educatonal purpose

The pioneers of nursing are those people like the Alexian Brothers, Walt Whitman, and Dorothea Lynde Dix. A true nurse is a person who has compassion and a sense of responsibility for caring for people in need both physically and psychologically through hard times. They, in my point of view, were just as important in the development of nursing through time as Florence Nigthingale, Elizabeth Neil, Henrietta Edwards, and Alice Magaw. They all shared the most important nursing quality: passion to help.

Florence nightingale was the pioneer in hygienic practices, and proper medication administration; her work lead to the development of applied theory of communicable diseases. At that time, establishing a set of rules for hygiene was a great development; one could compare her to an infection-control nurse of today, with the exception that she was the first to dare introducing this in healthcare. To set a standard for nursing care and practice so widely accepted is a great achievement that she had done.

Elizabeth Neil created the first nurse registration in the world. It is because of her work and dedication to create a body of regulation for nurses that we now have the luxury of being under legislation which provides nurses a standard of practice. This also increases patient safety and in turn benefits patients and the public as a whole.

Henrietta Edwards’ work as a social activist, who amended the British North American Act, was important since it made women count as a person, which in turn increased women’s respect in public. The nursing profession thus greatly benefited from this social advancement and nurses gained respect from doctors and healthcare professionals. With respect comes confidence, and with confidence comes the ability and courage to innovate, learn, and grow in one’s field.