Nursing

Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, re-attaining, and maintaining optimal health and functioning. Modern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life.

History of nursing

In pre-modern times, nuns and the military often provided nursing-like services.^[1] The religious and military roots of modern nursing remain in evidence today. For example, in Britain, senior female nurses are known as ‘‘sisters’’.

Florence Nightingale is often regarded as the founder of modern nursing, which flourished in response to the Crimean War. Other important nurses include Agnes Elizabeth Jones and Linda Richards who established quality nursing schools in the USA and Japan.

Linda Richards was officially America's First Trained Nurse, graduating in 1873 from the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston.

New Zealand was the first country to regulate nurses 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 pass a nursing licensure law in 1903.

Nursing as a profession

Nursing is guided by nursing research, and is governed by a code of ethics.

Nursing continues to develop a wide body of knowledge and associated skills. There are a number of educational paths to becoming a professional nurse, but all involve extensive study of nursing theory and practice and training in clinical skills.

The authority for the practice of nursing is based upon a social contract that delineates professional rights and responsibilities as well as mechanisms for public accountability. In almost all countries, nursing practice is defined and governed by law, and entrance to the profession is regulated by national, state, or territorial boards of nursing.

Nursing practice

Definition

The UK based Royal College of Nursing offers this definition:

The use of clinical judgement in the provision of care to enable people to improve, maintain, or recover health, to cope with health problems, and to achieve the best possible quality of life, whatever their disease or disability, until death." ^[2]

The American Nurses Association defines nursing as follows: Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human responses; and advocacy in health care for individuals, families, communities, and populations. ^{[citation needed]}

Nursing theory and process

In general terms, the nursing process is the method used to assess and diagnose needs, plan and implement interventions, and evaluate the outcomes of the care provided. Like other disciplines, the profession has developed different theories derived from sometimes diverse philosophical shabba beliefs and paradigms or worldviews to help nurses direct their activities to accomplish specific goals

Regulation of practice

The practice of nursing is governed by laws that define a scope of practice, generally mandated by the legislature of the political division within which the nurse practices. Nurses are held legally responsible and accountable for their practice. The standard of care is that of the "prudent nurse."

Nursing specialties

Nursing is the most diverse of all healthcare professions. It is a universal role, appearing in some form in every culture.

United Kingdom

The Nursing and Midwifery Council in the UK is the regulatory body for nurses, midwives, and specialist practitioners. It maintains a register that is split into three parts:

Nursing
Midwifery
Specialist Community Public Health Nurses (which includes Health Visitors)

Prior to the creation of the new three-part register on August 1, 2004, nurses and midwives were divided into a part of the register they held a qualification in. This may be now described as a 'sub-part' of the nursing register, a list of which appears here.

All newly qualified nurses register in 'sub-part' 12, 13, 14 or 15, showing their branch qualification. However, nurses still practising and holding qualifications in 'sub-parts' 1-9 are registered as such.

To become a nurse within the United Kingdom, one must at the very minimum hold a Diploma in Nursing and have trained for three years, or two years on an 'accelerated' course, (or equivalent if from overseas). After training, the opportunities are vast, with many different areas of nursing, from general ward to teaching or management. Also the practise areas can be in hospital, or in the community or both.

Many nurses are members of trade unions, which represent them both individually and as a profession. The two main unions are UNISON and the Royal College of Nursing.

United States

In the US, there are over 200 specialties within nursing. These specialties encompass care throughout the human lifespan based upon patient needs.

Professional organizations or certifying boards issue voluntary certification in many of these areas to signify expert knowledge of the specialty. Certified nurses often earn a salary differential over their non-certified colleagues, and studies from the Institute of Medicine have demonstrated that specialty certified nurses have higher rates of patient satisfaction, as well as lower rates of work-related errors in patient care.

India

The Indian Nursing Council is the regulatory body for profession of nursing. A person practising nursing must be registered with the nursing council. For a person to be registered, he or she has to undergo and pass the prescribed course stipulated by the council. In India , diplomas, bachelor degrees( BSc Nursing ) and postgraduate degrees ( MSc Nursing ) are offered.

Philippines

Nursing in the Philippines is patterned after the United States of America. Nursing in the Philippines requires four years of study. Some schools train the students as early as the second year. Unlike some countries, nursing is not considered as a vocational course. It is a profession and has become an identity of Filipinos worldwide. Italic text

Practice settings

Nurses practice in a wide range of settings, from hospitals to visiting people in their homes and caring for them in schools to research in pharmaceutical companies. Nurses work in occupational health settings (also called industrial health settings), free-standing clinics and physician offices, nurse-run clinics, long-term care facilities, and camps. They also work on cruise ships and in military service. Nurses act as advisors and consultants to the healthcare and insurance industries. Some are attorneys and others work with attorneys as legal nurse consultants, reviewing patient records to assure that adequate care was provided and testifying in court. Nurses can even enter their names in a "registry" and work a wide variety of temporary jobs (Per Diem Nursing) or travel to another city for a temporary assignment (Travel Nursing), University of Luzon (Dagupan city, Pangasinan)

References

^ http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/florrie.html
^ RCN (2003) Defining nursing Retrieved April 2007

Nursing History Books

America's First Trained Nurse Linda Richards, Diggory Press, ISBN 1846850681
Una and Her Paupers, Memorials of Agnes Elizabeth Jones by Florence Nightingale & Anon, Diggory Press ISBN 978-1905363223
The Nightingale Sisters - The Making of a Nurse in 1800s America by Rosalind Franklin, author, ISBN 978-1846853715
The Nurse's Calling: Practical Hints to Graduate Nurses in the early 1900’s Harriet Camp Lounsbery, RN., ISBN 0951565591
The Edwardian Baby for Mothers And Nurses J Langston Hewer, ISBN 978-1905363063

External links

[1] ttp://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/florrie.html

[2] RCN (2003) Defining nursing Retrieved April 2007

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