So next month I will celebrate 30 years as a nurse..wow...did I ever think back when I was in school that I would even reach this....30 years....I look at my self and I'm not an old hag or nurse Ratchet...I am a mature women who looks like she isn't even 50 something ....in good health and still going...I have seen many changes in nursing and health care throughout the years....so I am dedicating this blog to changes that I have seen..
Nursing education ...
Then there were diplomas and BSN programs Now Associate Degree and BSN programs and quick transitional programs BSN to MSN....as well as Advance Nursing Programs
Then there white uniforms nursing pins and nursing caps Now no white uniforms no nursing pins no nursing caps but cute scrubs
Then writing in charts med kardex and nursing kardex..Now computerized charting and Bar Code Medication administration
Then team nursing....Now Primary Care nursing or Fax similie
Then pompous Doctors that you would have to stand up when they entered the nurses station and give up your seat..Now Doctors who sit next to you and have Nurse Practitioners or Physician Assistants help with their caseload
Then the most complicated patient on your unit was someone who had a gallbladder removed...Now someone who just had Open Heart surgery
Then no case management no DRG's no social work...Now case management is on the case to get patient out in a timely fashion
Then blood tests xrays Now blood tests DNA testing xrays CAT scans ultrasounds EMG MRI MRA PET scans
Then RN NA LPN now RN NA Health TECh LPN NP CSN PA
Then admitted to the hospital day prior to surgery for perop work up...today come in the day of surgery...same day surgery units go home same day of surgery ...48 hours for childbirth
Then the most serious surgery was a colostomy...now organ transplan
Then ER...now Trauma hospitals Mediquick clinics Triage
Then free standing Psychiatric Hospitals...now mainstreaming Mental health into the community...communtiy home living for mental health...free standing psychiatric hospitals..outpatient treatment for mental illness...
Then everyone was a full code now you can request DNR and have a living will and ask for palliative care and/or hospice care for terminal disease
Then no environmental laws or adaptation for the handicapped now every building and sidewalk/parking lot is adapted for the physically handicapped
There are probably many more changes that have occurred throughout the years...let me know what I have left out
For myself I have grown from a candystripper, nusring student, novice nurse, experienced staff nurse in med/surge/telemetry/rehab, staff development, clinical nurse specialist to a nurse practitioner..In all my dreams of wanting to be a nurse I would have never thought I would be where I am at now....I love what I do...I have certainly gone beyond what my dreams have taken me...I thank my family, my husband and my collegues for helping to get to where I am now...mostly my patients...they believe in me ...I pary daily that I deliver the best care to my patients and stay concientious and consistent in all that I do for them...
