Nursing Profession Overview

Abstract

Nursing is a profession widely recognized both as the art and science. The main goal and focus of nursing is the care provision, which is the foundation for the theoretical structure of this area of health service. Caring and nursing are united with a practical understanding through a valuable connection between a medical professional and patient. Approaches that are utilized are challenging nurses to maintain the model, art and a high level of care in their everyday practice as the ethical center of their profession.

This requires the application of science and art with the help of academic concepts, scientific studies and researches, intentional devotion to the art of caring as the core of the profession, as well as determined attempts to involve actions of care during all of the nurse-patient contacts. This paper is aimed to approach nursing as both the art and science. This will be performed in order to explore challenges related to caring in nursing.

Nursing: An Art or Science?

The concept that nursing is built on nowadays has existed for thousands of years. As people have been getting infections and sicknesses in the earliest times, the others around them attempted to provide the care and ease their sufferings or somehow release their pain. Nevertheless, nursing was established as a profession that people are familiar with today only around the 1800s. It is considered that the first individual to identify and set nursing apart from other professions in the medical field was Florence Nightingale. She has been a valuable historical figure for decades as this individual drastically transformed and re-created the concept and image of nursing.

Florence Nightingale was able to change not only the opinion of others on this profession, but also change the attitude, with which nurses viewed themselves as medical professionals and functions that they performed. With her contribution, nursing stopped being solely about taking care of sick patients. Instead, it developed and grew into the necessary awareness of patients’ needs and requirements, as well as the performance of every possible action and procedure in order to meet those demands.

In the modern world, the nursing profession is one of the most complex healthcare provision fields (Sheu, 2013). Even at the superficial first impression level, it is possible to determine nursing as an area with a lot of aspects, details, and dimensions. As a complex occurrence, it has both the art and science.

It is possible to overlook the significance of nurses and think of physicians as the primary care providers at a medical institution. It often happens that nursing is not considered a manual labor due to the lack of information that the patients obtain about the profession. The mass media often shows a nurse as a medical professional, who is discontent with his or her salary, who is not a ‘real’ doctor and who wants to become one. It is important to realize that this, quite popular in the past years, image is distorted. In recent decades, the image of a nurse was substantially transformed and modified, creating an image of satisfaction, nobility, and feeling a reward that this vital profession brings to its representatives.

While the main functions of a doctor include but are not limited to the diagnosis, prescription of treatment and medications, as well as the performance of certain complicated surgeries or procedures, everything in-between becomes the responsibility of a nurse. It is clear that nursing is a highly gracious profession as numerous public surveys expose that nurses are among the top trusted and respected medical professionals, regardless of their prior underestimated and distorted image. In the modern medical institution, a nurse is an undeniable member of the team that works for the benefit of the patient.

Despite the already mentioned Florence Nightingale being associated with the profession, there is nothing glamorous or simple about caring for patients in need. This means, that while Florence Nightingale and the historical materials that are connected to her and other historical representatives of the profession expose the art part of this complex profession, in reality, that part is rather superficial. The art of nursing makes caring seem so easy, while the process itself is quite difficult and has a solid educational scientific foundation.

Everyone, who has ever been to any medical institution, knows the functions performed by nurses. They execute necessary procedures – take one’s blood sample, measure blood pressure and pulse. Besides that, depending on the condition of a patient, nurses can provide the support and care in everything that a patient requires. It happens a lot that an individual cannot clean himself, requires a personal hygiene, or cannot move, and that is when nurses step in and do all the necessary work. Even the simplest tasks can become a problem for a patient. In the everyday environment of a hospital or any other care facility, nurses and nursing professionals supply almost all the care provision (Hayes, 2013).

The Science of Nursing

The science is considerably easy to find in nursing, as it probably is the most obvious and logical part of this profession. Although it may seem that nurses do not perform actions as complicated as some doctors do, education is a pivotal part of becoming and being a nurse.

Nurses must obtain a perfect comprehension of medical terms that are utilized in the medical setting every minute (Orem & Taylor, 2011). They have to be aware of the processes that happen in an organism of a human being from anatomy to chemistry and physiology. This means that they have to be able to feel just as confident and obtain the same knowledge on matters of medicine as professional physicians and surgeons.

