A Vision for Nursing Profession

A vision for Nursing Profession

Nurses play a vital role in healthcare system, but its contributions are conical and undervalue. According to Pakistan economic survey during the year of 2016 to 2017 shows that the ratio of 1 doctor per 969.8 population and 1 nurse per 2093.9 population. Doctors’ dominancy and nurses are unappreciated and underestimate in most common in health care center of Pakistan. (B. A. Yaqoob. 2020).

Nursing: a noble profession

Nursing is a noble profession. It has a long history of existence. Most of time nursing is linked with women, Women are caring, compassionate and sympathetic in nature. They have history of providing health care to troops during war time. With passage of time the noble act of providing care converted into a profession. Without nurses the concept of care to patient cannot be materialized to reality. However, in 21st century men have been entering in the profession with equal enthusiasm.

Nursing as a combination of science and arts

Nursing is a profession of caring, it is both science and art of handling patients. Nurses use scientific knowledge to provide treatment to sick meanwhile use their art to provide compassion and relieve anxiety of patients. They have important psychological impact on patient’s health by provide them necessary knowledge about the disease and healing process. They are front health provider, according to a national survey nursing profession are ranked frontline health care provider and more trusted and honorable profession for the 17th consecutive year. (Brenan M. 2018).

Nursing in Pakistan

The nursing profession in Pakistan has confronted with many challenges. There are many prejudices of people related to profession. Nurses are discriminated in medical field and do not given enough privileges they deserve. For instance, there is no service structure in nursing. Majority of nurses retired on the same scale they hired at their appointment. Student nurses or novice nurses starts to work in wards during their training life to overcome this shortage of staff nurses. They start to learn with trial-and-error methodology in real environment. Most of the patients in government setup suffer due to these novice nurses.

Work related issues in nursing

There are many other issues such as work-related harassment, on duty abuse, prolong shift duties, legal and ethical liabilities. Nurses are given with so many responsibilities without a proper job description. They also lacked proper platform to support them. According to statistical data percent nurses face harassment about 73% nurses informed violence that includes 53.4% reported physical violence, 57% reported verbal violence, and 26.9% reported sexual violence. (S. R. Jafree. 2017).

Private nursing institutions

There are many private nursing institutions that do not meet the criteria of producing quality nurses. They have been producing thousands of nurses every year without proper skills and knowledge. Most of the institutions has fake registration in Pakistan nursing council nursing regulatory body. These nurses are working in private hospitals, clinics and in backward areas. Their inflow in health department is a threatening. Pakistan nursing council needs to be efficient to make an audit to such institutions and cancel their registration, because these institutions are the reason to reduce the quality of nursing profession.

Role of media

Media has significant role to portray a good image of any profession, but the media has not played a substantial role to advocate nursing as a profession. They always show negative role of nursing profession, but no one restrict them. Most of the people do not consider nursing as equally respectable as other professions.

Way forward

By realizing need of time, the nurses of Pakistan need attention of leadership to pay attention to the demands the nursing profession. Media should also play its role to end stereotypes and prejudices about nursing. Pakistan nursing council must be vibrant to enhance the standard of nursing profession. Government needs to make a proper service structure for nursing to make nurses motivated and committed to their profession and to enhance their professional growth their professional growth. There is need to produce more quality nurses to meet the shortage of nurses.

References:

1. Brenan M. 2018. Nurses again outpace other professions for honesty, ethics. Gallup. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/274673/nurses-continue-rate-highest-honesty-ethics.aspx
2. A. Yaqoob. 2020. A vision for nursing in Pakistan: is the change we need possible. British Journal of Nursing. 
3.  (S. R. Jafree. 2017). Workplace violence against women nurses working in two public sector hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. PubMed.gov. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28343713/

Nabila Anwar, MScN, Agha Khan University, Pakistan