The nursing profession has come a long way of becoming, during which there were many difficulties and challenges for nurses of the past. However, overcoming these difficult periods of the formation of the profession led to what nurses do today. Nursing is one of the oldest professions, which means that this work’s evolutionary path has undergone many changes. Many significant changes have affected the way that profession is presented today.
The history of nursing began thanks to a turning point in history when women gained the right to care for the sick. This was made possible by the struggle of Florence Nightingale in the middle of the 19th century, which provided a new perspective on medicine (Pfettscher, 2021). This largely became the root cause of the future evolution of the nursing profession and provided a leap in the development of this branch of medicine. During this time, many of the founding statutes of nursing began to develop, giving birth to the profession. Thus, we can say that Nightingale is the one thanks to which nursing exists today.
The history of the development of nursing has brought this work into a separate profession with sufficient potential to become on par with the medical profession. Therefore, the functions of a nurse are much broader than simply following the instructions and prescriptions of a doctor. They have the primary responsibilities of patient care, disease prevention, health promotion, rehabilitation and relief of suffering. They must be a good leader who owns the makings of a leader, manager, teacher and psychologist. All these factors may, in the future, affect how the profession will develop and determine its direction. This may be, first of all, expanding the powers of nurses and entrusting them with more work than in the past and now.
Simultaneously with positive changes in medicine, the danger to which a person is exposed, falling into the sphere of medical influence, is increasing. With the rapid growth of the population and the spread of poverty among the inhabitants of our planet, the principles of providing medical care remain relevant: efficiency – equality – safety. This is another reason for the high demands placed on the nursing profession. Thus, the mission of nursing is to meet the needs of patients in highly qualified and specialized medical care. These are the main vectors for developing the profession that will be preserved in the future.
Indeed, the history of the formation of nursing is largely due to the personalities of the great innovators of nurses who tried to bring something new. Thanks to them, nursing has become more focused on the person or group of people than on the disease. Thus, it became a separate branch of medicine focused on the care and care of the sick, not specifically on the disease. It is aimed at solving the problems and needs of people, their families and society as a whole, which have arisen or may arise in connection with changes in health.
In the future, a big change in the profession is possible as advances in medicine and technology constantly provide the world with new inventions. For example, many devices can monitor a patient’s condition, such as a pulse and transmit it to a nurse via wireless communication. A few decades ago, humanity could not imagine the emergence of such technologies. The future of this profession may be subject to significant changes due to influences from the past, as some of the research was started long before it could be used. However, every year, development and research brings many methods by which the work of nurses is transformed and facilitated.
Reference
Pfettscher, S. A. (2021). Florence Nightingale: modern nursing. Nursing Theorists and Their Work E-Book, 52.