Nurses also have to be acquainted with all of the procedures that they are required to perform in the medical setting, as well as understand what has to be performed by the physician in order to make the condition of the patient better. The nursing profession requires knowledge and awareness of various symptoms and signs of diseases, side effects and possible outcomes in order to understand what is happening to the patient on each step of the medical care provision. This is necessary to adequately provide the care, procedures and treatment that the individual needs.

Knowledge of the details and scientific foundation is crucial not only for the practice of any nurse but also because patients often ask questions about their condition and are willing to be educated on matters of their own health. Besides being aware about the human organism, nurses also have to possess the pharmaceutical knowledge. They have to learn and be acquainted with the necessary medications and their dosages, and how to apply them for a certain patient. This knowledge can mean the difference between a positive and negative outcome.

As the medical world is constantly progressing and moving forward, it is impossible to learn once and be a good medical professional for the rest of one’s life. Therefore, nurses, just like physicians, have to constantly update their knowledge on medications, policies, procedures, and practices. It is also vital to obtain the knowledge necessary for the utilization of the newest equipment and technologies such as electronic records, databases, and diagnostic equipment. Therefore, it is absolutely clear that nursing obtains a considerable scientific part, which is valuable for the benefit of a patient, and can be considered a science in itself.

The Art of Nursing

In a similar way as nursing can be considered a science, this profession also has an image of being a form of the art. If nurses only obtained the rough data and up-to-date information, there would be no widely discussed complex elements that belong to this profession and make it so vital for patients. It is much more than just the awareness and knowledge of medical scientific data.

Outstanding nurses are never limited to only understanding a patient’s condition through the diagnosis results and papers they receive about the patient and his or her condition (Myrick, Yonge, Billay, & Luhanga, 2011). In fact, in some critical cases, medical professionals have to perform actions so rapidly they only read the most crucial information off the chart, leaving out all the rest. Nursing professionals are much more than that; as they are able to have conversations and develop a connection with the patient, communicate with him or her in a substantially professional and trustworthy manner.

Almost everything that a nurse does is focused and centered on the patient and his or her condition. That is why a profound and thorough communication, as well as a relationship built between the nurse as a medical care provider and a patient, is the key to success in most of the cases presented in the everyday medical practice.

A professional and successful nurse is always highly aware of the environment around the patient. This kind of professional knows the information about the patient not solely from the chart or conversations. The obtained knowledge and experience enable the nurse to analyze any information and derive conclusions that influence his or her every action.

A good nurse is also exceptionally aware of the patients needs. He or she can tell when a patient requires something, when the patient can or cannot handle particular things, and so on. In many ways, the nurse is much more crucial than the physician (Jasmine, 2009). In the eyes of a patient, the nurse is a caregiver, a listener, an advocate, and in many cases, a friend.

This way, it is impossible to say whether the profession of nursing is an art or science (Taylor, Lillis, LeMone, Lynn, 2011). It contains, unites and exists on the foundation created by the symbiosis of both. Without one or the other, the practice of nursing would simply be incomplete.

Nursing is an important profession because of its positive impact on human health. The individual rights, which the Constitution guarantees to people, cannot be enjoyed without a person having proper health. The medical field directly influences the social, political, and economic status of a country. Therefore, the nursing community is significant in the development of families and nations. The preparation of these medical practitioners is also vital for the successful performance of their duties. As a result, there is a huge difference in the level of competencies between the nurses who have associate degree education and those of bachelor’s degree training. These two programs vary in cost, duration of study, course syllabus, and the proficiency of nurses.

Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) Program

ADN is the latest type of education for Registered Nurse (RN) practice. Dr. Mildred Montag was the orchestrator of this model as it was caused the shortage of nurses during World War II (Black, 2014). She was of the view that the death of soldiers was caused by having few nurses because their training period was long. Therefore, her structure of education reduced the studying period to two years. This program is popular because of the ease of the graduates in passing the licensure examinations, the availability of the course in community colleges and nursing schools, affordable tuition fees, and part-time lessons.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree

The program of BSN is a product of the passing of the GI Bill of Rights by Congress (Creasia & Friberg, 2013). This law gave room for many volunteers to train in the nursing profession. The Baccalaureate Degree is offered in Universities and senior tertiary institutions. The duration of the study is five years, during which the students go through intensive theoretical and practical training (Black, 2014). After attaining their degrees, the graduates sit for licensure examinations for enrollment as Registered Nurses. The entry marks for learners of the BSN are slightly higher than those of ADN students are.

Difference in Competencies

The first proficiency difference between Associate Degree and Baccalaureate Degree Nurses is the level of teaching and learning in the curriculums. Professionals, who study through the ADN program, take two years in school, while their peers from the BSN course take four years. The nursing syllabus is set to accommodate both the theory and practical part of professional education. However, Associate Degree caregivers have little time at school since they take part in mostly theoretical work studies during their two-year training at the community colleges. These students only learn the necessary bedside procedures for looking after sick people and controlling minor diseases (Oermann & Gaberson, 2013). Baccalaureate nurses, on the other hand, have adequate education time to participate in practical activities that make up the core elements in therapeutic field. These learners receive a significant exposure to intensive medical processes and treatments.

Health care is a field that requires perfect decision-making skills because it involves the protection of human life. Nurses are assistants to doctors, and they spend much time with patients during their healing periods. Baccalaureate degree caregivers obtain sufficient psychological training at the Universities, and that explains why they are better decision-makers than professionals who only have the Associate Degree Education (Creasia & Friberg, 2013).  BSN nurses make expert choices during their careers in the medical field because of the extensive preparations that they undergo from the qualified and experienced doctors at training institutions. Clinical judgments involve the lives of patients; therefore, it is a difficult task for a specialist who has little practice in matters like that to make correct verdicts.

Managing care of patients and carrying out administrative duties at the same time are vital components of a competent medical expert. Thus, BSN nurses can balance between the tasks of providing health care and coordinating employees in an institution because of their high level of training that involves interactions with doctors, pharmacists, and casual workers. Sick people should be put in a peaceful environment so that their recovery process was fast. At the same time, ADN nurses cannot handle managerial duties because the two years of their training involve much theory with few practical examples. Medical facilities that have Associate Degree Nurses in administrative posts perform poorly if compared to those that are under the management of Baccalaureate professionals (Black, 2014). Teamwork is essential to the achievement of any organization and, thus, many hospitals increase their appointments of BSN experts as group leaders or managers.

Nursing Care Differences between BSN and ADN nurses

Cancer is a dangerous medical condition that affects and kills many people around the world. Patients suffering from this illness go through serious psychological trauma and physical pain. Therefore, they require intense care and support from their families and medical professionals. Thus, a nurse with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing will understand the difficulty that the healing persons face and the level of sustainability that they require. A BSN caregiver will give hope to cancer patients by helping them fight the psychological war that many patients lose and end up succumbing to the illness. The treatment of ill people by BSN nurses involves an intensive psychosomatic program besides the admission of cancer medicines. The Bachelor’s graduate nurses have a professional experience of interacting appropriately with cancer patients by increasing their mental strengths during the healing process.

Associate Degree Nurses, on the contrary, do not have strong persuasive communication capabilities when it comes to dealing with their patients (Oermann & Gaberson, 2013). They lack adequate practical training and exposure to the people who suffer from terminal diseases. These nurses do not give the cancer patient psychological care apart from the admission of medicine. Many of the people suffering from cancer who receive treatment from ADN nurses die too soon because of the lack of appropriate emotional healing process. Cancer is an illness that affects the body and the mind and, therefore, the administration of medicine alone without proper emotional support is not helpful. Hence, many of the employees at hospice and healing hospitals are Bachelor’s Degree graduates and not ADN degree holders.

