APN history and Beatitudes paper Health, Medicine, Nursing Coursework

APN History and the Beatitudes
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APN History and the Beatitudes
Introduction
The Beatitudes of Jesus as espoused in the Bible book of Mathew 5: 2-12 offers a succinct description of the heavenly life for believers. Apparently, the kingdom of heaven is a place of comfort, acceptance, and satisfaction where God shows His chosen people mercy. In the Beatitudes, Jesus promises great rewards for people who do good while on earth. Some of these people include those poor in spirit, the peacemakers, those who mourn, the merciful, and those pure in heart. Jesus goes ahead and informs his disciples that they are the salt and light of the world. This means that the world looks upon them for spiritual direction and upliftment (Keeling, 2015). Incidentally, the nursing practice is a calling that requires one to be compassionate, understanding, merciful, and righteous. The first person that one looks for when sick or diseased is a nurse. A lot of expectations and responsibilities are placed on nurses all over the world (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2014). For nurses to effectively deliver their services, they must be merciful, pure in heart and spirit. Besides, the nature of the nursing practice requires of them to be peacemakers and comfort the mourning.
The Concept of the Beatitudes
The beatitudes were delivered by Jesus while on a mountain to his disciples. They refer to a series of blessings, each with its own future reward. A person must possess a particular quality of character to qualify for the reward. Through the beatitudes, Jesus is offering the description of his ideal follower and the rewards that awaits him or her. The beatitudes can be interpreted in various ways but their individual messages cannot change (Newbanks, Rieg & Schaefer, 2018). The concept of the first beatitude is a call for people to humbly recognize that they need God for them to enter His kingdom. The second beatitude instructs believers to mourn over their sins and seek repentance from them in order to receive God’s forgiveness and eternal life while the third beatitude implores on Christians to submit to God’s will to stand a chance of inheriting his kingdom. Jesus also invites those who have a passionate longing for Christ to rest in the belief that their souls will be satisfied as in the fifth beatitude. Meanwhile, those who show others mercy will themselves receive mercy. Here, Jesus stresses the fact that we reap what we sow (Tracy & O’Grady, 2019). Besides, those who whose hearts have been purified will see God. This is further emphasized in the book of Hebrews 12:14 that states that without holiness no one will see God.
How APRN’s Work in the Early Development of the APN History Reflects on Values Taught in the Beatitudes
Indeed, the work of advanced nursing practice in the history of the development of APN roles are mirrored in the Beatitudes of the Bible, according to the book of Mathew 5: 1-16. Advanced practitioner nursing can be traced back to the 1800s during the civil war when Catholic sisters undertook to administer chloroform to war victims. The Catholic sisters were driven by the need to be compassionate to the suffering as illustrated in the Beatitudes of Jesus. However, clear roles of APN were first established in the 1960s where the nurses were identified as healthcare providers with the ability to provide a combination of needs. They have to combine their skills in advanced practice nursing with primary care medical services to meet the various needs of populations living in poor inner cities and inaccessible underserved communities living in remote rural areas (Institute of Medicine, 2014). Hence, the APNs must be willing and ready to serve the less fortunate in the society. This is reflected in the fourth Beatitude that promises blessings and fulfillments to those who are thirsty and hungry for righteousness. Indeed, there is no denying that the APNs’ duty to offer health care to all irrespective of the location and population is a calling, and only a righteous person would respond to it. The book of Mathew 5:6 says that “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled”.
The period of rapid industrialization witnessed during the late 1800s was also characterized by an increased demand for the services of nurses. Therefore, it became necessary that clear structures had to be put in place to regulate their practice. As a result, the Henry Street Settlements (HSS) was established by a young nurse graduate, Lilian Wald, in downtown Manhattan. Initially, Lilian and her fellow nurse, Mary Brewster, made their routine visits to the facility to offer physical care and other essential necessities such as sterilized milk, meals, ice, and medicines to the patients who were mostly drawn from European ...