Twenty-first Centry Images of Nurses and Nursing Essay

Twenty-first Centry Images of Nurses and Nursing - Essay Example Effective leaders in the nursing professional also ensure that the nursing education and practices are quality and safe. Effective nursing leadership advocates for an innovative, collaborative, and evidence-based working environment, which assists the nurses in the profession to have value and respect in their position. The nursing profession has evolved over the years, from the initial description of altering the environment to ensure that the patient is in the best condition possible for nature to act upon them. This was the initial description of nursing by Florence Nightingale in the mid 1800s. However, the world has had broad and milestone advances in technology and scientific facts over the past decades, thus the roles of nurses have evolved to those of promoting health, assisting patients to cope with their illnesses, and preventing diseases. The roles of a nurse including meeting some of the needs of a patient that cannot be met by any other member of the society (Summers and Jacobs, 2009). Currently, the nursing career is a helping profession, providing assistance services to the well being and health care of patients. Nonetheless, the nursing profession is expected to evolve even more as we venture into the second decade of the twenty-first century. The nursing stereotypes has also changed with the development of the nursing profession, evolving from a domestic art, a religious calling, a skilled discipline, a pool of expert managers, a pool of expert clinicians to today. The media representation of the nursing professional influences the societal view of nurses and nursing in general, portraying them as toxic to innocuous. Among the representations include the ministering angels taking care of wounded soldiers, the dumb nurses happy to be on the receiving end of patients’ coughs, the saucy nurses wearing their usual abbreviated skirts, pneumatic breasts and frilly hats, and the battleaxe, the queen of patient torture in ward routines. However, experienced and qualified nurses have come forth to present the real images of nursing and the profession, arguing that the media portrays the professionals as background fillers rather than highly skilled, university educated, and autonomous health care specialists responsible for the life and death of patients. These nurses oppose the commonly held notion that technology can replace nursing, presenting facts that back their stand. According to them, a device hooked up to a patient cannot detect some of the subtle changes that may be life threatening to the patient like demeanor, color, state of mind, or their speech (Summers and Jacobs, 2009). The image of nurses and nursing is improving over time, with more regards and appreciation over the importance of the profession. The education and practicing standards of nurses have improved immensely in the twenty-first century, with the curriculum incorporating high-level skills and techniques on health care. In today’s society, nursing is considered as an autonomous and professional, complete with its own theories and methodology. 2. Describe three historical views that influence or have influenced the definition of contemporary nursing as a science, an art, and a practice? Many nurse researchers consider the contemporary nursing profession as a basic science. This is a result of the various nursing theories put forth. Contemporary nursing principles organize the nursing theories in a hierarchical order,