BSN Nurses Role in Psychological Assistance

BSN nurses play a range of roles in administering healthcare. Thus, they would contribute significantly to help some of the characters of the book. After a lengthy perusal of the book, it is apparent that Micah and Daniela come from troubled backgrounds. Growing within such circumstances does not contribute to a healthy development or living. As demonstrated in case of Micah, his background influences the way he views people. The paper reviews the book, Even Me as it relates to nursing.

Similarly, Daniela occurred in such situation, since neither she can trust people nor she is prepared to enter the institution of marriage (Saint-Vilus, 2014). The two characters can benefit from psychological or mental assistance. The assistance should be focused on helping Micah and Daniela to overcome their fears. Thus, assisting the characters to overcome the psychological trauma would be important. Micah needs counseling or educational help to learn to accept his state. The same help would benefit Daniela to overcome societal biases that women can become successful preachers. Overcoming past rejection and future insecurities are major concerns that BSN nurses should help the characters overcome.

Other characters, such as Claudia, also need psychological help so that she could overcome her superiority attitude which she demonstrates while engaging Micah. Claudia is self-centered and keen on taking advantage of Micah to attain her selfish aspirations. Since BSNs have knowledge on community health, they are well-positioned to address the issues raised above.

Bachelors Degree Registered Nurse and Associates Degree Registered Nurse

The Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) gives students the knowledge and skills required to be competent, as well as accountable nurses in various settings (Egenes, 2009). The nursing program covers patient care simulation, classroom theory, clinical experience, lab skills, among others. It is noted that BSN is more encompassing when compared to the ADN, since the former can handle tasks done by the latter (Egenes, 2009). For instance, while working as nurse educators, BSNs prepare the coming generation of nurses. Similarly, in training communities on health issues, BSNs enhance public awareness about health matters.

Unlike associate-degree or diploma nursing programs, baccalaureate degree nurses (BSN) are prepared to practice within all health-related settings (Egenes, 2009). They include mental health, critical care, public health and outpatient care. Therefore, a BSN nurse has deeper credentials regarding the delivery of care within outpatient centers, private homes, in addition to neighborhood clinics. It is noted that in the latter category of set-ups, the demand for healthcare is increasing owing to the shift from hospital to basic and preventive services across communities.

Assistance to Three Characters

Daniela and Micah are the book’s main characters. However, for the purposes of the current analysis, Claudia is another notable character. It is noted that Daniela came from an abusive family background. Daniela’s father chose to drink due to the economic frustrations, an aspect that eventually contributed to the death of his wife (Saint-Vilus, 2014). The case of Daniela’s family portrays how economic pressures affect life as her father is pressured to cater for the family such that he loses his temper and becomes violent. When an individual faces frustrations, some form of control is necessary. In case of Daniela’s father, it seems that his wife became the receiving object. The father also vents his frustrations at Daniela by asking her to stop wasting time on unnecessary education. He advises her to do practical courses, such as medicine and law. The circumstances that influenced Daniela have made her distrust people and, consequently, she stopped valuing the marriage institution. Besides, aspiring to become a pastor complicates Daniela’s life given that the society only approves of men pastors. As already pointed Daniela has faced resentment. She was fearful and unsure about the future. The father manipulated her emotional/mental instability as he convinced her to enter the nursing profession, owing to its perceived practicality.

The case of Micah demonstrates how dreams can be shattered when a society is not perfectly informed about health matters. As a young boy, Micah was of good health as he ran errands to the delight of his parents. However, things turned for the worst when he lost his eyesight. Micah lost his sight as a result of a retinal disease at a young age. His problems began at the point as he failed to understand why God had let it happen.

Micah’s problem was exacerbated by his parents’ lack of enough support. The case became worse as Micah heard the parents’ plans to prepare Mark to assume the leadership of the coveted Lambert business (Saint-Vilus, 2014). After following the conversation between Anne Lee and Morris (parents), Micah could no longer take further dejection, since he was the rightful heir to the business. Hence, he chose to leave the place forever. From the frustration, Micah managed to move forward and found his own entrepreneurial venture. However, despite enjoying incredible success, he did not manage to gain enough confidence.

