How has the nursing world changed over the years?

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Hi there,

Since i have started working in the nursing world i often finding myself thinking about all the changes and advances in medicine i will experience over the course of my career. It is exciting to think of all the possibilities- new surgical tools, a cure for the common cold, a cure for cancer, new technology, life saving drugs, etc. I also work in an ED where we go through an incredible amount of waste from packaging, IV tubing, wasted supplies etc so i often find myself wondering how to incorporate environmentally friendly supplies/ practices into healthcare. So my question is- what are some of the exiting changes you have seen over the course of your careers? Does anyone have any cool stores of how things have drastically changed since they started their nursing journey? And is anyone else bothered by how much waste is produced by the healthcare field !? Thanks!!

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One thing that I remember, I might be a crusty old bat, when nurse/ patient ratios were much larger. I can remember having 12 to 15 patients plus other assessments to complete. I think the Nursing Profession has worked really hard to provide a realistic nurse/patient ratio, at least in the acute care settings. Way to go nursing.

Waste is another situation all together. Everything now days is disposable including scissors; however, I hope it has decreased the amount of infection caused by healthcare. Some kits have so many different things that only half of the content or one item is used and the other items are wasted. One option is to save the unused items and donate to an organization that provides unused supplies to organizations who do not have basic healthcare supplies. Some hospitals have a store room that these items can be placed and the organizations come and pick up at different times. See if your hospital has this available.

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I find nursing to be a gentrifying profession. These past several years I am noticing a bigger emphasis on college degrees, certification in specialties and hear more of my peers talking about NP or CRNA. Maybe because I work in a big university hospital, I see this.

When I graduated 20 years ago, there was more of an assumption that we would be bedside nurses, and the topic of conversation was more about what specialty to get into. We were aware of advance practice nursing, but it was less common in the past.

I also get the impression that nursing school is in bigger demand and harder to get into. It makes sense to me. The job shake-up of the recession and loss of jobs to automation has made nursing more attractive to more people.

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A) telemedicine- what an amazing technological advancement that has so much potential.

B) the role of the nurse manager. I can't think of the right words...I want to say it used to be more clinician based. Now I feel as though managers need more of an MBA to figure the ins and outs of navigating their job.

As far as waste goes...good luck. There is such an emphasis on infection prevention that one-time use products will probably increase. Although I think the Trophon is a pretty cool piece of equipment.

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Specializes in Hematology-oncology.

I'm far from a crusty old bat (although I hope to still be providing bedside patient care in 20 years and earn that title). I graduated from nursing school in 2004, but was a teen volunteer and then nursing assistant from 1995-2004. What I remember most vividly was a smoking room at the first hospital I volunteered at. Patients and staff members alike would sit around, smoke, and visit. Then smoking moved outside. Now it isn't allowed anywhere on the hospital campus.

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