How many nurses out there still had to learn this pledge?? I did when I was in college and I was just wondering if anyone else had had to memorize it too.
Florence Nightingale Pledge
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry, Hospice, Home Health.
how about
...With loyalty I will endeavor to aid other members of the multidisciplinary team....
not sure what to do about the term "purity" and "mischievous". Both terms are outdated in this context.
I love the idea of an updated, modern pledge. Semantics have a lot of power and rewriting this on a national scale could help change the perception of Nursing.
Oh... what do I know.... I JUST PASSED my RN NCLEX last week!!!!
Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.
Congrats on the NCLEX!!! I know it is a very tough exam. I thought that is was a very poignant point to mention how the semantics of the pledge may actually impact how the field of nursing is viewed. I think the medical establishment, or many members of it, view the profession of nursing as subservient and dependent.
Do you think that former theorists like FN contributed to this unknowingly or did she believe women should be subservient to men in general? And now that nursing has transformed into a non subservient and independent profession (though still collaborative with all professionals involved in patient care), how does this pledge fit into the picture?
What do you think is the essence of this pledge? Thanks,
I've heard great things about F.N. but this pledge seems a little subservient to doctors and also to God (the old guy with the white beard up in the sky) and I don't like that!
J
A bit of history to augment appreciation of our profession....
Considering the pervasive subservience of women in the 19th century, the respect earned by Florence Nightingale was a miracle. They hadn't gotten the vote, and hygiene was largely disregarded, as Semelweiss, a Viennese Obstetrician wasn't gaining friends with his insistence that handwashing be done to avoid spreading infection. It would be interesting to know how Ms. Nightingale learned of his teachings from 1850.
Due to her training in mathematics by her father and aunt, she proved statistically that there was lower morbidity and mortality when good hygiene was practised; she invented the "polar" circular map that still is used most to demonstrate results of statistical studies today as "pie" graphs.
She also initiated charting for each patient. Since she was born in Florence, Italy in 1820, and went to the Crimean war in 1854, she was 34 at the time. At that age, with her intelligence, she must have achieved a level of self confidence that inspired respect, and I doubt that she thought she was a hand maiden of physicians. Other women of her time may have thought her pretty radical, and probably put that bit into the pledge to take her down a peg or 2. Belief in God was necessary in those times, so they inserted that, too. Remember that "cleanliness {was} next to Godliness, and that belief in God was synonymous with acceptance.
You know how squeamish some women are today. Can you imagine the horror those of her time felt, at the thought of what she saw and did?
I also was a young fan of hers, after I decided to become a Nurse at the age of 11 and wrote a paper about her when I was 12 (1951). It actually became my goal to emulate her, after I went on my first airplane flight, and found out that I'd have to be a Nurse, in order to follow my true wish, (blush) to become a flight attendant (AKA stewardess). " Coffee, tea, or me" was less attractive, once I learned more about our profession.....:balloons:
There is evidence that FN did not know of Semmelweis and his work. She did correspond with Sir James Simpson, a prominent doctor who held some similar views.
Although Semmelweis is often used as an example of someone who held a widely-doubted belief and who was later proven correct, he brought a ton of it on himself by being generally disagreeable, refusing to publish or publicly defend his findings. Sadly, he is thought to have been beaten to death by staff in an asylum where he was admitted following a nervous breakdown.
All I can contribute for sure about Florence Nightingale is to offer a great read:
Nightingales
The Extraordinary Upbringing and Curious Life of Miss Florence Nightingale
Written by Gillian Gill.
I was very surprised at her introversion, yet she took immediate action upon arriving at the Crimeon War and had a solid-based sense of saving lifes with commen sense practice.
Let me know if anyone else has read this and your views, I'd be happy to hear them!
I don't understand what the flap is over the phrase "aid the physician in his work", why is that considered demeaning and demoralizing? Has the world become so overwhelmed with femi-nazi's that we dare help a MAN!?!
Of course the pledge could be reworded to say "aid in the physicians work", but it's all just a silly matter of semantics. I don't understand why people are so eager to cast tradition out the window. Tradition is wonderful in my opinion especially when it relates to holidays and ceremonies.
