Discuss the difference between a nursing conceptual model and a nursing theory. Select a nursing theory and provide a concise summary of it. Provide an example in nursing practice where the nursing theory you selected would be effective in managing patient care. Topic 3 DQ 1 Nursing History
Currently, nursing is seen as a lucrative profession which involves formal medical education and personal willingness of both genders to pursue it as a career. Historically, this was not the position of nursing reflecting its beginning. In the beginning, nursing was based on a family setting and was seen as the role of women to take care of the sick in a family (Judd & Sitzman, 2014). However, this situation changed by the beginning of the 19th century, which marked the onset of urbanization and the industrialization era. People began building hospitals where they could take care of the sick for those who could not do it themselves. However, the care provided was still not based on professionalism (Egenes, 2017).
The realization of the importance of nursing care necessitated the initiation of nursing courses. Valentine Seaman organized early courses for those interested in nursing in 1798. The early 19th century saw the establishment of the Nurse Charity of Philadelphia, which was founded by Dr. Joseph Warrington. These institutions focused mainly on training women to give childbirth and postpartum care. The outbreak of civil war necessitated the need to diversify nursing care to take care of those who incurred varied injuries. This brought the need to develop more training programs. The ideas of Florence nightingale led to the establishment of three educational programs in 1873 (Judd & Sitzman, 2014).
The first nursing organizations were developed in the 1890s – the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses and the Associated Alumnae of the United States. These two organizations were later renamed the National League of Nursing Education and the American Nurses Association respectively. In 1893, Lilian Wald found the Henry Street Settlement House to provide the impoverished populations on the Lower East Side of New York City with nursing and social services. Moreover, the outbreak of the First and the Second World War demanded the need for more nurses with special skills (Egenes, 2017). Since then, nursing has undergone a series of development and diversification that have currently enabled nurses to be involved in solving health problems and incorporation of the professing into the legislation and education systems.