Renaissance Nightingale Impact On Nursing

The history of nursing is very important and the impact that it had on health care profession is fascinating. Nursing is considered to be one of the most regulated and respected professions in the world directed on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may acquire, keep, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Not that long ago during the period sometimes called the dark ages and the period after that the renaissance, more than half of all nursing positions were conducted by men. As times were changing due to certain consequences this so called male dominant occupation gradually developed into a full female occupation mainly during the 1800s (Lundy, 2009). Nursing was most influenced by Christianity with the beginning
Nursing was not considered a respected job historically but Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) a pioneer of public health and the founder of nursing fought very hard to become an exemplary nurse. In 1837 she experienced a divine calling to Christian good works and her journey began. In this paper I will discuss more in detail about the approach to patient care, scope of practice and safety of patients. I will also talk about the great impact of education on nursing practice, including ADN programs, documentation, the public health and the influence of technology on nursing. The one and only person considered to be the mother of nursing is Florence Nightingale due to her being first to describe with clarity the role of nursing. Born in May 12, 1820, in Italy, Florence to British affluent parents. She was raised in England and became well educated. She was fluent in multiple languages and was proficient in mathematics. Her desire to be a nurse was expressed from the
The development of community colleges was implemented after the World War 2 where many other changes in education occurred. Because of the war and the need for nurses in the field to aid the injured, there were not enough Registered Nurses in both the military hospitals and civilian hospitals. And so, the US Congress responded to this crisis by unanimously passing the Nurse Training Act of 1943, also known as the Bolton Act (Britton, K. E., n.d.). This helped to increase the number of nursing students and also the way nurses are viewed today, and brought changes to the education and training. According to North Carolina Nursing History (2011, February 28), “in order to place more nurses into service during the War, the Cadet Nurse Corps decreased the time nurses were in training to 30 months. The Cadet Nurse Corps graduates proved themselves to be clinically effective and professional health care providers.” And this was the basis and the idea that brought the ADN programs. And it was proven that even by shortening the education and training, nurses are still clinically effective. That led to the number of ADN programs in the US to be increased from seven in 1958 to 130 in 1965 to 1,000 in 2007 (Toney, 2009). The ADN program curriculum had a huge impact on the significant roles in patient care. The hospitals that were struggling with nursing shortages did not have to struggle anymore with