Nursing Around the World: What Are the Commonalities and Differences?

Nursing is more than a profession. All around the world, nurses are differently performing a common duty of improving and saving lives. While there have been many reminders to value the services of nurses, the global pandemic was the latest and longstanding reminder. Every country and continent can have variations when it comes to defining the job of a nurse. Amongst all the differing duties, there’s majorly a sense of commonality that keeps nursing a globally recognized force towards making the world a better place to live. Let us briefly share some commonalities and differences in the field of nursing around the world.

Worldwide Commonalities in Nursing

• · Nursing Ethics: Nurses who study nursing courses in Canada or those who study nursing in any part of the world might want to agree that ethical practices followed in the profession of nursing share a common platform, globally. The education might vary in terms of the curriculum but ultimately when it comes to ethics, the learning isn’t different. Every nurse in the world develops skills to practice patient advocacy, compassion, and leadership in addition to other attributes. Nursing colleges in Canada and other nations emphasize enough on making the young graduates understand the importance of ethics, principles, and fundamentals of nursing so that they can practice and be diligent nurses anywhere in the world.
• · Shortage: There’s a common shortage of nurses across the world. The profession of nursing is highly rewarding but along with it comes the stressful work schedule that makes nursing a stressful job. Colleges and universities have begun to offer scholarships to study in Canada so that the students would consider becoming a nurse. Yet, there’s a stigma attached to this profession, which is prevalent worldwide. Adding to the reasons for the shortage of skilled nurses is another fact that registered nurses currently working are soon to retire. To fill in the gap between patients and skilled nurses, there’s an emerging need for young nursing professionals to join the healthcare systems across the world.
• · Aging Population: No country would want to deny that the aging population is on the rise. With the increase in the number of aging people, there comes an increasing demand for skilled nurses. In this context, nursing courses in Canada are accepting more applications from internationally educated nurses who want to study at nursing colleges in Canada. There are various developed countries like Canada, the USA, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia that need more nurses for treating the aging population.

Worldwide Differences in Nursing

• · History of Nursing: Nursing is a globally acclaimed and respected field of work. The reason behind it might be common but the origin of nursing in every country varies. The global history of nursing dates to the year 1800 but since then, every country has found a different origin within its territories.
• · Education Credentials: Every country demands its nursing force to be skilled in a way that is helpful to uplift the healthcare ecosystem. The education credentials of nurses play an important role in addressing the patient care needs of an economy. From certification to doctoral programs in nursing, every country has a range of skills to be acquired by nurses for stepping up the professional ladder. Just as nursing courses in Canada could range from a certificate to graduation, diploma, or even master’s, there are plenty of different academic programs nurses complete depending on the country they want to be a nurse in.
• · Licensing Procedure: Registered Nurses in every country must follow varying procedures to procure their nursing license. For example, after completing nursing courses at nursing colleges in Canada, one must clear the NCLEX-RN examination followed by multiple other steps to secure a nursing license. In India, a nursing student gets the licensure right after they graduate from the BSc program. In the UK, nurses must register with the NMC after clearing the CBT. So, in totality, every country follows different norms and procedures when it comes to the licensing procedure for registered nurses.

The profession of nursing has a blend of versatility, commonality, and uniqueness to it. There might be different ways to care for the patients, but the ultimate objective is to do it in a way that helps in uplifting the graph of health for all.