Nursing Evolution
Nursing was discovered as a profession in the mid-19th century by Florence Nightingale, known as the founder of modern-day nursing. She challenged the idea of women nursing strangers, which was highly criticized by the public and challenged her wealthy parents. The evolution of nursing increased during the Civil War. However, nursing has evolved through various aspects such as specialization; due to specialization, nurses can easily practice in various fields and dynamics such as dermatology, dentists, rehabilitation, and emergencies. Some specialties are deemed better, such as advanced practice registered nursing. These are like nurse midwives, practitioners, and nurse anesthetists who hold a minimum requirement of a master’s degree. Training in nursing has also evolved, such as formalized education; in the past, all nurses needed was clinical instructions to provide comfort, safety, and human conditions, while recently, advanced skills and training are required as patients’ needs have become a bit complex. Nursing programs fall under undergraduate, diploma, graduate, and postgraduate (Preziosi and Shaffer, 2019).
Additionally, it has improved on the responsibilities part. Nursing was focused on caretaking in the past, while it has recently broadened the scope of duties that nurses are expected to undertake. Their responsibilities have increased to; act as advocates for patients, conduct research, and care for patients, especially those in dire need. Nurses have almost the same responsibilities as physicians. Safety and quality are other highlights of nursing evolution; nurses were always seen as caregivers for patients. Currently, that role is conspicuous and easily distinguishable as they spend more time with patients than doctors do and interact more with other medical teams, ensuring the best quality care. Compared to doctors, patients of nurses report higher satisfaction and are rarely readmitted to the hospital, thus providing better quality care focused on patients (Alshmemri and Ramaiah,2021).
Additionally, nursing has evolved from wearing white dresses, stockings, and comfortable shoes for scrubs that look easy and stylish. Also, in the past, patients were mostly treated by female members. At the same time, in recent times, there are now male nurses who also perform the same responsibilities as the female nurses, hence increasing diversity of gender and welcoming a larger pool of talents. Also, the recovery period of patients has been significantly reduced compared to what they had in the past; this has enabled nurses to enjoy outpatient care provisions. In the past, nurses relied on home remedies and traveling. Still, with the advancement of technology and research, improved medications are more effective and efficient for all categories. Leadership has also been seen as an evolution; nurses were known as “physician’s handmaiden” but have now improved to “trusted partners” in the modern healthcare system. Several aspects have improved nurses, such as the respect, responsibilities, and leadership roles, especially for nurses who have advanced their training and education. Notably, the voices of nurses are highly essential in the healthcare system as, without them, the hospital cannot run effectively (Martínez-Momblán, Colina-Torralva, and Delgado-Hito, 2020
References
Alshmemri, M. S., & Ramaiah, P. (2021). HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: NURSING PRACTICE AND EVOLUTION. International Journal of Modern Agriculture, 10(2), 1898-1904.
Martínez-Momblán, M. A., Colina-Torralva, J., Cueva-Ariza, L. D. L., Guix-Comellas, E. M., Romero-García, M., & Delgado-Hito, P. (2020). Analysis of the evolution of competences in the clinical practice of the nursing degree. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 28.
Preziosi, P., & Shaffer, F. A. (2019). Evolution of Care and Nursing: Moving With the Patients. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 43(4), 329-332.