Living Legacy
Add your own contributions to nursing's rich history and promising future

By Katherine Vestal, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
July 15, 2002

There was something special about July 4 this year. It seemed that everyone wanted to remember our country's history and celebrate its endurance, especially as we all work to find meaning in all that we do.

In my small town, hundreds turned out for the Fourth of July parade, an event filled with kids on bikes and the town fire truck. The crowds were the biggest ever and I couldn't help but think that we all wanted to show our patriotism and instill that appreciation in our children.

I feel somewhat the same about nursing's 100-plus-year history. While many would say that the essence of the practice is the same, its methods have changed dramatically. I am always in awe when I watch nurses practice today, with the incredible complexity of knowledge, technology and skills that they must blend with caring in order to deliver nursing care. Likewise, I love the image campaigns that portray nurses as they actually are today: intelligent, well-educated men and women who literally hold people's lives in their hands every day.

Like you, I had a course in school that included a little history, especially about Florence Nightingale. In reality, the history of nursing is rich with heroes and heroines who have added to the fabric of the profession. Many of the great strides in nursing were made in times of crisis. Whether it was a war or a rampant disease or, in some cases, new cures, nursing moved quickly ahead to manage the challenges and, in doing that, added new accountability and responsibilities to the practice.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with several nurse executives in the Chicago area about what was going on in nursing in their institutions. What were they doing to find solutions to practice challenges, the shortage and the need for innovation in the profession? They spoke of new clinical programs initiated by nurses, their efforts to bring creative solutions to the workplace and their progress in retaining professional staff by ensuring a strong learning culture. Most importantly, it appears that their efforts are yielding positive results with much lower turnover rates, higher participation in governance councils and better work environments.

What struck me was that the emphasis on retention was far greater than the focus on recruitment. The ability to retain their nurses enabled them to accomplish goals related to customer service, safety and quality improvement.

That also is a major part of nursing's history. From the days of the Crimean War, when Nightingale found ways to improve care and sanitation, to the present, where we are looking for ways to stem the transmission of HIV across the globe, history is being written. It will be interesting to see what historians will have to say about these times of shortage and change. We should try to project what history will say and ask ourselves what we are doing to contribute to the growth of the profession.

I have always liked being a part of teams and organizations in which great ideas are valued and implemented. That is what excites me about our present. The momentum to move nursing forward and to create great places to work is palpable in most health care organizations. I can feel the energy that is building and it appears that the work to support nurses is paying off. I think we will be proud of what we are doing now to create an even better future.

Like the community and national pride of July 4, we are seeing the pride in nursing played out publicly. I think history will report that through the crises of the shortage, we found many avenues to bring people into nursing and through hard work, we found ways to keep them as positive contributors to the profession.

Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues at www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage.

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