Definitions of Nursing
Everyone thinks they know what a nurse does. Very few can define nursing precisely.
It is 2 a.m. on a medical ward in Ilorin. One patient cannot breathe comfortably, another is frightened about tomorrow's surgery, a third has just been told he has diabetes and has no idea what that means for his life. The doctor has gone home. The person who props up the first, calms the second and begins teaching the third is the nurse.
So what exactly is nursing? "Taking care of sick people" is where most people stop. By the end of this lesson you will know four classic definitions of nursing, and you will see why each one says something the others miss.
Meaning of Nursing
The word "nurse" comes from the Latin nutrire, to nourish. For most of history a nurse was simply someone who fed, sheltered and tended others: a mother, a grandmother, a member of a religious order. Today nursing is a profession with its own body of knowledge, its own education and its own law.
A sound working definition to start with: Nursing is the art and science of caring for individuals, families and communities, sick or well, to promote health, prevent illness, restore health and relieve suffering, and to help people reach the highest level of independence and well-being they can.
Notice the two words art and science. The science is the knowledge: anatomy, physiology, microbiology, the evidence behind every procedure. The art is the way that knowledge is applied to a real, frightened human being: with compassion, skill and judgement.
Definitions by Major Theorists
| Source | Definition (key words) | What it emphasises |
|---|---|---|
| Florence Nightingale (Notes on Nursing, 1859) | Nursing is to "put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him" | The environment: air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quiet, diet |
| Virginia Henderson (1960, 1966) | "The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge" | Independence: help the person until they can help themselves |
| Hildegard Peplau (1952) | Nursing is a significant, therapeutic, interpersonal process | The nurse–patient relationship |
| International Council of Nurses (2002) | Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings | Scope: health promotion, illness prevention, care of the ill, disabled and dying; advocacy, research, policy, education |
Henderson's definition is the most widely quoted of all, so learn it word for word. It continues: "…and to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible." That last clause is the heart of it. A good nurse does not do everything for a patient forever; she does for the patient what he cannot yet do, and teaches him to take it back.
The American Nurses Association adds the idea that nursing includes the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to health problems. A doctor treats the disease (say, a fractured femur); the nurse deals with how the person responds to it (pain, immobility, fear, risk of pressure sores).
Pause & think
A woman with a stroke cannot feed herself. Using Henderson's definition, what should the nurse aim for, and what would be the wrong attitude?
Quick check
Did it land?
Spotted a mistake?