American Nurses Association (ANA) defined “Nursing as the protection, promotion and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations”.
International Council of Nursing (ICN) defined “Nursing as encompassing autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings; including the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and care of ill, disabled and dying people”.
There are bodies of knowledge that has been employed to explain the concept of Nursing and all it entails. Some of which include; Self-care theory, Environmental Theory, Theory of Interpersonal Relations, Behavioural System model, Goal Attainment Theory, Nursing Need Theory, Care, Cure, Core Theory, Theory of Human Caring, and Theory of Unitary Human Beings.
An important aspect of the Nursing profession is the understanding that man is a combination of the biological, psychological, social, economical and spiritual components. This has over the years informed the Holistic Approach in practice. Nursing is such that puts these different components into consideration with a keen understanding that they are not independent of one another.
In practice, the nurse seeks to understand the client with a focus on all the components, the relationship between them, how this relationship has resulted in the current health status and how the health challenge is affecting these components. This information guides the nurse’s intervention to achieve the desired outcome of care.
Furthermore, a perfect understanding of the different biopsychosocial composition of the man explains the reason no two clients are the same, even when they have the same demographics and medical diagnoses. On this premise, nursing care across nations and settings is Patient-focused and Individualized. This implies that there are no strict rules as to interventions to provide for specific populations, there could be guiding principles but not stated steps to be followed as each recipient of nursing care is received and attended to as a unique entity. Nursing takes deliberate effort to address the responses of individuals, families and communities to actual or potential stressors.
Although nursing was birth from a desire to use the elements of nature (sunlight, pure water, efficient drainage, cleanliness and fresh air) to promote recovery of wounded soldiers during the Crimean war (Florence Nightingale, 1854), it has however transitioned over the years. The ever-changing disease demography in different populations has resulted in significant changes in the profession. This is to equip nurses to meet this changing health needs. Nursing is essential from birth to death, across settings, and populations.
AREAS OF SPECIALISATION IN NURSING
Across the centuries, nursing has evolved and still evolving in different nations of the earth, birthing more specialities, engaging more in research, participating actively in discoveries such as the Crash Cart, Color-coded Intravenous lines, neonatal phototherapy, Ostomy bag, and sanitary pads. In more recent times, there is the introduction of Telenursing that helps in structuring treatment sessions, triaging, easy monitoring and care of patient living with long term medical conditions such as Diabetes, HIV, Hypertension, and so on, with the use of information technology. We also have Nursing Informatics, which is fast becoming an essential aspect of Public Health. The evolution in nursing also includes the ever-increasing population of men in nursing as opposed to the old paradigm of nursing being just for women.
There are over a hundred specialities in Nursing with more been created as the need arises. Amongst others, there is Medical-Surgical, Burn care, Psychiatry, Flight/Transport, Ambulatory, School/Camp, Forensic, Labour and Delivery, Geriatrics, Emergency, Diabetes, Intensive care, Neuroscience, Nephrology, Paediatrics, Rheumatology, Trauma, Telemetry, Ostomy, Wound, and Continence Care Nursing Specialities. All these were born out of a desire to have licensed specialists with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to meet the needs of varying populations.
Kudos to the Heroes and Heroines rarely recognized and appreciated!
HAPPY NURSES’ WEEK 2020
REFERENCES
Wayne, G (2020) Nursing Theories and Theorists. Available from: https://nurseslabs.com/nursing-theories/ [Accessed 14 July 2020].
ICN (1987) International Council of Nurses: Nursing Definitions. Available from: https://www.icn.ch/nursing-policy/nursing-definitions [Accessed 15 July 2020].
Smith, L (2017) What Can I Expect from a Nursing Career. Available from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/147142 [Accessed 15 July 2020].