The 1930s are mostly known for being the decade of the Great Depression which affected every aspect of life including the medical and health fields. On the public health front malnutrition, overcrowding, poor sanitation and other side effects of the Depression took a huge negative toll on human health. While there were many developments and discoveries in the field of medicine, dramatic improvements to public health were stunted because of extremely poor economic conditions. Fewer people could afford to pay for health care. Hospitals and nursing schools were forced to close due to lack of funding. Although the early 1930s were a time of great technological change and innovation in the field of medicine, it wasn’t able to deliver an upturn to …show more content…
A private duty nurse’s duties included bathing and feeding patients, administering medications and dressing wounds. After the Depression started most people could no longer afford this and as a result many nurses were left unemployed. By 1935 however, with all the public health programs started by FDR and all the advances in medicine and technology, there was a great demand for public health nurses. FDR’s programs also allocated money for retraining nurses for the public health field. The role of the public health nurse included patient care along with serving meals, scrubbing floors and cleaning medical equipment. Hours were long and pay was minimal as hospitals tried cutting …show more content…
In addition, she seemed anxious for the nursing profession to undergo a radical change. She wanted nursing to emerge from its past characteristics of heroic selflessness, long hours on the clock, and virtual anonymity, and transform itself into a far more credible system. This new system would be filled with true professionals protected by legislation, who were capable of having a greater say in the critical care of patients, envisioning greater interaction with the doctoral profession, and achieving greater all-round respect in the health community and with the public overall.
Virginia also provided an insightful glimpse to the possible ‘root cause’ of the dismal state of nursing in the United States in 1930 based on her relevant understanding of the recent history of nursing particularly the previous thirty-five years (apparently beginning approximately 1895). She claimed that:
When the first organizations of nurses appeared in the United States some thirty-five years ago, they were faced with an incredibly difficult task. The sick of the entire nation had to be nursed. There were only a score or more of training schools of high grade and only a few thousand nurses. From these meager beginnings it was their task to spread nursing over the
Presented issues such as lack of nursing opportunities for nursing graduates, lack of respect for the nursing profession and nurses being viewed as a threat by doctors continues to be of an existence today. As a nurse, I feel that it is of high importance to highlight these presented issues from the film not only because they were the most outstanding to me but because the nursing profession needs more
Nursing’s development from an occupation to a profession follows the devotion and sacrifice of many amazing women throughout history. Considered to be one of the oldest professions, women have performed what could be considered nursing duties since the beginning of time. Although there have been many events and many individuals who have contributed to nursing’s evolution from the occupation it was once considered to the profession that now exists, the development of formal education opportunities and scholarly resources and the women who created them is what fascinates me most. Without knowing, each of the following five women helped lay the groundwork for what Lucie Kelly, RN, PhD, FAAN, eventually termed the eight characteristics of a profession
American nursing transformed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century from a family and community duty performed largely by untrained women in family homes, to paid labor performed by both trained and untrained women and men in a variety of settings. Distinctions between types of nurses increased in this transition. Life histories of nurses taken by Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) writers in the late 1930s provide valuable insight into the experience of some of these nurses.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been in operation for more than 40 years and has been instrumental in working to improve the status of health and the health care for all individuals within the United States of America. They hold a vision “as a nation, to strive together to create a culture of health enabling all in our diverse society to lead healthy lives, now and for generations to come” ("Robert Wood Johnson Foundation," 2014). The Foundations nursing programs has early initiatives that would improve the profession with the advancement of nurse practitioners, programs improving nursing academics, improved hospital nursing. Currently the foundation is developing leadership skills in advanced level nurses and transforming working conditions of nurses within the hospital setting. In support of nursing and in light of the nation’s severe nursing short...
During the mid-twentieth century American’s view of nurses was drastically changing according to Judd & Sitzman the authors of “A History of American Nursing: Trends and Eras.” Prior to this time period the job of a nurse was not something that was very valued. The women who chose this work were not looked upon as highly as they are today. Judd & Sitzman write that during this time “nurses were respected, revered, and deemed professionals; they were portrayed in recruitment posters.” Nursing was now a profession women could actually seek to do outside of the home that was not frowned upon. Nursing was now being viewed as a valued profession. The mere fact that there were recruitment posters being created and displayed proves this point.
Spetz, Joanne, and Sara Adams. "How Can Employment-Based Benefits Help the Nurse Shortage?" Health Affairs 25 (Jan.-Feb. 2006): 212-218. ProQuest . Ithaca Coll. Lib., Ithaca, NY. 10 Dec. 2012. .
