Nursing ideologies

Orion81RN · Sep 28, 2017

Are you a student? What are your thoughts before sharing ours?

tayt1378 · Sep 28, 2017

Are you a student? What are your thoughts before sharing ours?

Nope, not a student - I just read an article and curious to know what others thought.

Nursing can be seen as a vocation or 'calling' due to the amount of self sacrifice it entails. The job is physically and mentally demanding, the work schedule can be chaotic, the job duties can be unpleasant and you can find yourself exposed to harmful situations. Nurses put themselves in those situations for the sole reason to help those who are unable to help themselves. If you are a nurse for the money, you have chosen the wrong profession.

Nursing as a profession (and scope of practice) has changed exponentially over the years. Modern day nurses create nursing diagnosis's, and complete complex skills such as initiating IV therapy. Here in Ontario, The College of Nurses has changed the nursing act so that RN's can communicate diagnosis and prescribe medications. Sounds like a professional roll if you ask me.

In terms of custodial care, we certainly see a trend of custodial care being provided by personal support workers or other unregistered aides.

Thanks,

amoLucia · Sep 28, 2017

and the article is ...?

tayt1378 · Sep 28, 2017

Ideologies of Nursing: Their Meanings and Implications

Author: Katherine Williams

Enjoy..

elkpark · Sep 28, 2017

Nursing can be seen as a vocation or 'calling' due to the amount of self sacrifice it entails. The job is physically and mentally demanding, the work schedule can be chaotic, the job duties can be unpleasant and you can find yourself exposed to harmful situations. Nurses put themselves in those situations for the sole reason to help those who are unable to help themselves. If you are a nurse for the money, you have chosen the wrong profession.

There are plenty of other occupations that meet that description that aren't considered "callings" or "vocations." And you will get a lot of pushback here from the idea that a desire to help others is the only acceptable reason to go into nursing and "(I)f you are a nurse for the money, you have chosen the wrong profession." I agree that going into nursing solely for the money, without any interest in other human beings and their concerns, is likely to turn out badly, one way or another, but the idea that nurses are self-sacrificing angels of mercy is 'waaaay out of date.

elkpark · Sep 28, 2017

I can't find the article on Google, but my search did turn up a reference to the article in another book -- and that book was published in 1988. So, the Williams article is pre-1988, which is ancient in the nursing literature (or the literature of any scientific or practice discipline).

chare · Sep 28, 2017

I can't find the article on Google, but my search did turn up a reference to the article in another book -- and that book was published in 1988. So, the Williams article is pre-1988, which is ancient in the nursing literature (or the literature of any scientific or practice discipline).

The article was published in 1974. In addition to Google, I also searched Google Scholar; the only direct result from both searches wass the following PubMed page:

Ideologies of nursing: their meanings and implications. - PubMed - NCBI

ETA: OP, as you have apparently read the article, as you started a thread to discuss it, perhaps you could provide a source?

elkpark · Sep 28, 2017

The article was published in 1974.

Jeez, 1974 is prehistoric. OP, the article is only possibly of interest for historical value. It certainly does not represent or refer to contemporary nursing practice.

Orion81RN · Sep 28, 2017

There are plenty of other occupations that meet that description that aren't considered "callings" or "vocations." And you will get a lot of pushback here from the idea that a desire to help others is the only acceptable reason to go into nursing and "(I)f you are a nurse for the money, you have chosen the wrong profession." I agree that going into nursing solely for the money, without any interest in other human beings and their concerns, is likely to turn out badly, one way or another, but the idea that nurses are self-sacrificing angels of mercy is 'waaaay out of date.

Nuff said

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2017

Nope, not a student - I just read an article and curious to know what others thought.
Nursing can be seen as a vocation or 'calling' due to the amount of self sacrifice it entails. The job is physically and mentally demanding, the work schedule can be chaotic, the job duties can be unpleasant and you can find yourself exposed to harmful situations. Nurses put themselves in those situations for the sole reason to help those who are unable to help themselves. If you are a nurse for the money, you have chosen the wrong profession.
Nursing as a profession (and scope of practice) has changed exponentially over the years. Modern day nurses create nursing diagnosis's, and complete complex skills such as initiating IV therapy. Here in Ontario, The College of Nurses has changed the nursing act so that RN's can communicate diagnosis and prescribe medications. Sounds like a professional roll if you ask me.
In terms of custodial care, we certainly see a trend of custodial care being provided by personal support workers or other unregistered aides.
Thanks,

Bifurcation: a logical fallacy in which two mutually exclusive possibilities are presented as the only possibilities. In this case, the argument is that a nurse is either in the profession for altruistic reasons (right reason), or for financial gain (bad, selfish, money-grubbing reason). In reality, a nurse can have and enjoy both the satisfaction of helping others and earning a solid middle-class wage.