Introduction: the perception of the UN’s Millennium Goals
Florence Nightingale was one of the most influential nurses in history. Among her contemporaries in the 19th century, she “created a wider understanding of the importance of health and the many determinants of health — for individuals and communities and nations” (Beck, Dossey, & Rushton, 2012, p.1). The UN Millennium Development Goals aim to “establish peace and a healthy global economy by focusing on major issues like poverty, children’s health, empowerment of women and girls, sustainable environment, disease, and development” (UN Foundation, 2012, para. 1). Nightingale pursued similar goals throughout her life and career: “She advocated for better conditions for women, children and the poor and hungry, including better education for marginalized people” (Beck et al., 2012, p. 2).
She wrote many letters on how to achieve these goals on a global level, and her instructions can be used as an approach to fulfilling the UN Millennium Development Goals. For instance, child mortality is far more prevalent in developing countries, because, according to Nightingale, it is caused by low hygiene. Therefore, to achieve the UN’s goal of child mortality prevention, it is necessary to prioritize hygiene and safe water access in developing countries. Nightingale’s approach was based on the belief that nurses can have an impact not just on global health issues, but also on other problems by empowering women, building global partnerships for development, and promoting awareness about global challenges ahead. It was surprising to see that Nightingale’s teachings still apply to global health issues today, and it made me think about how nurses can tackle more issues than we think we have control over.
Individual approach
For example, as a nurse, I can help advance the UN’s goal of improving global maternal health. I can achieve this by building more knowledge about health issues specific to maternity and working with local women who are going through pregnancy or who have recently given birth to increasing their awareness of the issues such as postpartum depression. However, I can also help to advance the UN’s goal of building a global network for development by volunteering in developing countries to work with nurses all around the world to combat local health and development issues. Finally, I can also work to the UN’s goal of combatting HIV/AIDS, particularly by working with people who have HIV and by spreading information on the importance of safe sex across the local community.
Community approach
As a group, we can address even more goals set by the UN. For instance, our community of nurses can aim to promote equal rights and women empowerment by volunteering to work with women suffering from domestic and sexual abuse. Creating a supportive environment for the victims of abuse would help to achieve their physical and emotional healing and empower them to be open about what happened with their families and law enforcement. We could also organize volunteering trips to work for the goal of reducing hunger and malnutrition in developing countries, which would advance both the first UN’s Millennium Goal for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger and the last goal for international cooperation in promoting development.
Conclusion
All in all, not only did Florence Nightingale have a strong impact on the nursing practice of her time, her ideas regarding global development issues are still valuable to nurses all over the world. Moreover, her approach to nurses’ involvement can empower the nurses to advance the current UN’s Millennium Goals, thus improving health and the life of millions of people worldwide.
References
Beck, D., Dossey, B., & Rushton, C. H. (2012). Florence Nightingale: Connecting her legacy with local-to-global health today. OnCourse Learning Corporation. Web.
UN Foundation (2012). The Millenium Development Goals. Web.