Evolution of Nursing Profession

Nursing Practice Today
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Nursing is one of the most significant professions in healthcare that makes up the majority of the workforce. Nurses are patients' first point of contact and act as patient advocates. The paper explores the evolution of the nursing profession, preparation differences between the ADN and BSN nursing professions, and their scope of practice while also applying the differences in how they would handle a specific client situation and discuss the significance of applying EBP to nursing care. Finally, it incorporates a discussion of how nurses communicate and collaborate with interdisciplinary teams and how this supports more effective patient outcomes.
Explain how nursing practice has changed over time and how this evolution has changed the scope of practice and the approach to treating the individual.
Nursing is an ever-evolving profession that demands the people who work with it to translate and adapt to the environment. The changes in the nursing profession can mainly be attributed to the changing landscape of the healthcare system, changing technologies, and changing population profiles. Initially, nursing homes did not exist; nursing care was provided at homes and through community midwives. Florence Nightingale, in the 1800s, participated in creating a health commission that emphasized hygiene in inpatient care and created the requirement for nurses to have education changing the nursing practice (Silva & Ferreira, 2021). More progress was made toward an evidence-based nursing profession focusing on specialty clinics such as children’s and mental health facilities. The introduction of primary healthcare at the Alma Ata Conference significantly shaped the nursing practice as more emphasis was laid on primary healthcare, making the nurses participate with an equal level of responsibility (Blanco-Fraile et al., 2022). Later, the nursing practice evolved to patient-centered care, where nurses began to focus on each patient's unique needs while considering their cultural background and emotional needs. 21st-century nursing has changed to the improvement of patient care, thanks to technology-aided services such as telehealth and EHR.
Compare the differentiated practice competencies between an associate (ADN) and baccalaureate (BSN) education in nursing. Explain how scope of practice changes between an associate and baccalaureate nurse.
ADN nurse undergoes a 2-year associate degree offered in community colleges, while BSN nurse goes for a 4-year baccalaureate program in senior universities and colleges, though they all sit for the NCLEX-RN licensing examination. The difference between the ADN and BSN nurses mainly lies in differentiated nursing competencies. The ADN nurses receive basic education, which includes theory work, clinical assessment, and patient care. In contrast, BSN nurses receive a wider scope, including primary education, leadership, and critical thinking skills (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2019). As a result of this difference, the scope of their practice is also prone to change as the BSN nurses are more prepared to take up leadership roles. Additionally, with care in hospital setti...