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Nursing as a Profession

Jennifer Spooner

Foundations of Nursing Practice – DBPN8 – 02-02-21 – Sect2

Professor Debra Pendergast

February 8, 2021
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Nursing as a Profession

Evolution of Nursing Practice

According to the contemporary world, it is significant to note that certain things change;

hence nursing is not an exception to these changes. However, the nursing practice is still

embedded in taking care of patients, one of the essential things the nursing practice has been

formed to do. Nursing has seen a breakthrough, including a change in technology and medicine

use. This depicts that the nursing profession and the nurses must take risks to be purely adaptable

to the changing module of nursing.

Past Nursing

Nursing, according to the past, was something that started at home. Before hospitals,

nursing had been practiced mainly at home, and thus medicine was not taken as a science. It is

anticipated that nursing began between 1840 and 1845. This is seen when there was an

emergency of the Crimean war, which necessitated care to the injured warriors. On the contrary

side, Joseph Warrington, an American-based doctor, wrote a book to the nursing and midwifery

society to regulate the nursing texts. This book explained a need for women to train as nurses to

get incorporated into the nursing system. The education at this period was observational-based;

hence it took at least two to three years. After graduation, people could be incorporated into the

hospitals that owned the education centers, thus making them full-time nurses. As time went by,

the hospitals grew more extensive. There was an emergency of comprehensive education

whereby the nurses of all races were accepted in this nurse program and became part of the

workforce.

On the other hand, technology increased such that there were advanced patient beds in

stethoscopes and blood pressure devices (Egenes, 2017). In the 1960s, it is significant that
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nurses were required to specialize in one specific field. With advanced technology and

restorative care, there was a need for more education. This shows that there a rose particular

certification for a person to run in the nursing field. This entailed having a degree to have grant

access to hospital patient care. In this case, nurses were entitled to learn in classrooms and later

implement what they learned in the field of their study.

Present Nursing

In present nursing, the most significant change is how people are now dealing with

technology and medicine. Nurses must secure a place in college for the special programs before

getting access to the hospital environment. This education consists of the classroom setting and

also in a personal laboratory. This shows that after training, nurses are required to work under a

registered nurse to get experience. Nursing is a practice that has no end in learning; hence one

has to be prepared to avoid the limited nursing practice. With the advancement in the nursing

practice, things have now become quite simple. This is because they have been advancements in

weight measurement and the right patient medication prescription. The patient’s notes are kept in

the computer system. Thus, the health concerns can also be observed using the MRI machine, X-

rays, and CAT scans (Egenes, 2017). More so, nurses today have to be in a specific attire such

as white uniforms, multicolored scrubs, and rubber shoes though these colors are always

determined by the unit in which each nurse works.

Key players in the nursing practice foundation

Numerous key players in the field of nursing made sure that nursing reaches this far.

Florence Nightingale is remembered for her inspiration to nurses. She is also remembered for

starting the first nursing school, which provided the most important formal education to the

nursing students (Roux, 2017). Dorothea Dix is recognized for having a mentally ill crusade.
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This depicted a situation whereby there was an investigation of the mentally ill in Massachusetts.

This led to the introduction of a mental hospital system. A similar study was performed in New

Hampshire, North Carolina, which led to the fair treatment of mentally ill people. She is also

remembered for advocating for an advanced specialty in psychiatric nursing.

Clara Barton is a founder of the Kenyan red cross. She worked as a nurse during the civil

war. After the war, Clara was at the forefront to ensure that there were talks with the president to

form the American red cross, which has continued to provide natural disaster management in the

United States. Johnson-Brown is also remembered as the African American female to become a

general in the united states army. She was appointed as the chief united states nurse corps, which

led her to be one of the founding nursing career aspirants spanning twenty-six years. Mary Ezra

Mahoney was the first African American graduate of the nursing school. She worked as a

professional nurse. After graduating in 1879, she became a private care nurse in 1908; hence, she

is depicted as the founder of colored graduated nurses' national association. The last key player

in the nursing sector is Virginia Lynch. She is the mother of forensic nursing. She was a nurse

who handled a rape case in the long run. She also made other efforts, including improving the

education around keeping evidence intact and using such evidence to find criminals of assault.

This shows that a new form of nursing was formed, which is mainly known as forensic science.

This has helped keep criminals behind bars, and thus, more women are out of this type of harm.

Nursing practice concerning public expectations and trust

Trust in nursing is characterized as an attitude whereby a person has confidence towards

the other. When basing on the nursing practice, it is ideal to note that patients should have trust

and confidence in nursing to have an excellent public expectation. A trustworthy relationship is

vital in ensuring the power imbalances between the nurses and the patients. This is one of the
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ways that can increase the vulnerability and dependence of the trustee. When looking at the

public expectations, there are different ways in which nurses can build trust. This can entail

appropriate time with the patients, active listening skills, and resolving the patient’s problem.

This is one of the ways that are vital in building a significant relationship. However, on the other

side nurses have to be accorded respect from the employer and the clients. For instance, since

nurses work tirelessly day in day out, there is a need to have decent pay. This is because they are

entitled to get a good education and experience. It is also significant to embrace teamwork in the

nursing practice so that there is a viable outcome at the end of the day. Multitasking and having a

rich reward are also the key elements that are key in ensuring that there is an excellent nurse to

patient relationship.

There are, however, three best ways of building rapport with patients. This can entail

having an often communication with them. Good communication builds public trust, which is

one way to have more clients when working as a nurse since good communication is the

foundation that brings about a trustworthy emergency. Additionally, an expression of empathy is

also Significant. This depicts that using the right tone when speaking to patients is vital in

ensuring a good rapport. This also shows that there is a need to be less emotionally overwhelmed

when dealing with the patient. Most of the nurses have to project calmness when dealing with

clients. Most therapeutic nurse patients’ relationships are defined as helping relationships based

on trust and respect (Rodwell et al., 2017). The public expectations are also embedded in faith

and hope, being sensitive to self and others, and assisting with the patient's gratification,

including a change of physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This can be incorporated through

the use of skills and knowledge the nurse might possess. Public trust and expectations promote

efficient use of the patients and the physicians' time; hence, without faith, the informed consent
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of minor interventions, including antibiotics, would become time-consuming as needed for minor

surgery.
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References

Egenes, K. J. (2017). History of nursing. Issues and trends in nursing: Essential

knowledge for today and tomorrow, 1-26. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=b9zPDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=nursing+profession+origin+in+us&ot

s=LywUOuo2l5&sig=uPsjowTonoDItNDISfM8v8r4qWc

Rodwell, J., McWilliams, J., & Gulyas, A. (2017). The impact of nurses' relationships

with their supervisor, engagement and trust, performance behaviors, and intent to quit. Journal

of advanced nursing, 73(1), 190-200. Retrieved from:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jan.13102

Roux, G. (2017). Issues and trends in nursing. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Retrieved

from: https://books.google.com/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=b9zPDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=nursing+profession+origin+in+us&ot

s=LywUOuo2l5&sig=wJDTWYEu44W3hLl9QEMyRg6lyYU