How Florence Nightingale Changed The Profession Of Nursing

They would or would not preform duties that were needed by patients. Quality healthcare was not being provided by nurses. Other nurses simply preformed in a dangerous manor putting patients at risk. This was a second item which gave nursing a negative image. Florence Nightingale changed the profession of nursing. She made the nursing a more acceptable profession and was able to attract a better quality of women in to the field. Her appearance in nursing was an important event in the history of nursing. During her time the creation of nursing training schools happened. Formal nursing schools in America were first established in 1862 (Judd and Sitzman, 2014). Dr Zakrzewska opened a hospital in New England which had its own nursing training
program. From this time forward, many other nursing education institutes were established. In the late 1900’s nursing education still had a great deal of variation. The length of programs could last as little as 6 weeks or as much as three years (Comer, 2014) Some of these nursing education programs offered certificates or registration after their participants completed their programs. .These programs helped to create a better quality of nurse and create a positive image for nursing. There was still a great need for unified consistent education for nurses. The development of the American Nursing Association (ANA) in 1896 was key in the history of nursing.
The ANA was developed as the first national professional association for nurses. The association was first to work to work with states to create laws intendents to control the nursing practice. In 1950 the ANA adopted the first “code of ethics” for the nursing profession. The view of nurses and quality of the services they provided was greatly improving. The ANA continued to make strides in the field of nursing with the development “standards” and qualifications for nurses. They helped to develop essential principles for education in the nursing practice. They are have established at least seven different sections representing different nursing specialties ensuring the clear role of the different specialties. The ANA works to represent nurses and their ever changing needs. Moreover, they work to ensure there are quality nurses and that nursing is a thought of as a respectable well thought of profession. The vision of the ANA aided states in creating guidelines for nurnses to work under. States were very much influenced by the ANA to develop minimal standards for nurses. This included education requirements and licensure. (ANA
history). Today in all 50 states in the United States as well as District of Columbia and four United States territories a nursing license is required (www.ncsbn.org/about.htm).
This is an important event in nursing history. The National Council of State Board of Nursing is a national organization which works with state organizations. They “provide education, service and research through collaborative-leadership to promote evidence based regulatory excellence for patient safety and public protection.(www.ncsbn.org/about.htm). Each state has a board of nursing. The board of nursing in each states has a purpose of protecting the public by assuring that nurses are competently preforming safe practices. This is achieve by assuring safe standards of care and providing licenses to practice nursing. Licensure of nurse ensures that nurses provide good quality care. Licensure includes education from an approved nursing education program, successful completion of NCLEX exam and in some states you must obtain a criminal background check. It is the responsibility of the licensed nurse to abide by the rules and laws that are set by each
state
`Nursing licensure is a key event in nursing history. The image of nursing and the quality of nursing has changed immensely through the years. Long gone are the nurses that were giving asylum from jail sentence in exchange for a career in nursing and the times that anyone could be a nurse. Many lessons have been learned along the way. Key indivulas such as Florence Nightingale helped to change the perception of nursing. Organizations such as the ANA and The National Council of State Board of Nursing ensures the helps to ensure the rights of nurses as well as protecting patients. Nursing licensure ensures that nurses are well educated, competent and accountable for their actions. They must follow the state nurse practice act’s rules and regulations.