NURSING AS A PROFESSION
Definition and Meaning of Nursing, Nursing
Profession and Nursing Practice
The rich historical background in nursing has set the stage for changes in
nursing.Definitions of nursing continue to evolve, and no one definition fits a
comprehensive explanation of nursing. It is very difficult to define nursing in a
few words.
Nightingale (1860) said that nursing “ought to signify the proper use of fresh
air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quite and the proper selection and administration
of diet”.
According to Clara Weeks (1899), nursing includes not only the “execution of
the physician’s order”, but also the “administration of food and medicine, and
the more personal care of the patient, attention to the condition of the sick-
room, its warmth, cleanliness, and ventilation, the careful observation and
reporting of symptoms and the prevention of contagion.”
In 1933, nursing educator Bertha Harmer wrote that the “spirit, the art and the
knowledge or science of nursing are the three essential elements of nursing.
Harmer explained that the application of the scientific method and scientific
spirit was necessary if nursing was to be an applied science.
Harmer and nursing leader Virginia Henderson (Harmer & Henderson, 1939)
wrote a more concise definition that included the idea of health promotion and
disease prevention.Harmer and Henderson defined nursing as “that service to
the individual that helps him to attain or maintain a healthy state of mind or
body; or where a return to health is not possible, the relief of pain and
discomfort”.
Based on various definitions, we can define it as comprehensively as possible
that nursing is a process of recognizing, understanding, interpreting and meeting
the health of any person or society. It has a base of body of ever changing
scientific knowledge. In order to understand this, we must know what “health”
means.
The World Health Organization has defined Health as follows; “Health is a state
of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity.A truly healthy person also is a happy person. Nursing, therefore, is
Definition and Meaning of Nursing, Nursing
Profession and Nursing Practice
The rich historical background in nursing has set the stage for changes in
nursing.Definitions of nursing continue to evolve, and no one definition fits a
comprehensive explanation of nursing. It is very difficult to define nursing in a
few words.
Nightingale (1860) said that nursing “ought to signify the proper use of fresh
air, light, warmth, cleanliness, quite and the proper selection and administration
of diet”.
According to Clara Weeks (1899), nursing includes not only the “execution of
the physician’s order”, but also the “administration of food and medicine, and
the more personal care of the patient, attention to the condition of the sick-
room, its warmth, cleanliness, and ventilation, the careful observation and
reporting of symptoms and the prevention of contagion.”
In 1933, nursing educator Bertha Harmer wrote that the “spirit, the art and the
knowledge or science of nursing are the three essential elements of nursing.
Harmer explained that the application of the scientific method and scientific
spirit was necessary if nursing was to be an applied science.
Harmer and nursing leader Virginia Henderson (Harmer & Henderson, 1939)
wrote a more concise definition that included the idea of health promotion and
disease prevention.Harmer and Henderson defined nursing as “that service to
the individual that helps him to attain or maintain a healthy state of mind or
body; or where a return to health is not possible, the relief of pain and
discomfort”.
Based on various definitions, we can define it as comprehensively as possible
that nursing is a process of recognizing, understanding, interpreting and meeting
the health of any person or society. It has a base of body of ever changing
scientific knowledge. In order to understand this, we must know what “health”
means.
The World Health Organization has defined Health as follows; “Health is a state
of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease
or infirmity.A truly healthy person also is a happy person. Nursing, therefore, is
