The Definition Of The Art And Science Of Nursing

We often hear that nursing is an art and a science, and I firmly believe that. The way a nurse blends those aspects of care defines the nurse. As nurses, our roles in our patients’ lives vary depending on their needs. We are teachers as well as technical experts, and our ultimate goal is to ensure our patients and families are ready to take over when the

Regrettably, the existence of nursing depends on the medical inadequacy of others. Unfortunately, nursing exists because people get hurt, cannot care for themselves, or need assistance with daily activities. Carol Taylor (2011), author of Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care, writes, “Nursing care involves any number of activities, from carrying out complicated technical procedures to something as seemingly as holding a hand” (p. 5). Taylor explains it is the duty of a nurse not only to learn the pertinent skills but also to bond with and comfort others. Nurses have to do and become many things: They must be stern when necessary, compassionate when needed, open minded

According to the American Nurses Association, “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, 2010b). Nursing has come a long ways. From primitive times when caring for the sick was predominantly the rule of medicine-men who acquired the skills from their ancestors, to the era when it was viewed as a mean profession for prostitutes and nowadays when it is considered a noble profession with trained and skilled personnel.

Nursing has made a tremendous push towards being a profession during the past century. Many in the health care academia not only see nursing as an academic discipline, but also an equal colleague. This transformation is due to nursing progressing towards theory-based practice. "A nursing theory is a set of concepts, definitions, relationships, and assumptions or propositions derived from nursing models or from other disciplines and project a purposive, systematic view of phenomena by designing specific inter-relationships among concepts for the purposes of describing, explaining, predicting, and /or prescribing" (Ameen & Mutha). Theory based-practice has made nursing meaningful. Experts in the field developed, tried, and tested nursing

“Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter’s or sculptor’s work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God’s spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.” – Florence Nightingale. Healthcare is a very demanding field, as long as people have a need for health care services there will always be a demand for healthcare providers. Due to the demand, healthcare has become a popular choice for many individuals as a career choice. Nursing is The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of nursing and its current status in the

Aesthetic knowing makes nursing an “art.” It takes all the other ways of knowing and through it creates a new understanding of a phenomena. It involves the perception of the unity

Frequently, nurses are considered the foundation of the healthcare industry and the stakes are high when certain qualities must be possessed when working with patients and providing quality care. Nurses have a profound ability to apply strong skill-based knowledge with a caring and compassionate attitude that can improve patient outcomes. They also play an important role that can positively or negatively affect the way patients and family members view healthcare as a whole. Professional nursing practice is an art and science when both elements are integrated together to form a unique way of practice, but what does that really mean? The purpose of this paper is to define nursing as an art and science and explain how these two concepts come together to form an extraordinary way to perform professional nursing practice that contributes to the well-being of the patient.

I believe that nursing is a combination of both art and science for patient centered care. The art side is comprised of the communicative, compassionate and

Nursing as a profession has evolved through the contributions of practicing nurse theorists who have worked rigorously toward improving the way nurses approach the art and science of nursing. Through theory development, nursing models, and their conceptual frameworks, they have provided a foundation for nurses and their practice. Nursing theories have developed from the choices and assumptions about the nature of what a particular theorist believes about nursing, what the basis of nursing knowledge is, and nurses do or how they practice in

I'd like to share an example from my personal experience that illustrates nursing as an art. While working as a nursing assistant there was a patient who had just been newly admitted into the nursing home. This was his first time being a resident in a rehabilitation facility so he was very hesitant and scared. During his first day, he refused to let me take his vital signs. However, I noticed the uneasy look on his face and decided to talk to him further and discuss his fears. He explained to me that he'd gotten his blood drawn several times that day and didn't want to be stuck anymore. After getting an understanding of how he felt I was able to address his concerns and explain that there no needles involved in obtaining his vital signs.

Nursing’s objective is to help out the public in order to provide safe, holistic patient-centered care that is backed up by evidenced-based practice. As stated by Taylor, Lillis, and Lynn (2014), the knowledge and skills the nurse develops is “focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities to attain, recover, and maintain optimum health and function from birth to old age” (p. 5). Although medical knowledge and technical skills are vital to provide optimal care, this paradigm also involves compassion, empathy, and providing a sense of hope to the patient. Hence nursing is both a science and an art. According to Taylor et al. (2014), “the science of nursing is the knowledge base for the care that is given, and the art of nursing is the skilled application of that knowledge to help others achieve maximum health and quality of life” (p.

Nursing is a profession that has been around in one form or another since the beginning of civilizations. It has moved from an art that was handed down from generation to generation to the formal education and training programs of today. During this evolution, nursing has been influenced by four main themes: the folk, religious, military and servant images (Ellis, 2012, pp. 3-45, 71).

Since its establishment as a profession more than a century ago, Nursing has been a source for numerous debates related to its course, methods and development of nursing knowledge. Many nursing definitions and theories have evolved over time. Furthermore it is in a constant process of being redefined.

Nursing is defined and referred to as both an art and a science through theory and research in nursing practice. Although the science of nursing is grounded on the acquirement of knowledge and skills, along with theoretical understanding of nursing, but it is also described as ‘an experience lived between human beings’.

In order to critically examine the concepts central to the discipline of nursing it is important to clarify my understanding of what constitutes a discipline. Nursing literature has led me to understand that a discipline can be, in simple terms, thought of as a field of study with a unique perspective which gives rise to the nature and scope of inquiry of that field and therefore leads to a specialized body of knowledge (Parker, M & Smith, M, 2010). In attempt to cement nursing’s place in the professional world and in an effort to distinguish it from other disciplines it seems imperative that nursing itself agree on the discipline’s most significant concepts. Through early course readings it