Nursing is a profession where you as a nurse must have a passion to take care of and nurture the patients. Today, the roles of professional nursing include health care provider, client advocate, educator, care coordinator, primary care practitioner, change agent (Katz et al., 2009). However, it was not like this before. The history of nursing has helped the image of professional nursing in the United States. Nurses in the past have struggled and fought for recognition as knowledgeable professionals. Without the efforts and challenging work in the past, it would not be possible for the nurses today to have these opportunities to work as health care provider, care coordinator or primary care practitioner. In nursing history, one lady who made nursing profession come to light was Florence Nightingale. She is also known as “the Lady with the Lamp,” This name was given to her after the Crimean War, where she helped and cared for soldiers with wound sepsis, cholera, dysentery and ‘Crimea fever.’ How she dealt with this situation is a part of British folklore- and deserves another article - but the fact is the ‘lady with lamp’- which she carried on her solitary nightly rounds of the whole hospital, had the mortality down to 2.7% in a few months (Ellis, H. 2020). Nightingale was a caring nurse and a leader. She has written over 150 books and pamphlets and reports on health-related issues (Alexander, 2019). Nightingale had many contributions to nursing professions, some of them were the contributions she made on the reforms in the British Army Medical Corps, using statistics to document health outcomes, and the development of organized training of nurses. Nursing today would not have been like it is, if it were not for the Nightingale's contributions. Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman, Mary Mahoney, Linda Richards are other nurses in history that have helped the image of nursing. The image of nurses is unique to the individual. “How Nurses in the Media Demonstrate Expertise Media,” (2022) contends that the media such as news reports and tv shows have portrayed nurses as trustworthy and caring, however they have tended to paint the profession as one that lacks autonomy and authority. The media shows the doctors to be intelligent and competent but come off as unempathetic. Whereas the nurses are shown as empathetic and kind. However, the viewers idolize doctors over nurses, as doctors are shown to be the protagonist and nurses are shown as the supporting roles. In addition, the media, whether it is a tv show, news report or a movie they have always shown the nurse to be a female. In reality, although most nurses are female, the media must understand that there are male nurses as well and that they are equally educated and have same knowledge as female nurses. Covid-19 pandemic changed the perception of nursing not only in the US, but all around the world. This was the time where nurses were considered to be heroes, not only by the media but the people around the world appreciated nurses. The work and care that the nurses put towards their patients was seen by everyone. Without any hesitation, nurses showed up on the frontlines to provide care for patients. While many people were avoiding situations that could expose them to coronavirus, nurses were willing to remain at the bedside regardless of the risk (Cherry & Jacob, 2023). There was a time where everyone in my community applauded the first responders, especially nurses, by clapping for at least two minutes by their window or balcony and this to me was very special since my sister, who is a nurse herself was working in Elmhurst hospital which was known as covid hospital at that time. I was very proud of my sister and was grateful for all the nurses who worked day and night to care and save lives. Reference Alexander (2019). Biography: Florence Nightingale. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/florence-nightingale Cherry, B., & Jacob, S.R. (2023). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends & Management. Elsevier. Ellis, H. (2020). Florence nightingale: creator of modern nursing and public health pioneer. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 30(5). How Nurses in the Media Demonstrate Expertise. (2022, August). Retrieved from https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/how-nurses-in-the-media-demonstrate-expertise/ Katz, J. R., Carter, C., Bishop, J., & Kravits, S. L. (2009), Keys to nursing success (3rd ed.). Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
