Nursing

Nursing is defined as the diagnoses and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems. That said, nurses do a lot more then care for physical and psychological symptoms.

Simply stated, “Doctors cure but Nurses care”. The role of a nurse has changed over the years. By creating a formal nursing training program, Florence Nightingale is credited with bring respectability to the profession of nursing.

Nightingale’s philosophy of nursing influenced and changed the profession for good. These principles of cleanliness, disease prevention, nurse/patient relationship, continuing education and medical teamwork are still the basis of modern nursing training.

The nursing profession has become both a science and an art. Nurses use evidence based knowledge, while conveying empathy, kindness and concern, to care for patients holistically.

Nurses also play the role of educator, teaching patients and families ways to maintain optimal health by promoting wellness, educating about medications, health problems and measures to prevent complications from diseases.

A nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. Whether calling attention to a potential medication error, helping the rest of the health care team hear a patient’s voice or shaping policy by speaking from first-hand experience, patient advocacy is fundamental to nursing.