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Overview
Nursing is the profession of caring for the sick and the convalescent, the disabled and the helpless, of all ages. It is an essential component of health care. The process of restoring patients to normal health depends as much, if not more, on nurses than on doctors or surgeons. Organised training for this professions is said to have originated in Germany in the first half of the nineteenth century and was developed in Britain by the work of Florence Nightingale. During the Crimean War she established standards of scientific, humanitarian care in military hospitals.
Nurses give day-to-day care and carry out routine medical and surgical duties under the supervision of medical staff. It is a demanding career and involves shift duty providing care to these who need it 365 days a year Requiring intelligence, compassion and stamina, this profession rewards one with the privilege of making a 'difference' to people's lives A nurse has to interact always with a lot of people. Nurses' responsibilities, to an extent, are dictated by the work place but the work is essentially that of caring. Patents 'need' of their attention takes precedence over nurses' personal problems and discomforts. Nursing needs selfless service.
Nursing covers a range of jobs that vary widely in terms of levels of functions, of responsibility, professional qualifications required, environment worked in. There is, therefore, scope for people with widely differing aims, interests and abilities.
The profession is in high demand, as the volume of medical care needs goes up. We are looking at ideal figures of nursepatient ratios of 1: 3 or 1:5, which translates in to demands running into a few lakhs in the immediate future. The rapidly developing and expanding health care sector not only in India but also all over the world has created an acute shortage of trained nurses. Employment prospects for trained nurse are, therefore, very good. Massive investment by the government and the private sector with a view to ensuring better quality of health care has created many opportunities for all categories of health care specialists, including nurses.