Since the beginning of nursing, there has always been a negative connotation about nurses. Nurses give their life to their career and typically put their patients’ health before their own. Without nurses, patients would not have anyone to help them overcome their fears, advocate for those who cannot speak up, or promote health education. With all of this in mind, nurses should not have to face the false nurse image that continues to be prevalent in this country.
Historically, the nursing image was thought of as a woman’s job. Nurses during this time were looked down at. Charles Dickenson said that nurses were “unclean, uneducated, untrained, and unreliable” (Flash, 2015). Florence Nightingale changed the original image of nursing into a more acceptable career in the 19th century (Hanbury, n.d.). She did this by opening a very respectful school in England for nursing training. Nightingale also wrote a famous book called, Notes on Nursing, which described nurses as healers. This book also described the training that nurses properly needed. As wars continued, there was an
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A total of only nine percent of the United States works in the health care related industry (Kaiser Family, 2015). Ninety-one percent of the population of the United States mostly just sees the role of nurses on shows or in the media. That means only a small fraction of this country probably understands what a nurses’ role really is. If we educate the public about the actual job description of a nurse, this could lead to reducing stereotypes. Making a law about how media portrays nurses could be the first step in the right direction. If these roles are cut out of what America is watching every day, this will help the nursing image. Another way to help would be to use social media as an advantage. Promoting positive Facebook pages about how hard nurses work and posting videos about the job would significantly
Nursing is constantly evolving and changing, in order to be more efficient in providing care than in the past. The nursing profession includes professionals who are not only caregivers but support systems as well as educators. All these factors help to provide optimal care for patients and to also better serve their families and the community. All nurses are encouraged to break down the simplistic notion society has about the nursing profession because nursing is a multi-faceted profession encompassing many different factors that are beneficial to overall human development and health.
Furthermore, as war led to an increase in the number of injured men, there was a shortage of nurses, and women swarmed into medical universities to receive their educations so they could serve as nurses. In his “Universities, medical education, and women,” Watts states that when it was observed that women could “join the popular and increasing band of professional nurses. women were striving to gain university admission” (Watts 307).
Often time, nurses has been viewed by patients, their family members and the medical team as basic emotional care givers, pill crushers or cart pullers and not as healthcare professionals who are more interesting in health promotion, disease prevention and better patient outcomes. They also often forget the emotional, physical, mental, and caring part that is involved with the profession. And to make matters worse, nurses are continued to be viewed as a threat by doctors more than ever before especially with the opening of Nurse Practitioners programs.
Angelou once said, “The people may forget the nurses name, but they will never forget how that nurse made them feel.” Nursing is a profession. Unfortunately, nursing does not always get the credit it deserves because of these stereotypes. Nursing is not a gay profession for males. Due to the shortage of nurses, our society needs more nurses now than never. Nurses make a difference in almost every person’s lives just not in hospital rooms but also in schools and clinics. Nursing in not easy job but somebody has to do it. There has to those individuals who must take on this challenge and be the difference in someone’s life. People could not care if someone considers them a failure for being a nurse and not a doctor. Most doctors could not do their job effectively without the help and assistance of nurses. The money is there for those who think nurses does not get paid that much. Healthcare is one of the biggest factors in our world, and for our world to progress further, an increase in employment for nursing is necessary. These stereotypes should not and will not stop the field of nursing from
During the American Civil War, "More than twenty thousand women in the Union and Confederate states engaged in relief work…” (Schultz, 2004). These women had certain professional rights and responsibilities to uphold throughout the Civil War. They broke the common Victorian American tradition and volunteered to be Civil War nurses, something that astounded the nation (USAHEC.org). These battle aids nursed the wounded soldiers and performed other tasks to help the soldiers. However, these women were not accepted right away by male doctors in the hospitals. Some male doctors thought of women as useless (Barton, 1892) and that they "were intruding into their domain and using scarce resources," (Freemon, 1998). Despite the power struggle between the male doctors and women nurses, the women nurses were soon known as “The nurses, consolers, and saviours of men.” (Barton, 1892).
Over 5000 volunteer nurses’ north and south served in military hospitals during the Civil War. Nurses were of all sorts and came from all over. Women wanted to be involved in this national struggle in any way they could. They did not want to stay home and play their traditional domestic roles that social convention and minimal career opportunities had confined the majority of their sex to. Many women thought of nursing as an extension of their home duties, almost like taking care of “their boys.” They recall the Civil War as a time when their work as nurses made a difference. It gave them an opportunity to prove they had the ability and courage to help.
A nurse is no longer categorized as the submissive doer of the physician and higher ups in position. Today, a nurse is a powerful, respectable force and source of knowledge, protection, advocacy, promotion, skill, and dedication. They take the necessary
Before Nightingale, nurses were lower class citizens that were alcoholics or prostitutes with no to a little education. Florence Nightingale realized that nurses ought to have some education in caring for others and be of a higher class. In 1860, she opened the first nursing school in London that did not accept prostitutes and alcoholics. To signify Nightingale’s view of nursing, Lystra Gretter composed a Hippocratic Oath for nurses called the Nightingale pledge.
With the rising number of male nurses society is being forced to become more open-minded in respect to professions that are typically linked to one sex dominantly. Stereotypically nursing has been thought of as a female career. Historically this has led to stereotypes and discrimination towards male nurses. Such as being excluded from certain subjects thought of as sensitive in nature (O’Connor, 2003).
The nursing shortage most likely does not mean a great deal to people until they are in the care of a nurse. The United States is in a severe nursing shortage with no relief in sight due to many factors compounding the problem and resulting in compromised patient care and nurse burnout. Nursing shortages have been experienced in the past by the United States and have been overcome with team effort. However, the current shortage is proving to be the most complex and great strides are being made to defeat the crisis before it becomes too difficult to change. Researchers anticipate that by 2010, the United States will need almost one million more registered nurses than will be available (Cherry & Jacob, 2005, p. 30).
In-class discussions focused in on these various images of nursing and their damaging consequences. I have observed that I am not as assertive as I should be to dispute these negative images of nursing. I need to recognize when individuals make comments insinuating a negative portrayal of nurses. I will then proceed to educate these individuals on their uninformed views by demonstrating an understanding of my role as a nurse. This step will require knowledge and confidence; which I hope to acquire by the following strategies outlined in my knowledge confidence
Introduction McCurry et all (2009/2010)?? ** state ‘Nursing as a profession has a social mandate to contribute to the good of society through knowledge-based practice.’ Acknowledging this statement and in recognition of the challenges faced in today’s healthcare system it is imperative that nurses know who they are as a profession. Without an explicit understanding of our identity as nurses and our role in society we have no worth or purpose other than to aid and promote the medical discipline (Newman et al., 2008).
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
During the Civil War, women began to feel like part of the work force, but along with it, was the downfall of being considered "service workers", which is very similar to being a servant. Nurses had to suffer through much conformity, as they had to wait hand and foot on male patients, while at the same time being scrutinized by their male "overseers". These issues that nurses faced in the nineteenth century, continue even to this day, with a little more ease, but we are still driven by a patriarchal society that just isn't ready to let go. Through the works of Louisa May Alcott and Charlotte Perkins Gillman, one can see the hardships that Nineteenth century women were faced with when it came to working. These stories bring to light the fact that, by overcoming oppression, through the strength and desire that leads to resistance, women have been able to achieve self-reliance, which makes their "service work" considered to have with it, an achieved independence. These stories show us the struggles that women faced in the nin...