We recited the Nightingale Pledge as we light our lamps and it was a very solemn moment, but in contrast, we were allowed to wear "business casual" with a lab coat on top and 1/2 the girls had so much cleavage showing that it was rediculous. I don't want to go back to the days of wearing starched white's and caps at work, but I REALLY wanted to wear white at my pinning and be capped. That's what I grew up invisioning.
As a society we're in danger if we cast off all of our traditions because we'll be blind going forward if we don't keep our past insight.
There is evidence that FN did not know of Semmelweis and his work. She did correspond with Sir James Simpson, a prominent doctor who held some similar views.
Although Semmelweis is often used as an example of someone who held a widely-doubted belief and who was later proven correct, he brought a ton of it on himself by being generally disagreeable, refusing to publish or publicly defend his findings. Sadly, he is thought to have been beaten to death by staff in an asylum where he was admitted following a nervous breakdown.
Shades of the medical profession's resistance when implementation of "Universal/Standard precautions" was first recognized. I was working as an Infection Control Nurse at a "county" hospital in those days (1987). Doctors and hospital administration complained about the expense of glove use, and backed the "Purchasing" department when a stubborn department head refused to get the amount of gloves needed; he also refused to order "sharps" containers, delaying what was "state of the art" procedures. Nurses and Lab phlebotomists (we didn't have the healthcare workers who are trained specifically to do that, a few decades ago) were tearing off the fingers of gloves, in the mistaken belief that it wasn't possible to palpate veins sufficiently, while wearing gloves.
Private hospitals were frightened that admissions would decrease if the public knew "AIDs" patients could be in the next room, and all suspected cases of HIV were shuttled to the county hospital. This actually turned out to be a good thing, as the staffs at those facilities had better familiarity with that disease, and put patient care first. However, the administration of the private hospitals busily denied the incidence of AIDs which delayed identification of the disease. To this day, I would prefer "anonymous" testing, to prevent discovery of it by healthcare insurance companies. However, that interferes with "needlestick" follow up counseling........
The problem of denial, "show me mentalities", and resistance to bad news continues, as it did in Simpson and Semmelweis's times, to the detriment of patients. (I wonder how they'd react to humming "twinkle, twinkle little star" twice while lathering up their hands.....)
I patrolled the halls of all the units, to instill appropriate precautions through correcting those unwilling to utilize it. Not surprisingly, doctors were the most resistant to effect behavioral change through education. In the late '60s, CPR use wasn't refuted, but as the Inservice Coordinator at an acute care hospital, I found again that in the heat of the moment, many mistakes were made (an anaesthesiologist performed compressions just below the clavicle on one occasion). Just as the response to "codes" improved, an officious doctor walked into his patient's room while CPR was in progress, and literally unplugged the defibrillator from the wall, saying "This man is dying of cancer!" At that point in time, DNRs hadn't been considered, much less the patient's permission for that........
There is hope for a better, reaction to change, but don't expect it to be fast! As long as those upon whose shoulders implementing change falls, who understand that a punitive attitude doesn't work, it will happen. It is important to repeat the educational process often and make visual aids for visual learners, teaching to the "weakest" link, success is possible, sooner.
By the way, I'm happy to see the work done in Guelph regarding the history of nursing. I'm from Toronto, and the first historical publication of that was included at Uof T, "(?)____centuries of Canadian Nursing", for my Public Health Nursing diploma.
Also, exclusion of female nurses from autopsies was alive and well in 1961, at Toronto General Hospital. After caring for an adolescent who died of cyatic fibrosis, I had to go to many heads of departments, to get in to her autopsy. I was told that I'd probably faint and no one would stop to get me up! That didn't happen - they did pick me up (just kidding) - I remained conscious throughout the autopsy, and appreciated the education. What a life and career I've had! Sorry for my long responses....
I love Florence and all but I refused to take the pledge on religious grounds ("take no oaths"). My school was a bit flustered by that but got over it. Everybody survived.
People are really still doing caps? My school hasn't had a cap in 40 years.
sharona97, BSN, RN
1,300 Posts
IMO I think it all comes down to dignity and respect for the peatient and your co-workers.