Part 1 Identify two social factors and trends that influenced the development of professional nursing in the United States. Be sure to cite your sources.
Initial post: Each student must post an initial posting of their own that is one paragraph, which is approximately 250 words and includes scholarly references to support the posting. One of the references can be from the texts, or assigned readings. The other reference(s) must be an additional source that you have found that supports your posting. Scholarly, peer reviewed, articles meet this requirement.
Part 2 Responding to posts: Each student must respond a minimum of once during the week. The response(s) must be thoughtful, reference-based and can generate further discussion. The response(s) must be approximately 75 words. Statements such as “I agree” or “great posting” or that are general posts that do not provide additional knowledge and valuable discussion will not count as a posting.
Please respond to the post below: Only 1 source and 1 paragraphs is needed.
Florence Nightingale fulfilling her noblesse oblige with her mother was the stepping stone for Nightingale to pursue and advance nursing. She established the first nursing school in England, emphasizing infection control. This revolutionary framework was used as a foundation for nursing in the US, thus creating nightingale school-modeled schools in America (Black, 2020).
War is one of the many social factors that influenced the development of nursing in America. Wars have been a catalyst for the many changes the nursing field has experienced. For example, after the civil war, the nursing field moves towards licensure. After WWI, congress conferred a rank to military nurses. A wave of advocacy began for nursing training to be part of colleges and universities instead of a hospital-based diploma. Because of WWII, congress decided to finance nursing education because there was a shortage of nurses to care for the wounded. After the war, segregation ended in nursing as well. The war in Vietnam caused nurses to expand the nursing discipline and perform treatments and interventions without the supervision of a physician (Black, 2020).
A second social factor that influenced nursing was the arrival of European immigrants to the US. This influx of immigrants led to the evolution of nursing from only addressing severe health conditions to considering the social structure surrounding those health problems. The Henry Street Settlement was created because of that; through this organization, visiting nurse home visits were offered to address the health needs at the time. “The public health nurses of the Henry Street Settlement were relentless in establishing and achieving broad goals to improve the health of the immigrants who were seeking beer lives in America” (Black, 2020) through this organization, the US was able to have its first school nurse.
Trends that persist in nursing and are visible nowadays are 1) the underrepresentation of male nurses in the nursing profession. “Men still constitute a small minority of the nursing population…schools and other stakeholders have been conservative in their efforts to recruit men.” (Meadus, 2020). 2) A pay gap where male RNs earn more than female RNs, with “an estimated $5148 more per year than their female colleagues” (Black, 2020). 3) An increase in the number of people from other professions applying to nursing programs.
