We have all been paying attention to the healthcare reform debates going on for the last year or so. All of us have an opinion about what changes should take place and those that should not . It does not matter what form the restructuring takes, the care of the patient will ultimately depend on the care given by nurses. It started with Florence Nightingale’s influence on the care of soldiers in the Crimean War and is still true today.
Nursing education prepares us to be critical thinkers and to know what will bring about the best outcome, through use of research, when dealing with an illness. However, as human beings we know that there is more to helping a client than using the “standards of care”. Having a true interest in the patient’s well-being is what makes the nursing difference. What makes us nurses is the calling that we have to make the patients we meet healthier people, improving their lives and improving the community.This includes the nurses who work in hospitals, clinics, community health, doctors’ offices, long-term care facilities, even families and neighbors who depend on us.
As we enter the 21st Century the method of payment may be changed by the government and the mode of delivery may change, but the fact that patient care is given by nurses, from LPN’s to Advance Practice RN’s, according to their scope of practice will not change. Our focus may change to health promotion and keeping healthy, not only for the individual but for communities as well. Nurses in acute and long-term settings will continue to have an impact on the recovery of patients and their quality of life.
Preparing for the future whatever changes it may bring is up to us . As a nurse educator, I want my students to be ready for that future. Giving them a foundation of good basic knowledge and understanding of science and the art of caring will hopefully start them on the path of lifelong learning. As with everything the science and art of nursing consistently changes.
Mary Anne Crowell RN. MSN.
Associate Dean of Nursing
Mary Anne Crowell is the Associate Dean of Nursing at Beckfield College. She has an A.A.S. in Nursing from Northern Kentucky University, a B.A. in psychology from Thomas More College, and a Master of Science in Nursing from Bellarmine College, Louisville, Ky. She has been at Beckfield for four and a half years. Her main area of nursing is Medical Surgical which she has practiced for 30 years.