Assignment 1, Discussion post 1 and 2

Assignment:   Building the Profession of Nursing
Write a 1000-1500 word APA paper addressing each of the following points. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each bullet point. There should be two main sections, one for each bullet below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) sources using citations in your essay. Make sure to cite using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page in correct APA do not count towards the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment.
 
Explore the history of nursing and choose two events/topics from history related to nursing (ie education, practices, important people, etc.) and explain each one in detail and why they are important to the nursing profession.Research two professional nursing organizations and discuss the following for each organization chosen:The name of the organization and why this organization is important to nursingWhat resources they provide to membersCost of membership and how many members are part of the organizationCurrent issues the organization is working onFinally, after researching this question answer in detail: Why are Professional Organizations in general important to nursing as a profession?

Discussion post reply 1: 200 words:  How does the public view nursing? The answer to that question is a bit complexed. The image has been shaped in positive and negative ways over the years. Since the very beginning of nursing society has viewed a nurse to be female. Although there were male nurses in the early stages, they were outnumbered and looked over. Even to this day a male nurse is looked at with surprise. This perception of the nurse being feminine keeps men from wanting to become a nurse because of the stigma that male nurses are gay.  This stims from the idea that only women can be nurturing and caring and if a man possesses those characteristics, then he is questionable. Nurses are also viewed as inferior to doctors and that can possibly be credited to Florence Nightingale who depicted nurses as inferior to the physician. They view nurses as those who just assist the doctors in treating the ill and carrying out orders that the doctor has given. They also see nurses as someone who just bandages wounds, maintains patient hygiene and ensuring the welfare of the patient. There is so much more to nursing. To many people nursing is inferior to medicine due to it be closely related to tasks, when all the while, nursing works right alongside medicine.
There is also a misperception of nursing that comes from television series. They never show the true roles of nursing. Most show the physicians doing all the bedside care and the nurse doing very little if anything at all. One image that has been viewed negatively is the type of scrubs that nurses were. The printed scrubs with cartoon characters on them have made some of society take nurses less seriously. Sandy Dumont, who is an image consultant, made the comment “You are the only thing between the patient and death, and you’re covered in cartoons. No wonder you have no authority.” This made many organizations change dress codes for their nurses. This made it easier for patients to identify who the nurses are.
Nurses are now respected and appreciated more than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They put their lives on the front lines to save the general populations. Lots of nurses lost their lives. Nurses have been acknowledged for being the heroes that they truly are for their role in fighting the virus. Lots of nurses have lost their lives due to being on the front lines. In my opinion the collective effort of the nation to give proper respects to nurses only come through times of desperation.

Discussion post 2: 200words:  Nursing , in general, has suffered from stereotyping for a long time. It has been viewed as a female profession. Within health care, nursing focus’ on the care of individuals, families, and communities to maintain optimal health and quality of life. There are several different specialties within nursing such as emergency medicine, surgery, obstetrics, and neonatology just to name a few. Nurses can obtain specialized training to further their knowledge in many fields. Nurses have taken responsibility for their own learning and opportunities. They may use social media as a platform to reach a certain group of people, to obtain their dream job, or to deliver information about nursing within a specialty. Nurses from prior years have helped set the standards for nursing today, however, nursing today is ever changing. Institutions have there own set of protocols and expectations. Some are very regimented, others are more focused on holistic nursing, allowing nurses to be more relaxed with dress codes and how nurses interact with patients and families. As more male nurses enter the nursing field, the stereotype tends to decrease; just as more female doctors enter the medical field, the less they face pressure from their colleagues that are male. Nursing is a wonderful profession to be in. It allows us to be with our patients, get to know them, and develop a care plan that fits the needs of the patient. Doctors may have a relationship with the patients, write the orders, however, we are the ones beside them as they go through everyday growth and setbacks. We carry out the orders, or question them if they don’t seem appropriate for a specific patient, we keep them safe. In nursing, you can take your skill set to never ending places. Advanced nurse practitioners may practice independently, allowing them to focus on the patient experience and outcomes. I take great pride in being a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I not only specialize in NICU, I also specialize in neonatal transport. It is very rewarding and I am always learning new information to help me become a better version of myself. Nurses from early days didn’t have the same advantages as we do today. I appreciate what they did for us, and I also set standards for future nursing by training them and keeping them up to date on new research and education to make sure they set he bar high for the nurses they will one day train. I do not believe in the old saying, “eat your young.” That is not accepted in most institutions today. They want to set  nurse up for success, not failure.