Florence Nightingale, a well-learned female, emerged as the nursing profession’s pioneer, changing the existing views and prejudices by becoming a nurse. She believed that females could use their knowledge and education to better lives and patient care as well as have their independence. This paper aims at discussing and describing the evolution of the nursing profession to date, its mode of conduct, and the differences between associate nurses and Baccalaureate nurses.
Evolution
When the nursing practice started developing, it was not dependent on formal medical training but rather based on gender and the eagerness to do the job. The knowledge was passed from mothers to daughters and was not seen as a respected affair since females were not ranked (Sipes, 2019). Nursing was seen as an extension of the house chores for women as caretakers. The practice has currently changed entirely with extensive training schedules, more varied staff, and a level of stature related to the field. Modern nursing is currently experiencing significant technical changes. Technological advancements provide nurses with an opportunity to learn on virtual models, monitor and administer correct amounts of medicine, and measure body weight (Sipes, 2019). Records of patients are also kept correctly and properly in secure systems, increasing efficiency in tracking and referencing of patients. Therefore, these improvements in the nursing sector have an immense benefit.
Comparison between an Associate and Baccalaureate Nurse
Associate and Baccalaureate trained nurses pass the same national exam, though they are still different in multiple ways. The latter tend to be beneficial to their patients because they are more knowledgeable about health promotion, risk elimination, and disease prevention. They are critical thinkers and can formulate solutions when the need arises to better their patients’ lives. Baccalaureate programs offer greater acquaintance to the nurses as compared to the associate trained nurses. The Baccalaureate programs’ ability to provide more science courses on community health, nursing theory, research and leadership enhances the aptitude of nurses in dealing with various situations (Sipes, 2019). The expanded information in the programs provides the nurse with an excellent comprehension of any matter that may influence the patients and the care they receive. Therefore, the additional courses are vital for any nurse to graduate.
Baccalaureate trained nurses can adjust to conditions more easily than the associate’ prepared specialists. They are primarily trained on putting in more specific care to patients achieving higher levels of wellness and disease prevention (Sipes, 2019). Most of the Baccalaureate nurses opt to advance their careers due to additional management and leadership knowledge. Even though associate trained nurses can get a higher position, it takes them longer than the baccalaureate nurses. In addition to daily procedures, baccalaureates are involved in decision making, management, and even research. Therefore, Baccalaureate trained nurses should have a bigger scope of work as compared to associate nurses.
Patient Care Situation
Nurses tackle various conditions where they are required to offer palliative care. In most cases, their patients are senior citizens incapable of communicating what they require and are mostly unhappy with the service they receive, sometimes refusing to ingest medicine and take their food. Associate nurses in such conditions record and document such instances. However, most of them fail to assess and understand the actual reason for the conduct, although it is entirely expected of their profession because of their educational background. Baccalaureate nurses in the same condition identify the psychological aspects, cultural changes, and even spiritual matters and the care of the patient. Baccalaureate trained nurses’ advocate for spiritual support by involving the patients’ families to ensure better conditions (Sipes, 2019). Hence, Baccalaureate trained nurses have improved social skills, which guide them on when to react to what.
Significance of Applying Evidence-Based Practice to Nursing
The application of EBP to nursing provides nurses with scientific research to enable them to make informed decisions. EBP keeps the nurses updated on new procedures for better patient care and allows for searching for documented medications the fit the conditions enabling them to increase recovery opportunities. EBP is a key element of good quality and safe treatment. The acquired knowledge covers a range from design to methodology and ethical principles that make them fit to practice EBP and apply their findings to patients. Baccalaureate nurses can analyze and solve problems as well as make complex decisions, which are vital skills in implementing EBPs (Sipes, 2019). Therefore, Baccalaureates are the most recommended nurses since they can fully implement the EBP.
How Nurses Communicate and Collaborate with Interdisciplinary Teams
Systematic, precise, and opportune conveying of information is required for excellent health care and is highly related to job contentment. The availability of interdisciplinary communication ensures reduced stress level on the affected people, thus facilitating positive outcomes. Furthermore, it reduces stress on nurses as they are part of a team and hence do not bear the entire responsibility of the health of an individual. Therefore, communication allows achieving improved clinical performance, hence raising efficiency and reducing health care costs.
In conclusion, nursing as a discipline has substantially evolved over the years and is currently at a peak stage. More Baccalaureate prepared nurses should be introduced and trained to ensure better treatment and care of those in their hands. EBP has also helped in the improvement of the nursing services to the patients who really need them at a particular moment in time. Therefore, for the better performance of nurses, better skills and technology should be provided.
Reference
Sipes, C. (2019). Application of nursing informatics: Competencies, skills, decision-making (1st Ed.). Springer Publishing Company.