Claudia, the lawyer who assists Micah about legal issues, develops interest on the man (Saint-Vilus, 2014). However, it emerges that Claudia believes she is doing Micah a favor by igniting interest in her. The attitude demonstrates that Claudia is internally persuaded to believe that a blind person does not have the attributes to be a partner. It is confirmed when she states to Micah, “I am gone… Let’s see what you can do without me”.

Given the above scenario, psychiatric or psychological assistance is necessary. It is arguable that many years spent in abusive environments have affected the psychological and mental processes of the two main characters (Micah and Daniela). Viewed differently, Daniela and Micah were negatively influenced by their backgrounds. Hence, the two are patients who need help from qualified public health nurses, such as those with BSN qualifications. Similarly, the case of Claudia demands the attention of a BSN nurse because she has a mental problem occasioned by her background. As demonstrated, she believes she can always make things occur the way she prefers as exhibited in her attempts to push Micah into a relationship.

Ethical Dilemmas

Within every professional field, ethics is required to guide the conduct. In practice, ethics border on morality, which is based on doing what is right or wrong. Given that ethical dispositions vary, nurses find themselves in a dilemma regarding how to act within given circumstances. It is noted that nurses work within multicultural settings. In such environments diversity in terms of values, traditions and ways of life presents a major concern for nurses (Bandman & Bandman, 2002). Regarding the book, the culture influences how people view people with disabilities and gender roles. However, as a nurse such variations should not deter the extension of appropriate knowledge to help victims. It is noted that Micah and Daniela are victims of culture. Hence, a nursing professional would be in a dilemma to help them because teaching them on what is right would amount to undermining the community’s culture. In order to overcome the dilemma, sticking to ethical guidelines bordering on service to people irrespective of variations would be critical.

Another dilemma borders on using empirical knowledge or personal belief. Such dilemma occurs when research-based nursing knowledge contradicts culture or religion (Bandman & Bandman, 2002). In current case, counseling Daniela might be counterproductive given that she is deeply involved in the Christian religion, hence she may think that her tribulations are based on the will of God. Besides, the principle of autonomy requires that elderly persons decide on receiving treatment. In such scenario, the next course of action for the nurse is intriguing. To overcome the dilemma, the nurse needs to educate the patient before guiding her through the counseling process.

BSNs’ Roles

One of the useful approaches to understanding the role of BSN is to interrogate the duties played by RNs. RNs focus on working within a hospital set-up for the larger part of their careers (Lundy, 2014). RNs handle tasks, such as recording patients’ symptoms, operating medical equipment, educating patients about diseases and working as part of medical teams. Working in such environments allows the nurse to gain experience on life-or-death circumstances, which is valuable within the nursing profession. However, training to earn a BSN degree allows an individual to work beyond a hospital environment. More often, BSNs work as educators of nurses or communities about major health issues. Thus, BSNs work as public health nurses.

Globally, the baccalaureate nursing degree curriculum has expanded to include clinical, scientific and decision-making, patient education, preparations in community health, development of humanistic skills, nursing leadership and management (Lundy, 2014). The enhancement of the above skills is highly essential given that nowadays nurses need to take swift and sometimes life-threatening decisions besides being required to develop a comprehensive plan about nursing care. In addition, nurses need to understand patients’ symptoms or danger signs, master emerging technology, supervise and support lower-rank nursing personnel, extend patients guidance and education on health and appropriate lifestyles.

To increase the knowledge about the role of baccalaureate degree nurses, it is observed that such professionals are being tasked with differentiated roles compared to other RNs (Lundy, 2014). In such developments, besides BSN nurses offering more complex care and patient education, they also design and guide comprehensive nursing care plans that extend through the length a patient stays at a health facility. In the endeavor, the BSNs supervise physicians, nurse aides, unlicensed personnel, other hospital personnel and family members. On the contrary, associate degree nurses carry out less complex roles within a

Conclusion

The different levels and types of educations that professions go through in their training are important and they are a reflection of their contribution to society. Regardless of the nursing program that an individual attends, the primary goal is to provide health services to the public, saving as many lives as possible. Therefore, it is appropriate that all the nursing courses subject their learners to equal intensive learning and practical activities for the benefit of their patients.