Introduction

 Nursing is a calling but for me, my childhood experiences influenced my decision to pursue it as a career. I desired something worth living and dying for. It is interesting and challenging at the same time. Through it, I could influence other people’s lives. The profession is not a bed full of roses; I have to outdo myself and learn new concepts every day. Besides the nature of the career, I stayed with my late grandfather at the hospital and experienced the commitment and passion of both nurses and doctors. They worked day and night, catering for every medical need. From that day, hence forth, I made up my mind on becoming a nurse. This essay will discuss the history of nursing and the role of nursing in the society

History of Nursing

In the ancient societies, caregivers were special people as they are today. It was an occupation preserved for a few individuals. The choice to become a nurse or caregiver was made on behalf of the person. For example, children born with placenta on their face, among the Zuni community would automatically become caregivers (Cherry, & Jacob, 2016). In other most communities, the members of the community allocated the role of nursing to women because women would take care of a newborn child from infancy to adulthood. People assumed that the same approach used to cater to the needs of a child can facilitate the healing process of the sick and wounded.

Due to lack of formal education to expand knowledge and expertise in the nursing field, the ancient nurses acquired the skills through customs passed from generation to generation orally (Cherry, & Jacob, 2016). Observing as a more experienced nurse took care of a sickly individual and many times, through experimenting procedures, one would learn the art of caregiving. In short, information passed orally and practically increased knowledge via trial and error methods.

Against the background mentioned above, caring seems to be the main objective of nursing (Cherry, & Jacob, 2016). Nurses ensure a patient’s safety, treatment and recovery, which implies that nurses bond with patients and their work depends on the quality of the medical services offered.

Florence nightingale was a woman who laid the foundation for modern nursing reforms in ancient societies. Born into an affluent family, people assumed that she would follow the customary path predetermined for women from wealthy families living in the Victorian era, which was inclusive of marriage, and bringing forth children. Appointed head of a hospital whose focus was provision of health care services for the elderly and sick patients, she gained a lot of expertise and knowledge (Quinn, & Bailey, 2011). One of her notable contribution to nursing was heading a group of nurses who supervised a medical facility in Turkey during a Crimean war. Journalists claimed that the army hospital was under pathetic conditions. Thus, the army medical clinic made headlines and aroused angry emotions across the country. In response to the report made by the hospital, the ministry of health appointed Florence who later chose a team of nurses. On arrival at the hospital, she found overcrowded rooms, soiled bandages, and contaminated water. In addition, she embarked on a series of renovations, which in turn decongested rooms and gave clean water and food. Then, she ventilated the quarters and curbed corruption, which hindered medical supplies from reaching the medical Centre. Within one month, mortality dropped to 2%.

 

Roles of Nursing

Newly trained or graduated caregivers enter into the dynamic nursing environment and discover that they are ill equipped to handle all the challenges that come with the profession. The work overload often strains fresh nurses. Therefore, nurses should define their roles and match the duties with the roles to avoid inadequacy (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Researchers often approve blending the roles of clinical specialists and acute caregivers to give a straightforward system of information that would in turn assist nurses fully understand their role. Furthermore, blending roles of different types of nurses would upgrade service delivery as one nurse can perform tasks outside his or her specialized area. To emphasize further, nurses often perform isolated activities day in day out. The routine tasks do not expand their skills nor does it build critical thinking capacities. Hence, the need to blend nursing roles in order to attain maximum performance.

 According to researchers, there are three nursing features. The ability to form a relationship with a patient, management, and control of the working atmosphere and collaborating with other medical doctors to bring a sustainable treatment to a patient (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Later, Scott prioritized management of the working environment as the main role duty of a nurse and the teamwork formed between a nurse and other medical experts.

 A vast work of research reveals that nurses are unable to apply their skills in impromptu contexts that required speedy independent decision-making skills. This is because medical institutions controlled nurses and dictated their every move. In summary, nursing is an important career facilitating the healing process after a patient leaves the hand of a physician or surgeon. Therefore, I pursued it to find fulfillment by serving others.

References

Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757.

Quinn, C., & Bailey, M. E. (2011). Caring for children and families in the community: experiences of Irish palliative care clinical nurse specialists. International journal of palliative nursing, 17(11), 561-567.