Editor's
Note
Profession or
trade?
It’s
up to nurses to answer the age-old question
Carol Bradley, MSN,
RN, California Editor
October
9, 2000
I hate
to bring up an old, much-debated controversy of whether
nursing is a profession or a technical vocation/trade, but
it does seem to be relevant right now.
Revisiting
this topic may help us be clear and focused on what our
priorities should be during this severe shortage. Now that
we almost have everyone’s attention, we need to be prepared
to answer concisely when asked what nursing needs and what
it will take to solve the nursing shortage. Our answers
to these questions cannot be vague or indecisive.
We must
be clear and focused on what nursing needs right now.
As long
as I have been a nurse, I have strongly supported the idea
that nursing clearly meets the criteria to be considered
a profession, such as law, medicine, architecture, dentistry
and teaching.
However,
I am not sure that is how the public views us, and it is
becoming clear that it is not the way young people choosing
careers view us.
In a
recent national study conducted by JWT Specialized Communications
regarding 1,800 children’s views on nursing as a career,
I was stunned to see nursing compared to "shop"
in the perception of one child. When asked whether she had
considered nursing as a career choice, another teen responded,
"Well, I think my parents expect more from me than
that."
When
reviewing the traditional hallmarks of a "profession,"
I have always concluded that yes, nursing is clearly a profession.
According
to the criteria, a profession:
If we
can all agree that nursing is a profession, then it is clear
we have some work to do to project our professional traits
to others.
There
are several important decisions we can make that can advance
and strengthen nursing’s standing as a profession within
our own eyes, in that of the public and in those considering
nursing as a career.
While
it may seem counter to conventional wisdom, we should use
the spotlight of the nursing shortage to advance evidenced-based
practice (research), revisit and resolve the entry to professional
practice issue and reassert our autonomy in controlling
the practice of nursing.
We cannot
allow our professional significance to be defined by arbitrary
regulation, a union contract or a hospital policy or procedure.
It is up to us to reshape our image into a strong and powerful
professional symbol of a career choice that is intellectually
demanding, exciting and challenging.
This
is not accomplished through third parties. It is up to us.
