The days of nurses wearing starched aprons with cotton caps and not a hair out of place, and living in fear of the ward sister and matron are long gone.
Today, the role has changed significantly, with nurses expected to process patient data, carry out research and keep abreast of technological advances. Not only that, but nurses now have to study for a degree to be able to enter the profession.
Current challenges that pepper the healthcare landscape, including an ageing population as well as diminished staffing levels and rising patient demand, also mean nurses do a vastly different job to half a century ago.
How does the role of a nurse differ in the UK from other countries? What can be done to support and develop them? How has their role changed? What does the future hold for nursing?
Join us for a live discussion on Tuesday 24 February from 12-1.30pm to talk about the changing face of nursing.
The live chat is not video or audio-enabled but will take place in the comments section (below). Get in touch via sarah.johnson@theguardian.com or @GdnHealthcare on Twitter. Follow the discussion using the hashtag #Gdnnursing.
Discussion commissioned and controlled by the Guardian, hosted to a brief agreed with the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Funded by the Clinical Research Network
The panel
Janet Davies, director of nursing and service delivery, Royal College of Nursing
Heather Iles-Smith, head of nursing research and innovation, Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust (@hiles_smith)
Susan Hamer, organisational and workforce development director, National Coordinating Centre, NIHR Clinical Research Network
Andrea Shaw, second year student nurse at the University of Nottingham (@annedraya)
Prof Helen McCutcheon, Florence Nightingale faculty of nursing and midwifery, King’s College London
Edna Astbury-Ward, registered nurse and senior lecturer, University of Chester
(@DrEdna)
Andrew Catherall, nursing student, London south bank university (@AndrewCatherall)
The discussion started with the panellists talking about how the role of nursing has changed over the last 50 years
Discussion commissioned and controlled by the Guardian, hosted to a brief agreed with the NIHR Clinical Research Network. Funded by the NIHR Clinical Research Network
Guardian contributor As the population's health care needs have changed so too has the scope of practice for nurses and midwives. This has required a change in the education and training to ensure that nurses and midwives have the knowldge, skills and expertise to take on new and complex roles which they have done well
The panel talked about the face that nurses need a degree to enter the profession
Guardian contributor Research has demonstrated that a well educated nurse workforce leads to better patient outcomes. Nurses qualifying today may still be in the workforce in 2050. I think the more educationally able the workforce is, the better it is for patients and communities.
Guardian contributor I spent many years in Australia where degree prepared nurses have been the norm for more than 25 years so the need to continualy justify why nurses should have a degree has been dealt with, one doesn't hear anybody questioning why a Dr or physio etc should have a degree - considerable research has been done on the nursing workforce and all the data shows that well educated (at least degree prepared) nurses result in better outcomes for patients
Guardian contributor I think there needs to be more clarity about nursing becoming a graduate profession means. I find many people are confused about this. Nurse training is now undergraduate level and leads to a degree on registration. I believe the level of knowledge, the ability to reflect and challenge as well as appreciating the need for our practice to be evidence based is essential for nursing patients today. However the skills developed during the significant amount of the course which is based in practice is key to developing the fundamentals of practice
Should nurses use social media?
There are lots and lots of nurses on social media- if you're on Twitter, I'm sure you've heard of @WeNurses, which is a fabulous network and way to keep up with the profession via the chats they run! I have found Twitter to be amazing for me- it's how I got the opportunity to be on this panel, how I organised my shadowing day with a senior nurse, has enabled me to attend conferences and provided me with many more learning opportunities beyond my course (perhaps too many, need to pick and choose!) I also love being able to chat with lots of different people who work in health and social care, from CEOs and consultants to students, and being able to connect with many people that I would never reach any other way. I think I've said before that Twitter's given me a voice, and being able to use it professionally has given me a lot of confidence.
Guardian contributor I have always found my university supportive , most cases where i have seen nurses get in trouble for social media is not for a blog or for tweeting about nursing, its is mostly about saying inappropriate things on there personal accounts. I think twitter is a great professional and personal toll for nursing, just as good for professional networking as it is for finding support in the lower moments.
The panel offered their thoughts on the future of nursing:
Guardian contributor The future of Nursing is now, nursing has always been and i hope will always be the profession of compassion and the profession of advocacy. What has changed over the last 50 years is how we do it, more than anything i hope that future of nursing is about giving our patients safe, compassionate and effective care through the continued use of evidence and research.
I think what's going on in the community is very interesting at the moment. With the publication of the Five Year Forward View it seems clear the direction of travel is to get many more nurses out into the community, so I think there will be a lot of opportunities and possibly new roles for nurses outside of an acute hospital setting. I think the use of technology will continue to become more and more ubiquitous, and hopefully there will be more nurses involved in research as the all-graduate workforce starts moving into the profession en masse!
Guardian contributor The future for clinical research nursing is really exciting. We are continuing to grow the number of studies and opportunities for patients to engage in research. The variety of work makes it attractive to a diverse range of nurses who we are able to grow and develop. We are seeing a new calibre of leaders emerging, passionate about this speciality.
Guardian contributor Our population will continue to get older, people will require skilled, dedicated professionals to meet their health needs. Nursing will have a key role in promoting health and keeping people well as well as supporting them during times of illness. We will be leading teams and working in many different settings, using technologies we currently can't imagine. Nurses, as ever will rise to the challenge, developing new roles and approaches. Nursing will change again in the next 50 years, but the fundamentals will be the same. And despite all the challenges it will still be a great profession
The need for Nurses today to be highly trained, well educated critical thinkers is a vital requirement enabling them to make complex clinical decisions which 50 years ago would almost certainly have been made by Doctors.