To be a nurse, or not to be, --that is the question. Nursing it is a job, a career, a profession and a way of life. It is all of these and more. Like few other, the profession of nursing offers a wide variety of specialties. From pediatrics to geriatrics, nursing impact is felt across the lifespan. Some specialty areas include burn care, medical telemetry, operating room, endoscopy, research and renal dialysis just to name a sample of the specialties. Nursing was once confined to the bedside, but that is no longer the case. Today, nurses can be found in professional venues never once thought impossible. Nurses influence legislation, change health care delivery systems, write and publish, educate about disease prevention and health promotion, and participate on boards of directors. My influence in the profession is my mother. She has been a registered nurse for 25 years and states, "I come home happy every night even on my worse day. I can't think of another career that would come even close to the rewards and the satisfaction I have experienced." She finds it a fulfilling and enjoyable career. This is why I feel nursing would be a great career choice for me.
Most basic education for registered nurses is provided in three types of programs. The first one is a nursing education that originated in hospital-based programs and it is what we know as the Diploma Program. Florence Nightingale first developed this type of program; these programs were operated by hospitals as "training" schools for nurses, to ensure a source of qualified nurses (Lliffe, Jill pg.1.). Florence Nightingale defined nursing over 100 years ago as "the act of utilizing the environment of the patient to assist him in his recovery." Nightingale considered a clean, well ventilated, and quiet environment essential for recovery. Often considered the first nurse theorist, Nightingale raised the status of nursing through education.