Nursing as a Profession, Essay Example

Nursing has failed to attain some of the traits that define a profession because a profession implies “professed attainments in special knowledge as distinguished from mere skill” (Messer, 1914). The author believes that nursing is not a profession because it primarily involves the application of knowledge rather than furthering the medical knowledge that humanity has available. However, it is essential to consider then, the situation of the academic nurse. Today, many nurses are involved in research that does help further the field of medicine. This new role of nurses and medicine creates more of a grey area as to whether nursing should be considered a profession or simply a career.

Many people believe that the mechanical skills a nurse uses on a daily basis are easily to learn, and therefore should not be considered highly specialized. These people believe that only the work of doctors is complex enough that normal people would not be able to learn these skills. However, people that believe this don’t fully comprehend the complex training that nurses must go through before they are allowed to practice their skills. Furthermore, although nurses work under doctors, they are often required to make their own medical decisions when the doctor is not available or if a situation is dire.

Ultimately, even though some people still don’t consider nursing to be a profession, it would then be useful to re-evaluate what we consider a profession. Although nurses aren’t doctors, the medical knowledge and training they acquire parallels this knowledge, and nurses deserve more credit for the lives they save as a result of this expertise.

References

Catalano JT. (2011). Nursing Now: Today’s Issues, Tomorrow’s Trends. FA Davis Company.

Messer MA. (1914). Is Nursing A Profession? The American Journal of Nursing. Retrieved from             http://www.jstor.org/stable/3404530