Nursing as a Profession Stub

Nursing is a medical profession that focuses on assisting people to obtain and maintain optimal health throughout life. Nursing has always been perceived as a women’s profession, however, their has always been a few select men, and that number keeps rising as history continues. The original nurses were said to be nuns, but the term nursing as a profession wasn’t coined until the mid-nineteenth century by Florence Nightingale. Her work first started out during the Crimean War to improve the soldiers’ health conditions. Nightingale later wrote “Notes on Nursing. “ That summarizes the foundations of the, at that time new profession of nursing. Yale is said to be the first nursing school in the United States, which was founded in 1923. Because of Nightingale’s contributions in 1873 Linda Richards became the first trained nurse in the United States. Later, in the early twentieth century the Nurses Registration Act was passed and Ellen Dougherty became the first registered nurse in the United States.
Nursing is defined as the caring relationship between nurse and patient. Their ultimate purpose is to help improve, maintain, or recover health problems and to provide the best life possible for their patients. Nurses are most commonly associated with hospitals, schools, and homes. There are five most commonly know forms of nursing. First is Psychiatric nursing, which is the type of nursing that assists people with mental health disorders. Second is learning disability nursing, which is most commonly seen in schools and help in assisting people with learning developmental disabilities. Third is Pediatric nursing, which is the nursing of infant children. Fourth is Geriatric nursing, which is most commonly seen in nursing homes and is an aid to the elderly. Last is the home health nurse, which assists people in their homes.
When Florence Nightingale set the stage for nursing she designed it to be a primarily science and mathematical focused education. The first step to a career as a nurse is to obtain a high school diploma or equivalent. Attending and completing at a college or university is the second step in the education process. Most commonly a bachelor’s degree is obtained in the nursing field and is then followed by a rigorous Registered Nurses’ (RN) exam. Many acts have been passed to ensure nurses are licensed, certified, and ready to bring the ultimate service to the public. A prospective student in the nursing field essentially should be eager to learn and be able to adapt to constant change.