In the registered nursing field the registered nurse symbol is used to display the accomplishment of completing nursing school. It has come to be a symbolic representation of how the nursing profession, and health care in general, is a caring and nurturing one for over the last century.
The Registered nurse Symbol, or caduceus, is really a wing-topped staff, with two snakes winding about it, carried by Hermes of Ancient mythology, given to him By Apollo.
The symbolic representation of separate intertwined snakes appeared early in Babylonia and is related to other serpent symbols of fertility, wisdom, and healing, and of sun gods. This staff of Hermes was carried by Greek heralds and ambassadors and became a Roman mark for neutrality, truce, and noncombatant status.
This symbol has been the insignia of the healthcare branch of the U.S. Army since 1902. The nurse symbol, or caduceus, is much used for this purpose much like any other symbol would be used for services such as the Postal Service, commerce or ambassador positions. Since the 16th Century it has replaced the Asclepius one serpent symbol as the image of choice for medicine.
Even though the registered nurse symbol is thought by some to be a negative mark on the profession, it's still a positive symbol for those of us who work as a registered nurse in the field. No matter what the nurse symbol might seem like to others, to the common public it still remains a image from the nursing and medical fields generally.
This goes on to give the public a comforting feeling as they know how it's linked to healthcare in general. No matter the association with ancient mythology, the nurse symbol is regarded by most to be a positive image.
Many medical organizations use the Caduceus, or nurse symbol, of two winding serpents around a staff, topped by two wings, which is the staff carried by the god messenger Hermes. This symbol was the protector of merchants and thieves, and conductor of the dead. Its meaning is 'heralds staff' from the Greek word karykeion. Itself based on the word 'eruko' meaning restrain or control.
The registered nurse symbol or caduceus is used by other types of organizations, these are generally commercial or military in the U.S. Countries like New Zealand uses include pharmaceutical companies. A study confirmed that the connection of the caduceus and medicine was solidified around the 7th century A.D.
The link between the caduceus of Hermes (Mercury) and medicine seems to have come about by the seventh century A.D., when Hermes had come to be linked with alchemy. Alchemists were referred to as the sons of Hermes, as Hermetists or Hermeticists and as "practitioners of the hermetic arts". There are occult associations with the caduceus.
The caduceus, or nurse symbol, was the magic staff of Hermes (Mercury), the god of commerce, eloquence, invention, theft and travel, and so was a symbol of commerce and heralds, not medicine. The words caduceus and caduity mean temporality, perishable and senility, while the medical profession espouses renewal, vitality and health.
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