Before anyone embarks or study nursing, one should first of all understand the Genesis of the nursing profession. In the year 1860, a young woman by the name of Florence Nightingale became a pioneer of the nursing profession. She was popularly referred to as the“lady with the lamp” and the “queen of the nurses”. She dedicated most of her life to this chosen carrier to care for the sick and the wounded soldiers during the Crimean War. Her ideas led to the introduction of apprentice model which was an avenue for people to learn skilled nursing. She selected those with upstanding character as potential nurses; she improved the sanitary conditions within patients’ environments, and advocating that nursing education be a life- long process. She was also the found of Florence Nightingale school of nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London where student learn about the care and important of good hygiene and sanitary condition. Many nursing leaders such as Dorothy Dix, Clare Bartan, Harriet Tubman, Lillian Wald, etc, played a major role in shaping the nursing profession ( Creasian and Freiberg, 2001).
One of the most valuable trends that have influenced my nursing practice is nursing advocacy. Florence Nightingale utilized her most outstanding advocacy skills to promote nursing and prove that it is an integral component of health care. Today I use my advocacy skills in many forms. To implement patient’s safety to prevent fall, when a patient needs my help to understand the plan of care, and to make the patient’s voice heard.
Another trend that has an impact in the nursing practice is the establishments of the community health nursing which Lillian Wald were at the fore front during its inception. She saw the unhygienic conditions of the immigrants and transformed their needs into an opportunity for Public Health Nursing. Today many nurses work at Public Health Care