Modern Nursing: How We Got There: Memoir of a Nurse

By Liline St. Louis

I have recently completed an educational book entitled Modern Nursing: How We Got There. The nursing profession has undergone an enormous transformation over the past four decades, and I observed every change as it unfolded during my forty-one-year career as a registered nurse. In this short work, I explore the ancient origins of nursing and explain how what began as a mysterious art steeped in myth and folklore grew into the modern profession that it is today.

I earned my master's degree in nursing in 2007, and I am the published author of New Heart, New Life (Christian Faith Publishing, 2017), which documents the story of my heart transplant and how I went on to continue my career in nursing.

My hope is that this book will help new nurses appreciate more that very demanding but wonderful profession.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886858198

Book preview

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Modern Nursing: How We Got There

Memoir of a Nurse

Liline St. Louis

ISBN 979-8-88685-818-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-88685-819-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Liline St. Louis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Introduction

Early Nursing History

Roles of the Nurse

Background

The Evolution of the Nurses' History

Modern Nursing

Florence Nightingale

Men in Nursing

Nursing before Florence Nightingale

Some of the Most Influential Nurses in History

Evolution of Nursing Education

Evolution of Nursing Uniform

Future of Bedside Nursing

Other Side of the Spectrum

Nursing Shortage

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

References

About the Author

Introduction

I am almost sure that the modern nurse knows everything there is to know about modern nursing, but how many really know how our predecessors fought for us to be where we are today? Ancestors.com become so popular because people are curious to find out everything they can about their family, their ancestors, and the ones who came before them. I was eager to find the origin of nursing history because recognizing changes in nursing is an important part of appreciated modern nursing. All nurses should be familiar with some important people and development in nursing history.

What is nursing?

Nursing is a well-respected medical profession that includes numerous duties and specialties. Wikipedia defines nursing as a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nursing world organization defines nursing: twenty-first-century nursing is the glue that holds a patient's health care journey together. Across the entire patient experience, wherever there is someone in need of care, nurses work tirelessly to identify and protect the needs of the individual.

What exactly do nurses do?

It depends on who you ask. Some people think that nurses care for patients, offer emotional support, and educate the public about health conditions. Some believe that the unique function of nurses in caring for individuals, sick or well, is to assess their response to their health status. In the current health care system, nurses are one of the most trusted health care professionals with a significant role to play in the treatment and medical care of the sick. According to ANA (American Nurses Association), there is no typical answer. Registered nurse (RN) forms the backbone of health care provision in the United States. RNs provide critical health care to the public wherever it is needed.

Nursing: calling, vocation, choice, or profession

Growing up, I often heard that certain occupations were a calling like nurses and teachers. I can see how nursing is a calling because before modern nursing, nuns and monks were nurses, and being a nun is a calling from God. A calling is a deep desire to devote oneself to serving people according to the high values of the task or profession. It can also be a vocation because you need to really want to do it and commit to it. It's hard work. Most American nurses would say that nursing is a profession, and, by definition, nursing is now a profession. A profession is an activity that requires specialized training, knowledge, qualifications, and skills.

For me, nursing is more than a calling or vocation. Choice or profession, it's my life. I worked as a nurse for forty-one years. I retired from nursing six months ago. I did not want to retire because I love what I was doing. Nursing is a very hard profession, physically and mentally, very stressful, but it can be very rewarding. My goal or purpose when I go to work every day is to take care of my patients with my best abilities and knowledge; that's what I strived for every day. I was always passionate about nursing, but after my husband died and my kids graduate college, nursing, after God, became my life.

I planned to retire in 2018, and the more I taught about it, the more I realized I don't know what I would do for the rest of my life. The only thing I am really good at was being a nurse. I said to myself, One more year; that did not happen either. Most of my coworkers left the unit for a better position; we had new nurses, younger nurses. Even though you have more experience, instead of cooperating with you, some of them actually thought they are better than you. I am younger. For some reason, the new group liked me. I was privileged, but I saw what was going on to those who weren't that lucky. I was still active, but I was frustrated more often than I needed to be, and I decided that was time to leave.

Now, what I was doing to do every day? I was sad, getting up every morning with no place to go, nothing really to do, no goal, no motivation, and I wanted to stay active. To make matters worse, a few weeks later, the pandemic hits. It was at that moment that I started thinking, That was a blessing of God that I retired at that exact moment. If not, I would have to leave anyway because I have a compromised immune system due to my antirejection medications, and I could not work with the COVID-19 patients.

I had no hope to work as a nurse in any capacity, even volunteering. I was a volunteer at one hospital, at New Jersey Sharing Network, and during the pandemic, they stopped it. I decided to move on. One day, my daughter was working on her computer, and she said to me, Mom, I found something for you. Harvard University was giving free classes for nurses, one of the classes was, How to take care of COVID-19 patients on a ventilator. Even though I did not need it, I took the class, and four weeks later, I had a certification. Now what?

I love photography, and I received a nice camera as a retirement present. Middlesex County College was giving three series of classes on photography. I signed up. Classes were from March to June, and when I completed the classes, I got my certificate. Now what?

I went back to my previous love, nursing, thinking a lot about nursing, about my career as a nurse, and how nurses today are different from forty years ago. I thought it will be interesting for the new nurses to realize how much nursing has changed over time.

Early Nursing History

From Ancient times in most cultures, the care of the sick, infirm, and aged had traditionally been the responsibility of female members of the household or family. There was a great deal of interest in health matters, and most communities developed their own methods of coping with birth, death, and illness. Methods of care were passed by word of mouth, usually