Free Essay Example on Nursing Education: From Pioneers to Future Frontiers

Introduction

The nursing profession over the past decades has undergone many evolutions in the nursing education field, which has improved society's perception of this profession. In previous years, nursing was considered a hobby other than a profession, but with the advancement in technology and skills, the nursing profession has been embraced in the medical field, and now it is the backbone of the medical field.

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Historical Influences on Nursing and Nursing Education

Florence Nightingale Influences

Florence Nightingale is considered the creator of modern nursing in that Florence made many improvements when it came to nursing by recognizing the need for formal nursing education, and this led to her opening up her first nursing school in London, which was science-based (Burton et al., 2019). During this era, nursing was considered as a mere program. It is because the nursing programs were limited in performing necessary skills that were not based on science. The nursing programs involved training, which took one year, but it was later increased to two or three years (Burton et al., 2019). With the increase in civil wars in the 1800s, most of the medical associations encouraged the health facilities to implement nursing education programs in order to increase the number of nurses to manage the soldiers.

Nursing Licensure

The nursing field slowly began to get recognized and gain traction; thus, it became considered as a profession. With the increase in demand and health care needs of the society, which was changing, it forced the nursing field to adapt and embrace changes (Darcy-Mahoney et al., 2020). At this moment in time, the nurses were able to meet the professional health standards that were set. Most of the states embraced and implemented the nursing licensure exam (Darcy-Mahoney et al., 2020). It had an impact on nursing education since it led to an increase in complexity, and thus it led to an increase in nursing knowledge.

Professionalism in Nursing

In the 1950s, 1950s nursing was considered a professional career field. Some of the bodies, for example, the American Nurses Association, recommended that the nursing educational programs need to take four years, but the student can obtain a two-year program only if one wants to acquire the necessary technical skills in nursing (Grypma, 2017). It had a considerable impact on modern education in that for the students to obtain licensure, the students had to obtain a diploma or doctorate level (Grypma, 2017). The ANA still recommended and embraced the advancement in the nursing profession in that the students were allowed to progress in their education and acquire doctoral levels or master's (Darcy-Mahoney et al., 2020). Increasing the educational levels of nurses, will increase the nurses' proficiency in the nursing field by increasing their management skills when it comes to handling patients, hence reducing the patient mortality rate

Hospice Program

Florence Wald launched the hospice care program that provided home-based care to patients with life-threatening diseases while they were at home (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). The hospice-based care program is essential in nursing education since it provides nurses with better skills on how to manage a patient with a critical illness (Grypma, 2017). The Hospice program works by placing the patient in the arms of their loved one as a way of achieving mental well-being other than the usual medical treatment.

The Founding of Nursing Schools

Nursing at first was not considered a profession, and thus, there were no nursing schools formed (Grypma, 2017). In the year 1911, it led to the establishment of nursing schools, for example, the Yale Nursing Schools that provided education to individuals who wanted to acquire nursing degree programs.

Trends that May Impact the Future of Nursing and Nursing Education

Specialization

With the advancement in skills and education among nurses, it has led to an increase in demand for nurses to specialize in specific areas in medicine, for example, psychiatry, gerontology, psychiatry, and obstetrics (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). Through specialization, it enables the nurses to acquire knowledge and become experts in specific areas

Growth of Telehealth

With the advancement in technology, it has led to the development of telehealth, which it aids in increasing the patient's access to medical services through video calls and phone consults or even remote monitoring (Grypma, 2017). Most of the hospitals have advanced in technology and have embraced the use of telehealth services by providing opportunities to the nurses (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). The nurses will be educated on how to use telehealth technologies in a healthcare setting in order to ensure that they achieve health promotion, care, and wellness of the patient.

With the right education, the nurse will be taught how to provide critical care to patients; for example, nurses in rural settings can provide critical care to patients virtually (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). Also, with telehealth services, the patients are given wearable devices that can be of aid to help the nurses monitor one's health.

Online Education for Nurses

Since most of nurses are required by their employers to acquire a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, most of the universities and colleges have expanded their courses by offering nurse's degree programs while they are continuing with their classes this is because most of them are still working in health care settings and are in busy schedules (Grypma, 2017). The future needs to embrace the use of technology to offer nurses online programs, which could easily fit the nurses who are in rural settings and want to enroll in online classes in order to advance their education.

Conclusion

The nursing profession has undergone significant historical changes, which have led to an improvement in nursing education. For example, the building of nursing schools, and the implementation of the licensing exams, have played a significant impact in the nursing field. The advancement in education has led to an increase in the development of nursing programs such as an increase in the years that one is required to study in the nursing profession in order for the nurses to gain better skills such as hospice care to enable one to manage a critically ill patient effectively. In the future, some trends may have a considerable impact on the nursing profession, for example, technological advances such as telehealth that will enable nurses to undergo training and be able to provide virtual medical care to patients, especially patients who live in rural settings. With the advancement in technology, it will make it easier for nurses to acquire more advanced education even if they are continuing with their daily jobs. Through online education, nurses can acquire advanced online programs.

References

Burton, C. W., Williams, J. R., & Anderson, J. (2019). Trauma-informed care education in baccalaureate nursing curricula in the United States. Journal of Forensic Nursing, 15(4), 214-221. https://doi.org/10.1097/jfn.0000000000000263

Darcy-Mahoney, A., Carter, B., Green, K., Mullan, F., & Beard, K. V. (2020). undefined. Journal of Professional Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2020.03.005

Grypma, S. (2017). Historically-informed nursing: The untapped potential of history in nursing education. Quality Advancement in Nursing Education - Avancées en formation infirmière, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1099

Mackey, A., & Bassendowski, S. (2017). The history of evidence-based practice in nursing education and practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(1), 51-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.05.009