Evolution of Nursing Practices

Evolution of nursing practices 1
EVOLUTION OF NURSING PRACTICE
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Evolution of nursing practices 1
Introduction
Nursing become secular profession in the 19th century where from earliest time cultures produced
streams of nurses who were dedicated to serve according to religious principles from both
Christendom and Muslims(White, 2014). The term nurse was derived from Latin word "nutrire",
which meant to suckle,and referred to wet nurse. In the 16th century it acquired its todays
meaning, a person who cares for the infirm(White, 2014). Before the foundation of modern
treatment in 19tn century in Europe, catholic nuns and military gave nursing like care to people.
Evolution of nursing care practice over time and resulting changes and scope of practice and
approach to patient care
Nursing today has revolutionized with nursing profession increasing the need for highly trained,
critical thinkers as well as well-educated professionals to enable them to make complex clinical
decisions which was left for doctors in the past 50 years(Rhodes, Radziewicz, Amato, Bowden,
Hazel, McClendon &McNett, 2013). This has been so as a result of changes in the need of health
care population requiring nurses and midwifes to have more education and training in order to
take new and complex roles in their practices(Rhodes et al., 2013). With the development in the
new technology, internet has given more power to patients to voice their health needs and control
their own care in a positive way. Internet has also created an avenue for peer support and nurses
can assist patients to self-manage their long term conditions(Conner &Thielemann, 2013). With
well-educated nurses taking complex roles in clinics, better services are provided to communities
and patients(Conner &Thielemann, 2013).
Comparison of differentiated practice competencies of ADN and BSN

Evolution of nursing practices 1
Traditionally, the role of a registered nurse included educating patients on diseases,supporting
the family,recording patient symptoms, simple nursing care, and medical history and using
simple medical equipment worked in consultation with the doctor(Kumm, Godfrey, Martin,
Tucci, Muenks&Spaeth, 2014). However, today nurses have advanced and can carry even more
complex roles(White, 2014). If a comparison is made between ADN level nurse and BSN nurse,
under doctors’ supervision, BSN unlike ADN will carry out procedures that are more complex
and can also supervise other nurses(Matthias & Kim-Godwin, 2016). This means, with
baccalaureate degree your career path is broader compared to AND(Kumm et al., 2014). The
main advantage of BSN over ADN is that it provides more opportunities for higher pay and
leadership responsibilities(Matthias & Kim-Godwin, 2016). BSN unlike ADN can also give you
an opportunity to move from just being a registered nurse to other ranks like public health nurse
or nurse educator, and any other area of your interest in this field requiring BSN
qualification(Kumm et al., 2014). BSN Nurses are better than ADN because of the elaborate
curriculum and clinical hours required by academic criteria making them more qualified to offer
effective, safe patient care as their training meet the nation’s patients’ nursing needs(Matthias &
Kim-Godwin, 2016). BSN have also more educational experience compared to ADNs.
Application of evidence-based practice and RN-BSN education in nursing care
By 2020, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) wants 90 percent of all healthcare practice to be
evidence-based key to this effort being registered nurses (RNs) withBSN degrees and work in
direct patient care(Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse&Clavelle, 2014).
Some of the EBP includes hand hygiene which can be traced back in 1990s when researchers
recognized hand washing reduces the incidence of disease and infection. They cited a connection