NR 393 Week 6 Discussion Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing
NR 393 Week 6 Discussion Reflection on 19th and 20th-Century Nursing
Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing
Purpose:
The purpose of this reflection is for learners to reflect on 19th and/or 20th century nurses and events and how one of these will best guide the student’s current practice.
Course Outcomes:
This reflection enables the student to meet the following course outcome:
CO2: Apply lessons from nursing history to today’s professional nursing practice. (PO4)
Directions:
Reflection is an activity that involves your deep thought into your own experiences related to the concepts of the week. Answers should be detailed.
Use the rubric on this page as you compose your answers.
Scholarly sources are NOT required for this reflection.
Discussion
Reflect on 19th and 20th century nurses and events discussed this week. Which nurse or event from that time period will best guide your current professional nursing practice? Why?
The nurses from the 20th century will best guide my professional practices because their moral behavior was satisfactory to both the patients and the management. Nurses in the 19th century were lower class level women who were not trained and gave themselves the head nurses’ position and put themselves in charge of the critical patients (Helmstadter, 2008). They lacked moral character, such as being kind to the patients. The nurses are paid a full salary without work experience, but they involved themselves with some less critical nursing care such as making beds, cleaning the weaker patients, and helping them. The nurses had to find and pay substitutes by themselves because they had no paid time off.
The 20th-century nurses were well trained, came from the middle class, were highly disciplined, made sure they had well attended to their patients, did their work with passion, kind to their patients, humbly communicated them, and used the correct language to their patients (Amadeo, 2008). They have trained matrons who are maintaining adequate discipline and see them providing exemplary patient care. Nurses in the 20th century are kind where they are mindful. They are in the position to listen to their patients, encourage them, be respectful even when faced with demanding patients, and deal with patients’ fearful or anxious feelings.
Nurses should develop self-awareness, which is beneficial to their professional level and personal. Mindful awareness includes their unsolved emotional stress, mainly through conscious awareness. However, many nurses have difficulty dealing with dying patients, witnessing patients suffer, and their families. It will improve the relationship between the patients and nurses.
References
Amadeo, C. A. (2008). A correlational study of servant leadership and registered nurse job satisfaction in acute health-care settings (Doctoral dissertation, University of Phoenix).
Helmstadter, C. (2008). Authority and leadership: The evolution of nursing management in 19th century teaching hospitals. (n.d.). Journal of Nursing Management 16, 4–13
Out of all of these nurses, I have to pick Clara Barton given my current situation to reflect upon. I lost my apartment due to a fire. Thanks to Clara Barton creating the American Red Cross, I was able to use some of their services almost immediately.
The Red Cross is a huge organization. I had a fire which displaced my family. I was provided a two night hotel stay, a debit card for immediate use for food and clothing if needed, a mental health counselor who checked on each of my family members, a nurse who would help with replacing medications and medical equipment. They also had a case worker who sent links for housing opportunities. Due to this situation and how quickly they provided assistance, I would like to give my time to the Red Cross as well as a volunteer nurse.
ALSO READ:
NR 393 Nursing History Week 6 Assignment Course Project Phase 3: Reflection Paper
NR 393 Nursing History Week 6 Discussion Reflection on 19th and 20th Century Nursing
NR 393 Nursing History Week 7 Discussion Impact in the 21st Century
NR 393 Nursing History Week 8 Discussion From the Past to the Future
The founding of the Red Cross has helped my family in our time of disaster/need.
I also want to reflect on Mary Mahoney as she brought diversity to nursing. I cannot imagine anything other than diversity in health care. I have always enjoyed befriending and working with people who bring variety in experience and culture to the table. I thank her for her resilience back when she was told she was too dark skinned to help wounded soldiers alongside Florence and made it work anyway! Had she not been so bold, I wonder what nursing would look like today.
Nurse Richards also makes me thankful for including men and women alike in nursing – everyone is needed in nursing and discrimination is unhelpful and disgusting.
During the 19th century, there was a lot of great works from pioneer nurses who had limited education but did an extraordinary job of caring for the patients. One of them is Mary Ann Bickerdyke who was an untrained nurse who worked for the Union Army in the Civil War. The Superb provision of care of the soldiers earned her the title of “Mother” (Judd, 2015). After her unsuccessful venture into the higher institutions in Oberlin, Bickerdyke decided to become a nurse. In 1837 she assisted doctors in the cholera outbreak in Cincinnati, Ohio (Ohiohistorycentral.org). She established a hospital for Union soldiers in Cairo, Illinois, during the American Civil War & thereafter she established three hundred more union hospitals to help wounded & sick soldiers. Upon her arrival at the base, she was so appalled by the conditions that she refused to leave. Without official permission, she began to clean wounds, improve sanitation & cook nutritious meals (Nursing-theory.org). Due to her resilience, she was appointed matron of the hospital by General Grant & in 1862 a sanitary field agent (Nursing-theory.org). As a matron, she oversaw not only nursing but also cooking, cleaning & securing supplies. She was so dedicated that she will use a lantern to search for wounded soldiers after nightfall. She was an advocate for the soldiers by talking about the struggles & their difficulty they face health-wise, thereby soliciting funds from the civilian population. She did not only advocate for the soldiers, but the nurses as well by helping over three hundred female nurses secure their pension. She also helped the veterans begin new lives, obtained free transportation for them & continue to advocate for them (Ohiohistorycentral.org). She stayed on as an army nurse until she retired in March 1866.
The nursing care that we provide to our patients must fit with or have beneficial meaning and health outcomes for people of different or similar cultural backgrounds which made realize the importance of proving holistic care to the promotion of wellbeing or health of the patient, and according to the World Health Organization, health is defined as the complete state of physical, mental, social well-being and not merely an absence of a disease or an infirmity. Providing culturally sensitive care is essential in ensuring that we are proving holistic care and at the same time it is one way of showing respect to our patients.
In today’s nursing, Due to the education and improvement in the health care system nursing is seriously moving forward. Nursing has improved greatly by nurses doing more for patients and going far and beyond to advocate for patients and render holistic care to patients. This practice has been guiding my day-to-day practice in the nursing profession. I go far and beyond for my client, work together with the health care team to render care to patients. This has been helping my day to day activities by doing all I can in my capacity to advocate for the wellbeing of my patient and making the patient comfortable. All these practices and values are still carried on till today.
References:
Judd, D., & Sitzman, K. (2014). A History of American nursing: Trends and eras (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett
http://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Mary_Ann_Bickerdyke. Retrieved March, 2017
Thank you for your response – and I couldn’t agree more. Your example of the surgeon and not washing his hands reminds me of a MythBusters episode I had seen, with a similar experiment and outcome. It still amazes me that a mindless act of washing and/or sanitizing our hands between each patient isn’t a practice that has always been. With covid being a new virus, you would think that more people would understand the point of washing hands and keeping clean – and it amazes me the lack of public education when it comes to this! I can’t say how often I see people using gloves and contaminate everything they touch because they don’t change the gloves and wash their hands between contact with others. I’ve actually caught doctors putting on a set of gloves, and using sanitizer as they exit the room – but keeping the gloves ON!! I was absolutely dumbfounded when I saw that. Of course, the excuse was “it’s easier than changing my gloves between each patient”, but we talked and the situation was resolved.
The basics of PPE and cleanliness is really important to help prevent the spread of pathogens, especially with the fear around Covid-19. I make it a personal, daily goal, to watch my staff and ensure that the utmost cleanliness is being upheld. We know the simple act of sanitizing and/or washing your hands between each patient, or even procedures, can drastically reduce the number of preventable infections. I make sure that I do my best to lead by example, and teach at every chance I get!