Nursing

NURSING - A Career to Expand

This article focuses on the history and practice of nursing. See the article Nurses for more information on the education and regulation of nurses. For nursing in the sense of breastfeeding, see Breastfeeding.

Nursing is a discipline 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 premodern times, nuns and the military often provided nursing services. The religious and military roots of modern nursing remain in evidence today. For example, in Britain, senior female nurses are known as "Sisters". In recent times in the US and Canada many nurses are flowing back into working in a "religious" field through "Parish Nursing". These nurses work within a church community to perform health education, counselling, provide referals to community support agencies, and connect volunteers from the church community with those in need of assistance.

Florence Nightingale is regarded as the founder of modern nursing, which flourished in response to the World Wars.

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.

For more information on prominent nurses, both historical and contemporary, see articles on individual nurses]. There are also articles on nursing museums on Wikipedia.

Nursing as a profession

Nurses acknowledge that the nursing profession is an essential part of the society from which it has grown. 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. The practice of nursing involves altruistic behavior and is governed by a code of ethics.

Nursing has developed an extensive body of knowledge and associated skills that require extensive study to master. 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.

In almost all countries, nursing practice is defined and governed by law. Entrance to the profession and nursing practice are regulated by national, state, or territorial boards of nursing.

For more information on educational paths and regulation, see the article on the occupation of Nurse.

Nursing practice

The American Nurses' Association (1980) has defined nursing as "the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems." Just as medical diagnoses help in the planning, implementing, and evaluation of medical care, Nursing diagnoses help in the planning, implementing, and evaluation of nursing care.

Like other maturing disciplines, nursing has developed different theories that are aligned with diverging philosophical beliefs and paradigms or worldviews. Nursing theories help nurses to direct their activities in order to accomplish specific goals with people. Nursing is a knowledge based discipline committed to the betterment of humankind. Nursing has not only developed into a profession, but an art as well.

Nursing specialties

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

Nursing may be divided into different specialties or classifications.

United Kingdom

The Nursing and Midwifery Council in the UK is the regulatory body for nurses, midwives and specialist practitioners. The register 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 1st August 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:

Part 1 - First level nurses trained in general nursing (RGN)

Part 2 - Second level nurses trained in general nursing (England and Wales)

Part 3 - First level nurses trained in the nursing of persons suffering from mental illness

Part 4 - Second level nurses trained in the nursing of persons suffering from mental illness (England and Wales)

Part 5 - First level nurses trained in the nursing of persons with learning disabilities

Part 6 - Second level nurses trained in the nursing of persons with learning disabilities

Part 7 - Second level nurses (Scotland and Northern Ireland)

Part 8 - Nurses trained in the nursing of sick children

Part 9 - Nurses trained in the nursing of persons suffering from fever [obsolete]

Part 10 - Midwives [all midwives are now on the Midwives register]

Part 11 - Health Visitors [now on the Specialist Community Public Health Nurse register]

Part 12 - First level nurses trained in adult nursing (Project 2000)

Part 13 - First level nurses trained in mental health nursing (Project 2000)

Part 14 - First level nurses trained in learning disabilities nursing (Project 2000)

Part 15 - First level nurses trained in children's nursing (Project 2000)

All newly qualified nurses, now 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 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 practice areas can be in hospital, or in the community or both - the opportunities are almost endless.

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 U.S., there are a large number of specialties within nursing. Professional organizations or certifying boards issue voluntary certification in many of these areas.

There are many different nursing specialties, encompassing care throughout the human lifespan and based upon patient needs. Many nurses who choose a specialty become certified in that area, signifying that they possess expert knowledge of the specialty. There are over 200 nursing specialties and sub-specialties. 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.

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. Nurses work on cruise ships and in military service. They act as advisors and consultants to the healthcare and insurance industries. Some nurses 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. In many cities, nurses can even enter their names in a "registry" and work a wide variety of temporary jobs.

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