More Than Sisters: International Nurses Day Is Celebrated Around The World

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

More than sisters: International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world

From the 17th century to the present day. MedPortal has collected interesting and important facts about the nursing profession in Russia and abroad.

Photo: Ryan Breeden

Florence Nightingale's legacy

The very name of the profession "nurse" has deep historical roots: in 1617, the French priest Vincent Paul founded the first community of sisters of mercy. He was the first to suggest the phrase "sister of mercy", "elder sister" and pointed out that the community should consist of widows and maidens, who should not be nuns and should not take any permanent vows.

For the first time, the idea of celebrating Nurse Day was announced in 1953, but this international day has been celebrated since 1965. In 1974, the International Council of Nurses decided to celebrate this holiday on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, one of the founders of nursing. Nightingale worked with other sisters of mercy in field hospitals during the Crimean War, where she was able to implement the principles of sanitation and care of the wounded. As a result, in less than six months, the death rate in infirmaries dropped from 42% to 2%. Florence later achieved a complete reorganization of the Army Medical Service and established a nursing training system in the UK.

In 1912, the Florence Nightingale Medal was instituted, which is still the most honorable award for nurses. It is awarded to nurses and health care volunteers for bravery and dedication. The first Nightingale medal in the USSR was received by the participants of the Great Patriotic War: Guard Lieutenant Colonel of Tank Forces Irina Levchenko and surgical nurse Lidiya Savchenko.

Nurses of Nikolai Pirogov

The famous surgeon Nikolai Pirogov made a huge contribution to the creation and popularization of nursing in Russia, and also during the Crimean War. During the Sevastopol defense of 1854, the besieged city was overflowing with wounded, and the surgeon realized that doctors alone could not cope with this. He created the profession of a nurse, which at that time were girls from high society. They volunteered for the nursing service and worked only for food, clothing and shelter.

Later, when foreigners declared Florence Nightingale the organizer of the world's first nursing service, Pirogov wrote that the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Community of Nurses for the Wounded and Sick was established in October 1854, and in November of the same year it was already at the front. He heard about the merits of Miss Nightingale only at the beginning of 1855.

The most numerous category of health workers

Today, nurses are specialists who have received primary medical education and follow the instructions of a doctor or paramedic for patient care.

In every country, nurses constitute the largest category of health workers, since in medical practice a large proportion of medical services are provided exclusively by nursing personnel. Finland has the highest number of nurses: 2,162 per 100,000 people, the lowest in Haiti: 5 per 100,000 people.

Nurses are divided according to the profile of work. So, there is a chief nurse, a senior nurse, a ward (guard) nurse, a procedural nurse, an operating nurse, a district nurse, a dietary nurse who is responsible for medical nutrition. There are also nurses who work at the reception of patients with doctors of narrow specialties.

In Russia, the activities of nurses are regulated not only by legislation, but also by the professional Code of Ethics, which sets out clear moral guidelines for the activities of a nurse.

The doctor's support and hope

The main task of the nurse is to follow the instructions and orders of the doctor. She measures the temperature and pressure, makes dressings, gives injections, vaccinations, helps the doctor during surgical operations and medical procedures, gives medicines, monitors the condition and well-being. At the same time, she cannot independently conduct an examination, make diagnoses and prescribe treatment. In fact, the nurse is the right hand and the main assistant of the doctor who takes on the most difficult work. Literally heavy - according to American studies, the average nurse on duty lifts about 1600 kg, including medical equipment and patients.

In some Western European countries, the maximum nurse shift is 10 hours. This time must not be exceeded, since as the hours of work increase, the risk of medical errors and harm to the health of patients increases.

A nurse is also a sister

Considering that 80% of medical personnel are women, it is not surprising that there are much fewer men among nurses. Initially, there are 60 women in a medical school for 40 men, but in an average Russian hospital a completely different picture is observed: only 6% of the nursing staff are men. Interestingly, the same sex ratio among nursing staff is observed in the United States and Canada.

Officially, the position of "nurse" appeared in Russia not so long ago, and before that there was an entry "nurse" in the work books of nurses.

Hard and thankless work

The salary and working conditions of nurses are one of the most pressing problems of modern health care. In 2019, Russian polyclinics experienced a shortage of 25 thousand doctors and about 130 thousand nurses and paramedics. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this problem has exacerbated. According to Rosstat, the average official salary of mid-level medical personnel is 39.6 thousand rubles. This is about 15% lower than the average Russian salary - 46.6 thousand. In some regions, for example, in the Kostroma and Pskov regions, the republics of Dagestan and Mari El, the average salary of nurses does not exceed 13-15 thousand rubles. According to the May decrees, by 2018, local authorities were supposed to bring the salaries of nurses and paramedics to the average for the region. If such employees have higher education, then their salary should be twice the average. But if we focus on the official data of Rosstat, then only four regions meet the condition: Tyumen, Kaliningrad and Kurgan regions, as well as Altai Territory.