Health Care: Nursing

Nursing has not always been viewed as the skilled and polished profession that it is today. In nursing’s primitive beginning there were no set rules, regulations, or protocols follow nor were there any professional training offered to those in charge of caring for the ill and injured. Nursing was not even considered to be a true profession. Instead most nurses were mother’s caring for ill family members or women who volunteered to care for injured solders during times of war. During this time “neither life nor women were valued by society.” C. Taylor, C. Lillis, P. LeMone and P. Lynn (2011). Nursing has come a long way since those dark days but the profession unfortunately still has its obstacles to overcome. Sadly for the nursing profession many of our older more experienced nursing population are retiring from practice leaving a nursing shortage. This shortage has allowed many new nurses to enter into practice undertrained and lacking knowledge and skill in ethical values and professionalism. This is why it is imperative that in this highly valued and trusted profession that all new nurses must be knowledgeable in ethics and able to exhibit professionalism.

Webster’s dictionary describes professionalism and ethics as follows. Professionalism: the skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected from a person who is trained to do a job well. Ethics: an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior: a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong: a belief that something is very important. The Texas Board of Nursing defines them as good professional character is the intergraded pattern of professional, academics and occipital behavior which , in the judgment of the board, in...

... middle of paper ...

...y of the new skill has been achieved.

In conclusion the nursing profession as a whole has gone through many rigorous changes during its history. Nursing has progressed from a very uneducated disreputable profession to a profession of great professional statue. That is why it is imperative that in this highly valued and trusted profession that new nurses must be knowledgably in ethics and able to exhibit professionalism. It is important for every nurse to the history and traditions behind the nursing so that this field can continue to progress not digress that is why a nurse should treat each client with respect and dignity. The most important aspect is to treat the patient first to ensure all nursing interventions are based on the client’s needs and their well-being.

Works Cited

websters dictionary, Texas Board of nursing and fundamentals of nursing tenth edition