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The Issue on Nursing Profession

The issue on nursing profession


The nursing students who enroll for nursing education in the colleges are informed that they have the capability to serve the society through their professional behavior. However, it is found that the attitude of the public concerning the nursing professionals is not always positive as the people believe that the nursing professionals need to improve their professional talents. In order to improve the public image of the nurses, there is need to improve various nursing areas such as nursing research, autonomy, knowledge, and decision-making skill. By imbibing these different qualities, it is possible for the nurses to improve their image in the eyes of the people.

Newman (1990) has argued that in the nursing profession one can notice difference between theory and practice. The nursing professionals claim that they believe in their professionalism and vehemently defend their position. However, in reality it is found that it is not easy to find perfect professionalism among the nurses. This is due to the fact that most of the nurses are controlled by the external authority which reduces the autonomy of the nursing professionals. This has prevented the nurses from giving direction to their own work. Consequently, they are not able to provide proper service to the patients. In theory, the nurses are expected to possess mission and commitment to the society. However, in practice they are not able to achieve their goals of providing perfect service to the patients. The authority which controls the activities of the nurses plays an important role in assisting the nurses to provide great service to the patients. However, the authorities also can change the nurses. The nurses also need better autonomy to perform their tasks. In the absence of such autonomy, it is not possible for the nurses to achieve their aims. Newman suggests that: "…the fulfillment of a professional role in nursing is largely a myth." (Newman, 1990, p. 49) This article has presented the limitations that are found in the nursing profession. It is not enough if the educators and nurses speak regarding their high values and mission. It is also important that the nursing professionals are provided with necessary incentive to achieve their goals and in order to help the patients who expect better care from the hands of the nurses. However, due to lack of autonomy it becomes impossible for the nurses to achieve their goals of providing ideal health care facility to the patients. This implies that the authorities need to understand these limitations being faced by the nursing professionals and attempt should be made to redress the grievances of the nurses. Although it is not possible to achieve all the goals of establishing nursing professionalism, there is no harm in trying to provide greater autonomy to the nurses. At the same time the authorities need to control the activities of the nurses to maintain balance between nurse's autonomy and better care to the patients. The authorities need to avoid the extremes of excessive autonomy and extreme restriction of the activities of the nurses. Moderate autonomy given to the nurses would go a long way in improving the image of the nursing professionals. The nursing professionals need to be encouraged to maintain constant direct connection with the clients. The authorities need to reduce their tendency to frequently interfere in the activities of the nursing professionals.

Jeanne LeVasseur (1998) has found that Nightingale's vision of nursing was influenced by the ideas of Plato on public service. The nursing professionals are aware of the fact that Nightingale can be considered as representing the ideal nursing professional. It is found that Nightingale was aware of the views of Plato regarding public service and these views were incorporated in Nightingale's conception of nursing. The vision of Nightingale can solve many contemporary problems being faced by the nursing institutions. There are similarities between Nightingale's views on nursing and Plato's views on public service.

Plato's views represented the attempt to establish highest idealism in public service. Plato believed that there is a need to convert talented citizens into important citizens who could take care of the members of the society. In the same way, nursing professionals should be given education so that they could provide greatest care to the patients. The nursing profession is different form medical profession as the former did not evolve due to the establishment of union of the nursing professionals. The nurses possess greatest ideal and the views of Nightingale can provide proper direction to the nursing professionals who seems to be confused in the modern world of competition. The nurses need to remember that Nightingale and other such nurses did not join the profession with the motive of earning money. They had belief in high ideals of providing social service. It is true that in the modern society there are complex problems that Nightingale did not face. However, the nurses also need to remember the highest ideals of Nightingale. The nurses need to sincerely attempt to achieve their goals of joining the nursing profession. The educational institutions need to imbibe the Platonic views on education so that it is possible to convert ordinary citizens into nurses capable of providing efficient service to the members of the society. The nursing professionals need to believe in the principle of holistic care which includes various principles necessary to achieve the goals of the nurses. (LeVesseur 1998)

McBride (1999) has presented a review of the literature pertaining to recent trends in nursing education. The author has been able to find that during the last quarter century there has been increase in the number of people who registered as nursing professionals. This implies that more people are available to provide service to the public. However, during this period along with the growth in the number of nursing students, there was no correspondent growth in the number of faculty. It is important that faculty number is also increased in order to provide proper education to the nursing professionals so that they would be in a position to deal with the challenges that they face in the modern complex society. There have been changes in the technology leading to increased efficiency of the nursing professionals. However, at the same time, the nursing professionals need high quality education in order to master this technology. There has been establishment of new educational institutions such as National Institute of Nursing Research. This shows that there are more opportunities for the nursing professionals to improve their knowledge which helps them to overcome the problems that they encounter in their work place. In the recent years, the idea of nursing on the bedside has been replaced by the idea of nursing at patient's side. The aging population has demanded better service from the nurses. The nursing professionals need to be aware of all these developments in order to assist the members of the society to improve their quality of life. The nurses need to find proper ways to deal with the challenges of the future. (McBride 1999)

It has been argued by Donley and Flaherty that there is a need to clarify various issues such as nursing education and adoption of new technology. Education of the lower level nurses is the major controversy among the nursing professionals. The nurses belonging to various associations have expressed their attempt to put forward often contradictory views which has not helped the nursing profession. Therefore, there is a need to decide the pattern of education that the nurses need to obtain. In the recent years, the nurses have been using modern technology, showing that they have been exhibiting progressive intentions. However, they also need to be provided with advanced training so that they would be able to use latest technology and thereby improve the quality of their service.

There is a need to improve the quality of education given to the entry level nurses. These authors also argue that the nursing professionals need to provide appropriate leadership in order to assist the nurses in transforming themselves so that they would be able to face the challenges of the modern society. The nurses also should be given rewards which can act as incentive that helps them in improving their overall performance. There is also a need to coordinate the views of different nurses belonging to various associations and cadres so that they would be able to provide proper service to the patients. The government needs to respect the voice of the nurses while framing major policy decisions.

There is a need to provide better service to the poor and uninsured patients as it is found that the rich and the insured patients are given greater priority by the nurses.
The above details show that the nurses have been facing various problems which have prevented them from improving their public image. The nurses should sincerely attempt to improve their performance by possessing the high values that were seen in the selfless leaders such as Nightingale. At the same time, attempt should be made to improve the educational standard of the nurses so that they would be able to face the challenges of the modern society. The nurses should be given greater autonomy in order to help them to maintain constant direct contact with the patients. The government needs to include the nurses in the decision-making committees in order to listen to the views of the nursing professionals. Through these different methods, it is possible to remove the limitations of nursing profession and improve the image of the nurses in the eyes of the public.






References

Donley, Rosemary Sr. and Flaherty, Mary Jean Sr. (n.d.). The Future of Professional
Nursing.
LeVesseur, Jeanne. (1998). Plato, Nightingale, and Contemporary Nursing. Image:
Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 30(3): 281-285.
McBride, Angela Barron. (1999). Breakthroughs in Nursing Education: Looking Back,
Looking Forward. Nurse Outlook. 47:114-119.
Newman, Margaret A. (1990). Professionalism: Myth or Reality. In Norma L. Chaska.
(ed.). The Nursing Profession Turning Points. Toronto: The C.V. Mosby
Company.
2135

Posted by: Andrea Louise

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