...re opportunities for nurses. Today’s demand for skilled nurses significantly outweighs the supply of such professionals. In an economically challenged background, all nations are actively looking for ways to change healthcare by expanding value in the care delivery systems. For nurses, everyone’s role adds value to the patients, the communities, the countries, and the world. The development and evolution of nursing is associated with the historical influences throughout different ages. The study of the history of nursing helps understand the issues that confronted the profession. It also allows nurses to gain the appreciation they deserve for playing the role of caring for patients during wartime. The role of the profession has played an important part of history. Through the history, each nurse has efficiently established the achievements of the history of nursing.
There is a shortage of all health care professions throughout the United States. One shortage in particular that society should be very concerned about is the shortage of Registered Nurses. Registered Nurses make up the single largest healthcare profession in the United States. A registered nurse is a vital healthcare professional that has earned a two or four year degree and has the upper-most responsibility in providing direct patient care and staff management in a hospital or other treatment facilities (Registered Nurse (RN) Degree and Career Overview., 2009). This shortage issue is imperative because RN's affect everyone sometime in their lifetime. Nurses serve groups, families and individuals to foster health and prevent disease.
The article I chose discusses the continual change in the roles of nurses. The article also poses a concept that nursing now is not based on caring, but medicine. “By accepting continual changes to the role of the nurse, the core function of nursing has become obscured and, despite assuming medical tasks, the occupation continues to be seen in terms of a role that is subordinate to and dependent on medicine.” (Iley 2004) Nurses are taking a more professional role, and more tasks are being delegated to assertive personnel. Therefore, with all these changes occurring, the role of the enrolled nurse is unclear. “Previously, having two levels of qualified nurse in the United Kingdom had been seen as problematic for health service managers and nurses themselves, and the ending of enrolled nurse programs in 1992 helped to solve this problem.” (2004) The study in this article gathered the characteristics of enrolled nurses and differentiated the groups converting to registered nurses, groups in the process of conversion, and groups interested or not interested in conversion. This study reveals the situation of enrolled nurses in context of continuing towards the professionalization of nursing. “The data from this study support the possibility that the role of nurses as direct caregivers is seen as a positive dimension of the work they undertake.” (2004) The findings imply that nurses need to get back to being caregivers, instead of concentrating on obtaining professional status in medicine.
During World War I and World War II, America called upon thousands of women to become nurses for their country to help in hospitals and overseas units. America’s calling was considered a success and by the end of World War I, 23,000 nurses served in Army and Navy cantonments and hospitals, 10,000 served overseas, and 260 either died in the line of duty or from the influenza pandemic (“Nursing Reflections”, 2000, p. 18). In the early 1930s, nurses experienced the devastation of the depression. Families were very poor and unable to feed themselves let alone pay for a nursing visit. This caused many nurses to seek work elsewhere. Nurses who were lucky to be empl...
The profound importance of nursing in our culture begins with the little people and the forgotten importance of the school nurse.
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
Nursing has always been a key career in the health care system. Although it is not often focused on media and stories surrounding health care, nursing is a career of great importance. If any patient was asked about their experience at a hospital or a care center, many would mention the capability and care that they received from the nurses. The health care system could not function efficiently, if at all, if nurses were not present to perform their part. Nurses are more than just physicians, support staff.
Nursing is more than merely a job, an occupation, or a career; it is a vocation, a calling, a frame of mind and heart. As a nurse, one must value the general good of others over his own. He must devote of himself nobly to ensure the well-being of his patient. However, today’s well-recognized nurses are notably different from nurses of the recent past. Service is the core of the nursing profession, and the essential evolution of the vocation reflects the ever-changing needs of the diverse patient population that it serves. As a profession, nursing has evolved progressively, particularly in its modernization throughout the past two centuries with the influence of Florence Nightingale. The field of nursing continues to grow and diversify even today, as nurses receive greater medical credibility and repute, as its minority representations
The Future of Nursing Being a registered nurse affords one the option of working in many diverse healthcare settings. In any practice setting, the climate of health care change is evident. There are diverse entities involved in the implementation and recommendation of these practice changes. These are led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), nursing campaign for action initiatives, as well as individual state-based action coalitions. Nurses need to be prepared and cognizant of the transformations occurring in health care settings, as well as the plans that put them at the forefront of the future.