Who are nurses?

How about a little bit about the history of nursing, starting with Clara Barton and Florence Nightingale. And maybe how the duties have changed over the years. Maybe you can find some kind of statistics about how patients realized it was the nurse that directed most of their care. Maybe about unions, how we are trying to take more control over our working conditions. How about the pride for our nurses who consistently leave their homes and families to help others as in 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, etc. Another thing I find very interesting is that we, as nurses, have to have so many credits each year concerning education on new stuff, while MD's never again have to learn a darn thing about any new thing.....which is quite evident when you find a physician that does things the same way he did 40 years ago, even though we have newer and more effective ways of doing these things. Or the fact that a nurse only looks out for the patient and has NO cares or affiliations with insurance companies or drug companies (which means that nothing else can waiver us or persuade us when we know what a patient really needs). Good luck. I don't know if this is what you were looking for but I hope it helps.

Thanks Jill, that was great input! I love the history of nursing, and the affiliation to only patients. These ideas will really help.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of nursing diagnoses. I do like the idea of addressing the whole spectrum of patient care issues and developing plans of care outside of strictly medical concerns. However, nursing doesn't have a corner on the market there. For example, social workers and case managers also develop whole patient care plans. Meanwhile, many nurses work in settings where they can only cursorily apply the nursing model to their practice, such as in an endoscopy lab or PACU or even a busy med-surg floor.

I have been a nurse for almost 25 years and think it's about time we stood up and asserted our sheer numbers and influenced health care in a more formal way. I digress.....

debra- DON'T digress!

there is a journal,nursing economics, and i bet they have research on pt outcomes related to direct care of rns at the bedside and ratios.

you go girl!

If you're including information on HIV/AIDS, I'd talk about how patient care has changed with the advance in medications. I attended a presentation on this put on by a nursing professor from UCSF. I can forward some information to you if you'd like - PM me your e-mail.