Nowadays, most patient rooms have computers which nurses use to chart. Most nurses agree that charting on computers saves a lot of time and they have extra time to spend with their patients. Nowadays we have safer medication administration, patient safety monitoring devices, wireless charting devices and so many more. Antibiotics, IV therapy, and administration of blood products became available because of technology (Duhamel, slide 8). Another technology that is very useful is the interactive patient systems. It's basically a digital platform for two-way communication, a patient on bed can press the little call button, which is located on the side of the bed and a nurse will attend the patient immediately. It's so helpful for the patients and this technology was definitely not available in the past. Advanced technology allowed nurses to measure vital signs quickly, record information efficiently, and administer medications properly.
Uniforms have changed from the 1900's and now. In the past, a nurse wore a white dress, stockings, white lace up oxford shoes, and white nursing caps. Only doctors were allowed to wear scrubs. In the 1970's, more changes came to the way nurses dressed, dresses were a little shorter and the caps were beginning to lose importance in some hospitals across the country (Blanche, 5). The caps were officially gone in the 1980's. Nowadays nurses wear scrubs. Some hospitals have a dress code of wearing one colored scrubs and other places you can wear whatever color scrubs you'd like and also style them. Another major change in the nursing profession is education. In the 1900's, nurses were educated in hospitals (okbu.edu). Whoever was a caregiver, basically was a nurse (Weatheford, p1). Also the nurses back then were not really trained, plus there weren't many options. Nowadays, you can be a nurse assistant, vocational nurse, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, and nurse anesthetist.
