Running head: INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING 1

Introduction to Professional Nursing

Sandra Wambui

Roseman University of Health Sciences

October 11, 2019

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Introduction to Professional Nursing

Introduction

Nursing is more than just a job. Nursing is a profession, a lifelong vocation requiring

extensive education, special knowledge, skill and a commitment to service. Professional nursing

has had many advancements since the 1800s. There have been many influential people who have

pioneered change in the healthcare industry as well as laws and practices that have been put in

place over the years to improve patient care. One of those vital pieces of work was the Nurse

Practice Act which helped outline a nurse’s role. A very influential person who started

pioneering nursing especially in minorities and women was Mary Eliza Mahoney.

Mahoney’s Significance in Healthcare

There are many significant nursing leaders that have impacted modern day nursing. One

of those leaders is Mary Eliza Mahoney. In 1879, Mahoney was the first African American

Woman in the United States to earn a nursing degree (Spring, 2017). After graduating, Mahoney

chose not to work in public nursing due to the prevalent discrimination that was taking place in

Massachusetts at the time. Instead, she chose to work as a private duty nurse where she worked

for many prestigious families that appreciated her professionalism. Although, she was the only

African American nurse in the directory, she quickly gained recognition and developed a

successful career through word of mouth and reviews. Her patient's families were always

astonished by her skills, great care, attentiveness, and professionalism.

Mahoney’s Impact on the Transition of New Nurses into Professional Nursing

Throughout her career, Mahoney sought to remove the barriers of race and gender in the

nursing profession. She also advocated for quality education for African American nurses. As a

result of her success and inspiration, other African American women started making their way
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into the nursing field. By 1899, five other African American women had graduated from the

nursing program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children (Pierce, 2017).

She not only paved the way for African American women, but for other races and

genders to enter the nursing profession. She also advocated for quality education for African

American nurses. As a result of Mahoney's dedication to equality and advancement for

minorities, there are nurses of many backgrounds practicing today. In addition to this, she also

defined professionalism in nursing when there was no Nurse Practice Act to hold nursing

professionals accountable to the care they provided to their patients.

Nurse Practice Act

The Nurse Practice Act (NPA) is a body of law that outlines the requirements to become

a nurse, a nurses’ scope of practice as well as the professional and ethical conducts that all nurses

must adhere to. The NPA functions to protect the society and enforce nurses to uphold a high

ethical standard. Prior to the 19th century, there was no Nurse Practice Act. Nurses had no formal

or standardized educational training and they had no accountability seeing as there was no law

regulating their practices. Due to this, “health care posed a risk of harm to the public if practiced

by professionals who were unprepared or incompetent” (Russell, 2012. P. 36).

In 1903, North Carolina became the first state to establish its own Nurse Practice Act and

shortly after, other states followed. Currently, the Nurse Practice Act contains reasonable laws to

govern a nurse’s scope of practice, the consequences of failure to adhering to these laws and the

educational requirements to become a nurse.

How the Nurse Practice Act Affects Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgement

As detailed as the Nurse Practice Act is, it cannot cover every possible scenario that can

or will happen in a healthcare setting. Therefore, the Nurse Practice Act strongly enforces that all

nursing schools teach critical thinking and clinical judgement as part of their standardized
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curriculum. Critical thinking is the thinking skills a nurse uses when analyzing client issues and

problems. Clinical judgement is informed decisions based on clinical experience and empirical

knowledge. Excellent critical thinking skills are required to make good clinical judgements.

Nurses are faced with decision making situations in patient care every day and each decision

they make, impacts their patients’ outcomes. Nurses are responsible and are held accountable for

their decisions. Without critical thinking, one would likely be unable to determine patient needs,

interpret physician orders and intervene appropriately. Nurses with excellent critical thinking

skills and clinical judgement improve patient outcomes immensely.

Conclusion

Mahoney was a trail blazer for so many nurses of different genders and races. Her

pioneering spirit is recognized for paving the way and inspiring others to serve and care for those

that are in need. Even though she worked in private practice, she became quickly well known for

her professionalism at a time where there was no Nurse Practice Act (NPA) to protect the public

from unsafe and unqualified professionals. Currently the NPA requires nursing students to

acquire the knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary for professional nursing practice by going

through a standardized training at an accredited nursing school. During this training, one learns

critical thinking skills and clinical judgement which includes learning how to interpret, analyze,

evaluate, draw conclusion and explain the situation the patients might be going through so that

one can take the most appropriate action in order to improve patient outcomes.
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References

Pierce, P. M. (2017, October 11). Mary Eliza Mahoney: First African American Nurse [web

blog]. Retrieved from https://ceufast.com/blog/mary-eliza-mahoney

Spring, K. A. (2017). Mary Eliza Mahoney [web blog]. Retrieved from

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mahoney

Russell, K. A. (2012). Nurse Practice Acts Guide and Govern Nursing Practice. Journal of

Nursing Regulation, 3(3), 36–42. doi: 10.1016/s2155-8256(15)30197-6