Developing Definition of Nursing

Early definition of Nursing

• A nurse is a person who nourishes, fosters (raises), and protects— or

• a person who is prepared to care for the sick, injured, and aged.

• “nurse” is used as a noun and is derived from the Latin nutrix, which means “nursing mother.”

• Dictionary definitions of nurse include such descriptions as “suckles or nourishes,” “to take care of a child or children,” and “to bring up; rear.”

• In this way, “nurse” is used as a verb, deriving from the Latin nutrire, which means “to suckle and nourish.”

Commonly used definition is

• Florence Nightingale, in her Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, described the nurse’s role as one that would “put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him” (Nightingale, 1954, p. 133),

American Nurses Association (ANA) definition of nursing is:

• Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations (ANA, 2010).

National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)

• The Practice of Nursing means assisting clients to attain or maintain optimal health, implementing a strategy of care to accomplish defined goals within the context of a client-centered health care plan, and evaluating responses to nursing care and treatment (NCSBN, Article II, Section 1, 2006).

Defining Nursing for the Future

• The definition of nursing will continue to grow as the profession grow and responsibilities change. In addition, Nursing will become more closer to other profession e.g: law, theology (religious perspectives), and education.

Influences on the Definition of Nursing:number of factors have influenced the definition of nursing

1. technologic advances: diagnostic imaging, sophisticated laboratory tests, delicate medical procedures, and specialized critical care

2. the work of nursing theorists: many nursing theorists developed definitions of nursing Table 1.7 e.g:

Distinguishing Nursing From Medicine (try to guess from the given figure)

1. 2. 3.

Distinguishing Nursing From Medicine

1. The primary differences between nursing and medicine are the purpose and goal of each profession and the education needed to fulfill each role.

2. Further, historically, medicine was perceived as a profession for men and nursing as a profession for women

3. Finally, the subservient (obedient) role of the nurse in relationship to the physician in the past—often referred to as the handmaiden of the physician.

Differentiate between nursing and medicine role?

medicine• involved with the cure of a

patient

nursing• Involved with the care of

that patient• Involves teaching about

health and the prevention of illness,

• caring for the ill individual • case management inside

and outside the walls of hospitals.

• In 1958, Virginia Henderson, a nurse educator, author, and researcher, was asked by the nursing service committee of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) to describe her concept of basic nursing. Hers is still one of the most widely accepted definitions of nursing:• 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. And to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible. (Henderson, 1966, p. 15)

• From approximately the 1950s through the 1970s or mid-1980s, nursing periodically was reviewed against the characteristics of a profession that had been established in the sociologic literature.

• Some critics believe that nursing falls short of meeting these criteria. Amid these challenges, nurses have worked to advance the standing of nursing through the development of a code of ethics, standards of practice, and peer review.

• Table 1.8 outlines the seven major criteria for a profession and briefly discusses how nursing is meeting them or falls short of doing so.

Table 1.8 How Nursing Meets the Traditional Criteria for a Profession*

CRITERION HOW NURSING MEETS THE CRITERION

Ownership of a Bodyof Specialized Knowledge

Critics state that nursing borrows from biologic sciences, social sciences, and medical science, and then combines the various skills and concepts.

Use of ScientificMethod to Enlargethe Body of Knowledge

systematically gathering and analyzing data, correctly identifying problems, selecting alternates, and evaluating patient care through Evidence-based practice and evidence-based education

Education WithinInstitutions of HigherEducation

the settings in which nurses are educated have changed, with mostPrograms under the supports of colleges or universities with different nursing programs (associate degree versus baccalaureate degree)

Table 1.8 How Nursing Meets the Traditional Criteria for a Profession*

CRITERION HOW NURSING MEETS THE CRITERION

Control of ProfessionalPolicy, ProfessionalActivity, andAutonomy

nurses are responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the care patients receive and are accountable for that care. Nursing policies, standards of practice, and evaluative measures have been developed by nurses

A Code of Ethics It is available from United States (ANA Code for Nurses) , and International Council of Nurses also has developed a code for nurses that sets the standards of ethical practice by nurses throughout the world

Table 1.8 How Nursing Meets the Traditional Criteria for a Profession*

CRITERION HOW NURSING MEETS THE CRITERION

Nursing as LifetimeCommitment

Most nurses view themselves as committed to their profession and continue to identifythemselves as nurses long after they retire.

Service to the Public Although discussion occurs with regard to humanity, salary for services, andcollective bargaining there is no question that nursing provides a service to the people.

Differentiating Between the Terms “Profession” and “Professional”

• A Profession as Defined by Legislation: • federal legislation has helped to establish a list of the characteristics of a

professional. Public Law 93-360 (Labor Management Relations Act, 1947): Any employee engaged in work (i) mostly intellectual and varied in character

as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work; (ii) involving the consistent exercise of decisions and judgment in its

performance; (iii) of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished

cannot be standardized in relation to a given period of time; (iv) requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or

learning habitually acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as

distinguished from a general academic education or

• Any employee, who• (i) has completed the courses of specialized

intellectual instruction and • (ii) is performing related work under the

supervision of a professional person to qualify himself to become a professional employee

Now do you see nursing is a professional or not?

• Based on this definition, all RNs are considered professionals (Fig. 1.4).

Thank You