Key Concepts, Chapter 1, Introduction to Nursing Florence Nightingale elevated the status of nursing to a respected occupation, improved the quality of nursing care, and founded modern nursing education. The American Nurses Association defines nursing as the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities and populations. Nursing’s four broad aims are to promote health, prevent illness, restore health, and facilitate coping with disability or death. To meet these aims, the nurse uses four blended competencies: cognitive, technical, interpersonal, and ethical/legal. More recently, these have been further specified as the Quality and Safety Education for Nursing (QSEN) competencies: patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, quality improvement, safety, evidence-based practice, and informatics. Nursing is recognized as a profession with a unique body of knowledge, service orientation, code of ethics, autonomy, and self-regulation. Educational preparation for nursing practice involves several different types of programs that can lead to licensure as a registered nurse: diploma, associate degree, baccalaureate, and newer alternative routes including entry-level master’s programs, accelerated programs for graduates of nonnursing disciplines, community college--based baccalaureate programs, and RN completion programs for licensed practical nurses and other allied health providers. Graduate programs include master’s degrees, doctor of nursing practice (DNP), doctor of nursing science (DNSc), and PhDs. Nursing controls and guarantees its practice through standards of practice, nurse practice acts and licensure, and the use of the nursing process. Critical challenges to nursing practice in the 21st century include a growing population of hospitalized patients who are older and more acutely ill, increasing health care costs, and the need to stay current with rapid advances in medical knowledge and technology.
