History of Health Care and its Impact on Nursing



History of Health Care and its Impact on Nursing

Introduction

The world of medicine is very dynamic and is changing every minute. The development and the advancement in the technology are bringing a huge change in the field of medicine. From the initial emergence of the health care field, there has been an a continuous evolution and development, many treatments of diseases have been determined that were considered as untreatable. The health industry has flourished as new and advanced technologies are being introduced for the betterment of the individuals' health and wellbeing. With the advancement of the health care, the profession of nursing has also come a long way as compared to what it was a century ago. This paper will discuss the health care history from Nightingale to present, as well as discuss the impact of the health care in the practice of nursing.

Health Care History from Nightingale to Present

Health care in the United States has revolutionized by the introduction of managed and proper care. Used by both public and private, managed care is an alternative to the remuneration of health services. In arrangements of managed care, financing and delivery of health care is provided through contracts with hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, health agencies, home care, and other suppliers (Preker, 2003). The United States has numerous programs financed by public health cover programs. In these programs, the federal government directly does not deliver health care; instead, it provides as a medium of finance, gathering money from taxpayers and conducting it throughout the government to compensate, typically private sector health care suppliers for bringing health care (Burdys, 2011). Presently, the role of government is evident by the percentage share of government spends from its budget on health services. $2.4 trillion was estimated to be spent on health services by the government in 2008 (Whitbeck, 2001).

With the development of the health care the nursing profession has also developed. Nursing is a science that dates from ancient times, for example, in the prehistoric era of primary care were provided by the tribal medicine man or simultaneously performed by its members. These precautions were passed from one generation to another with a repetitive nature of their actions without knowing even that had a scientific basis. However, the nurses or care providers were not considered as respectable profession (Sachs, 2005). The nurses have struggled a lot to gain respect and admiration of the individuals. The history of the nursing profession dates back to ancient times and is associated with the inherent human emotions like empathy, caring, a sense of "love thy neighbor", which at all times forced people to help each other in sorrow and sickness. However, the creation of an independent nursing as a profession was initiated by Florence Nightingale (1820-1910).

Florence Nightingale, the first scholar and the founder of modern nursing, made a revolution in the public mind and in their views on the role and place of the nurse in the health of ...