What is the definition of "nursing"?
1. The profession of a nurse (Webster's Dictionary)
2. 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 (American Nurses Association)
Which definition do you think most people are more aware of?
I often have a hard time explaining what I do as a nurse. I tell those who inquire that, "well, I take care of people." I know what that means, and my fellow nurses know what that means, but I fear that I'm not doing my profession any justice by explaining nursing in this way to others. My focus on "caring" might lead people to assume that "caring" is all we do. The inadequacy of my response is clear, but put on the spot, nursing can be a hard thing to explain.
Nursing is amazing. It's so much more than caring. As a nurse, all of my actions have a very real medical purpose. I know how to ask the right questions. I am the one collecting and interpreting the raw data at the bedside, from which physicians rely on to make medical decisions and treatment plans. I can make my own nursing diagnoses and plans of care as well, that focus on prevention, optimization, comfort, education and well0being. I use my knowledge of physiology and disease processes to interpret physical assessment data and lab values. I am the one to catch early warning signs, to detect and prevent crises. As a nurse, I literally have the ability to save lives.
Being a nurse means that a very real part of my job includes assessing a person's physical health and wellness. However, I also carry the knowledge and skills that are crucial to working with a person as a whole. People aren't just diagnoses, they're human. My actions as a nurse reflect this knowledge. I want to know what a patient is feeling, doing, saying, thinking, and how and why they are feeling, doing, saying, or thinking it. I ask about depression, anxiety, family issues, financial issues, emotional issues, and I can help patients through these. Nurses are teh ones who monitor, educate, clarify, comfort, reassure, support, advocate, empower, listen to and look out for those under our care. I am an advocate and an interpreter for patients, their families, doctors, the dietitian, respiratory therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, the wound care specialist and everyone in between (I mean, how often have I gone into a room and re-explained to a patient something the MD just told them? Many times). I am able to recognize the need for these services and coordinate care. Not only are my assessments and data-gathering constant, but they are also a very necessary part of providing patients with what they need to get well. Nurses help patients be the best they can be considering whatever health situation they find themselves in. We help them adapt, physically and emotionally, to some often very difficult life-changing diagnoses. Nurses help people reach their best potential given their life circumstances.
I'm not an angel. I work hard and I expect to be respected. I have spent five years on a college education for this job, but the real fact is that I'm not done learning yet. Technology changes, diseases change, new evidence-based nursing interventions are found through nursing research, and as nurses, we are asked to take on more and more responsibility all the time. My expertise will continue to grow.
So, no, nursing is not just "caring." Nursing is necessary. If there weren't people like me in the field of health care, the health of millions would suffer, and that's a fact. I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud of what I've chose to do with life. It is expecting the unexpected, it's learning something new every day. Thank a nurse today!
