Nursing has deep social implications. No, we’re not talking about Facebook, Twitter or other social media, but rather nursing’s intrinsic social context. Nursing is responsible to society through its mission to serve the public interest: specifically, the overall health of our society. As healthcare remains a major focus in the United States, nurses are being thrust into societal leadership roles pertaining to our health and healthcare.
In effect, nurses today are being asked not to act as individuals, caring for individual patients…but as a group, with America as their patient. More and more, nurses are being asked to assume leadership roles – especially for the prevention of disease and to enhance patient outcomes.
How Nurses Interact with Society
How do nurses advance change and enhanced healthcare? Our society validates nursing’s core values and ethics through licensure and public affirmation and, in return, nurses provide quality care to all in need, regardless of their social or cultural standing and economic wherewithal. We all have a need for qualified, professional care-givers, and nurses fill that need. By providing the best possible healthcare to the population as a whole, nurses have earned the distinction of being part of one of the country’s most-trusted professions.
With some three million registered nurses in the field, nursing is the largest healthcare profession and the foundation of America’s healthcare workforce. The complexity, size and culture of the healthcare system virtually mandates direct human intervention between patient and care-giver. This is a role nurses not only fill, but are re-educating themselves to fill with a population-based approach. In today’s environment, nurses are developing a more broad-based knowledge in order to keep abreast of healthcare changes, including collaboration with inter-professional teams on a new model of care.
As the backbone of healthcare, a growing number of providers believe nurses should be given positions of greater influence – especially in the areas of quality care, determining health policy planning and management, promoting wellness, and improving efficiency. Since they have the pulse of America’s health, nurses will always be a strong component of how our healthcare is…and should be…administered.
Joining the Nursing Industry
Fortis College and Institute campuses in several states can help you enter the nursing profession through an Associate Degree in Nursing (RN) degree or Practical Nursing and Vocational Nursing diploma programs. There’s also an RN to BSN online program available through affiliated Denver School of Nursing for those seeking an advanced degree in the field. Visit our site for more information, and get started on the path to an amazing career.
