Nursing

In order for one to understand the different institutions of a society entirely, he or she must situate them historically. This means that every institution in a society changes over time and in order for one to grasp the insight and understand the aspects of that institution, he or she must recognize the historical-generational factors that have contributed to these changes. All through history, as one can see through the historical-generational factors, the Nursing Institution has experienced an upward social progression. Along with secondary resources, I was able to research this topic to a greater extent with the help of my sister, Liza, who is currently a registered nurse and also my mother who was a former nurse. These two interviewees allowed for first-hand accounts of how the Nursing Institution has developed throughout history. Some factors in the Nursing Institution that have evolved overtime include the roles of nurses, the demand for nurses, the uniforms and technology in the nursing field, and the respect for nurses. All these factors have simultaneously proven that during the course of history, there has been a positive movement in the Nursing Institution.

Simply taking the visual depiction of a nurse into consideration, one will see a change over the years. When interviewing my mother, who was a nurse in the 1960’s until the late 1980’s, she informed me that when she first became nurse, she was to wear a uniform that consisted of a long white dress, stockings, and a cap with white-laced shoes. Later in her career, during the 70’s, the caps lost importance and the dresses were shorter and seemed to become more fashionable. By the end of her career, the caps were no longer a part of the uniform and hospitals began using “throwaway aprons” instead of the cloth dresses. For a more recent focus, the interview with my sister Liza, who is an active nurse at Hackensack Hospital, informed me that nurses today wear easy to use and easy to clean scrubs....