses' Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada was established. This association later got the name American Nurses Association (ANA), it formulates the intention of attaining licensure for nurses. This formed the basis of nurse registration in the course of nurse practice act in every state (Egenes). Nursing has thus become a modern profession and has now attained a respectable position in the society. Initial efforts were made to have a social standing a full time profession based on the authority and training both in theory and clinical practice, thereby nursing profession has enhanced training and licensing necessities and endured in its exploration for superior liberty. This present article also emphasize on the social movement that has modulated the nursing curriculum across the world. The inception or evolution of the nursing course over the century and a half displays the dedication of the nurses across the world and their devotion towards the mankind, it is a demonstration of their brilliance, ingenuity, enthusiasm, and persistence to provide the nursing profession a social standing and respect (Egenes). The nursing profession is now given a educational standard which was initially missing. The nursing course encompasses a diploma training that is only for a short duration course while a complete three year curriculum has also been introduced that comprises a degree in the nursing course. The American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools of Nursing raised the standards of nursing education. The association was renamed as National League for Nursing Education and further as National League for Nursing (NLN) (Egenes). Though, nursing is practiced in diverse modes in countries across the world, but in United States, nursing laid down very high standards as compared to the rest of the modern world. Licensure for Nurses: In the year 1901, a few cities namely, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia structured state nurse's associations. The motive of this association was to endorse the nurse practice act for their states. Keeping in view of this, the first nurse licensure act was passed in the year 1903, in North Carolina f United States. As a result, in 1921, 48 states and the District of Columbia and territory of Hawaii had endorsed laws that regulated the practice of professional nursing. Thereby ensuring a licensure act for the "registered nurse" (Birnbach, 1999). This has immensely made a huge leap in the professionalization of the nursing profession and thus a sense of security is inculcated in the minds of people. This prevented undertrained nurses from practicing as long as they do not procure the label of "registered nurse". This created a void and Great Depression in 1930s. Although with time things resolved (Egenes). Advances in Nursing Profession and Education The training system could not gain much recognition and always went through criticism. In order to elevate the standards of nursing curriculum, a Committee for the Study of Nursing Education was formulated in the year 1919, which was supported by Rockefeller Foundation. The Committee was intended on observing the levels of public health nursing and also the nursing education. The report was published as the Goldmark Report in the year 1923. It emphasized that the focus of the schools of nursing should be on education and not on patients. The Committee also established that there should be concern regarding the research activities and the post graduation in the nursing curriculum like other sciences (Egenes). The graduation level of the nursing is an a step that provides the nurse practitioner (NP) a certificate that indicates the completion of graduation and also a certificate for the completion of Masters as well as Doctoral degrees. This additional qualification widens their scope of practice. The nursing curriculum is not confined only to one domain but it is further categorized into various other broad spectrums encompassing- patient's health , women health, family health, pediatric health, intensive care. These specializations are certified through state nursing boards and hence the focus area of the nurses is restricted and they are able to keep abreast with the latest trends going around in their field of specialization rather than becoming "Jack of all trades but master of none". As nurses witness various patients, they are capable of keeping track of the patients as well as they can record the diagnosis and hence can carry out research in the field of diagnosis through their nursing knowledge. It is essential to keep records and history of the patient for the sake of quick action as well as to further modify in case similar patient is witnessed. Research and Doctoral degree in the field of nursing provides nurses with immense potentials to work out and handle situations independently and could save the patient from entering the disaster and therefore appropriate qualifications in the field of nursing must be encouraged. References Donahue, P. Why nursing history? Journal of Professional Nursing, 7, 77. 1991. Birnbach, N. Registration. In Schorr, T. and Kennedy, M. (Eds) 100 years in American nursing: Celebrating a century of caring. Hagertown, MD: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, p. 172-22. 1999. Egenes, K. J. History of Nursing. Available at nursing http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763752258/52258_CH01_Roux.pdf. [Accessed on 20th July 2011]. Henly, S. J., Moss, M. American Indian health issues. in S. Boslaugh (Ed), Encyclopaedia of epidemiology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 2007. Kalisch, P., Kalisch, B. The advances of American nursing (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1995. Larson, R. D. White roses: Stories of Civil War nurses. Gettysburg, PA: Thomas. 1997. Nutting, M. A., Dock, L. A history of nursing: The evolution of nursing systems from the earliest times to the foundation of the first English and American training schools for nurses. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1907. Right Health Results for History of Nursing. Available at http://www.righthealth.com/topic/history_of_nursing#ixzz1Sdifw7IC. [Accessed on 20th July 2011]. Robinson, V. White caps: The story of nursing. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. 1946. Woodham-Smith, C. Florence Nightingale. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1951. Nursing comes in diverse types in every heritage, whereas the proper definition of the period and the practice of nursing has being renowned as a wet nurse and cited being renowned as a dry nurse. In the 15th century, this evolved into the concept of looking after or suggesting another, not inevitably significance a woman looking after a child. Nursing has proceeded to evolve in this last cited sense, whereas the concept of nourishing in the broadest sense mentions in up to date nursing to encouraging value of life. Prior to the base of up to date nursing, nuns and the infantry often supplied nursing-like services. The devout and infantry origins of up to date nursing stay in clues today in numerous nations, for demonstration in the United Kingdom, older feminine doctors are renowned as ''sisters''. It was throughout time of conflict that a important development in nursing annals originated when English doctor Florence Nightingale, employed to advance situation of fighters in the Crimean War, prepared the base pebble of expert nursing with the values summarised in the publication Notes on Nursing. Other significant doctors in the development of the occupation include: Mary Seacole, who furthermore worked as a doctor in the Crimea; Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Linda Richards, who established value nursing schools in the USA and Japan, and Linda Richards who was formally America's first taught doctor, graduating in 1873 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. A U.S. Navy employing poster from World War II, displaying a Naval nurse with a hospital ship. New Zealand was the first homeland to regulate doctors nationally, with adoption of the Nurses Registration Act on the 12th of September, 1901. Ellen Dougherty was the first registered nurse. North Carolina was the first state in the United States to overtake a nursing licensure regulation in 1903. Nurses have skilled adversity with the hierarchy in surgery that has produced in an effect that doctors prime reason is to pursue the main heading of medics. This inclination is absolutely not discerned in Nightingale's Notes on Nursing, where the medical practitioners are cited somewhat infrequently and often in critical pitch, especially pertaining to bedside manner. The up to date era has glimpsed the development of nursing degrees and nursing has many journals to expand the information groundwork of the profession. Nurses are often in key administration functions inside wellbeing services and contain study mails at universities. see less Read More