General System Theory And Historical Impact On Nursing Practice

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General Systems Theory and Historical Impact on Nursing Practice The general system theory and history have major impacts on nursing and nursing practice of today. This paper will be discussing the general system theory and the application of that theory. It will also discuss how that theory applies to nursing and nursing practice. This paper will also discuss a historical analysis during the Modern Era and the impact it has on todays nursing. This paper will discuss specific examples from the Modern Era and its influence on todays nursing practice. General System Theory General system theory was a theory proposed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in 1968. This theory is generic and can be applied to many different fields from management to the…show more content…
It is within this aspect that the complex system can be divided into smaller specialized groups. Each of these specialized sections would have their own areas of expertise (Skyttner 2005, p.54). This theory is directly seen in the hospital I work at by the way the hospital floors are organized. You have your specialized staff in the emergency room, intensive care units, surgical floors, medical floors, and psych floors. This also allows for the complex system of the hospital to be subdivided into the parts to make the whole complex system of the…show more content…
While the science and medicine flourished under Cartesian philosophy, nursing took on a limited role where nurses comforted the patient instead of healing the patient (Burkhardt and Nathanial (2014, p. 22). The healing aspect of medicine was seen as a male dominated role performed by doctors of that time. This began to start a hierarchy between nurses and doctors in medicine. People of society believed that it was more important to be cured than it was to be comforted. The suffrage movement and the role of nursing became one of the first few careers that a women could have. This initially helped diminish the belief of hierarchy between nurses and doctors. Florence Nightingale, who is known as the founder of modern nursing, strongly rejected the thought of medicine only being for a curing nature. Nightingale had the belief for nurses to care for both the physical body and the emotions of the patients mind (Burkhardt and Nathanial 2014, p.23). She also fought that women were equal to men and women should have a more important role in medicine. Her historical influence and believes still have impacts on nursing

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