Free «Florence Nightingale's Philosophy» Essay

Introduction

Nursing is one of largest professions in medicine. It cares not only for the patients’ physical health conditions but also for their mental and emotional health. The UN’s Millennium Goals are intended to resolve the world’s problems regarding poverty, health, and medical support. Having founded modern nursing, Florence Nightingale stated in her works that the main duty of the nurse is to satisfy patient’s health needs. Therefore, this paper will explore the influence of Nightingale’s legacy on the perception of the Millennium Goals and its application in the nursing practice.

Florence Nightingale's Legacy and Millennium Goals

Florence Nightingale made a great contribution to the development of nursing. She organized her own school to train nurses. In St. Thomas’ hospital in London nurses were trained in evidence-based programs, had the medical practice, and then they took the exams and received the relevant document on graduation (McDonald, 2012, p. 43). Nightingale’s legacy has influenced my perception of the Millennium Goals. According to Nightingale, the main responsibilities of nurses should be aimed at giving care to sick and healthy patients. Therefore, her heritage is depicted in the UN’s Millennium Goals. Not all of the eight goals are connected with nursing practice. However, each of them is directed to help people whether they are sick or healthy (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2015, p. 71). Hence, I strongly believe that Florence Nightingale, in her time, already identified the similar goals for the nurses to conduct (McDonald, 2012, p. 58). Furthermore, the main actions stated in the Millennium Goals could be achieved with the help of Nightingale’s studies. As for me, I do not see a significant difference between Nightingale’s works and goals and the UN’s Goals. Both documents have the same targets and could have the same ways of achieving those objectives in the nursing practice.

The medical practice allows nursing to be one of the largest professions in the world (Cowen & Moorhead, 2014, p. 87). Additionally, it is present in the most needful areas and communities. Therefore, without doubts, nursing could be perceived as a key in reaching the Millennium Goals. From the list of these Goals, three of them could be attained and significantly advanced by the nurses (UN Millennium Project, 2012, p. 69). They include decreasing of the level of the child mortality, fighting against HIV/AIDS, and care and improvement of the maternal health.

Millennium Goals

Decrease of the Level of the Child Mortality

The child mortality is the severe problem in the modern world. Many African countries could not afford providing care to homeless children and orphans. Moreover, even healthy children could get sick and die because of the absence of the medical resources and health workers (Dosey & Keegan, 2012, p. 56). Therefore, I believe that nurses should participate actively and constantly in the health programs aimed at helping children in Africa. Personally, I plan to take a special medical course, which would allow me to go to Africa to reduce child mortality.

Fighting Against HIV/AIDS

Nowadays, many people have HIV/AIDS. Such people require a special medical care. They cannot be treated as common patients because they are able to transfer the disease to the others (Cowen & Moorhead, 2014, p. 103). Therefore, the care provided to the patients with HIV/AIDS demands a special education and knowledge. I am planning to participate in the program which assists people with such diseases. It is work in groups where the nurse is trying to assist the patients in overcoming their depression, helping with the special treatment and medication programs, and explaining possible details of the illness. Moreover, such work also includes meetings with the family of the ill person.

Care and Improvement of the Maternal Health

The issue of the maternal health involves care about the women during pregnancy. Care for conception may include counseling, health promotion, screening, and other procedures for women of reproductive age to reduce the risk factors that may affect future pregnancies (Dosey & Keegan, 2012, p. 70). The goal of prenatal care is to detect potential complications of pregnancy at an early stage and prevent them. The postnatal care includes the issues regarding recovery after childbirth, nursing, and care of the newborn, nutrition, breastfeeding, and family planning (Smith & Parker, 2015, p. 115). In the future,  I want to participate in the programs of the maternal care. I believe that maternal care is the key to the health of the society. Therefore, I will try to explain pregnant women that their health is important not only to them; it is also affecting the health of the unborn child.

Community Participation in Advancing the UN Goals

My community of nurses is also trying to achieve the Millennium Goals. We believe that reaching these targets is the primary aim in the contemporary nursing practice because the UN’s Goals highlight the most dangerous issues of the modern society that should be removed or reduced for the sake of the world’s health. For instance, the community tries to conduct meetings for the patients with HIV/AIDS twice a month. During such appointments, nurses help patients fight the disease. Moreover, healthcare workers provide the emotional support for the patients and their relatives and explain the importance of further treatment. In addition, the nurse community conducts the lessons for the pregnant women who are single. Such lessons are helpful for these women to understand that abortion is not an option. Additionally, nurses are striving to convince pregnant women that they can count on the hospital’s support. Therefore, our community provides discounts for the medical examination for such women.

Conclusion

To conclude, Florence Nightingale’s legacy is widely depicted in the UN’s Millennium Goals. Achieving of these Goals is pivotal for the health state of the whole world and society. The communities of nurses are the keys to reaching the targets presented by the UN. Moreover, the nursing practice makes a significant contribution to the development of Millennium Goals.