Caring as an Art - Essay Example

Nursing is a field in health that is concerned with giving health care to individuals, their families, and the community in order to protect, promote and optimize health levels and improve quality of life. This definition differs from Bernice's definition of nursing in that Bernice is more concerned with the aspect of nursing passing health information to the public in order for them to understand the profession well (Buresh & Gordon, 2006). A patient is a person who is suffering from a certain condition and as a result, his/her quality of life reduces, this patient requires the services of a nurse. In Bernice’s book “from silence to Voice: what nurses know and must communicate to the Public” the definition of a patient is expanded to include a person who is not aware of the requirements to improve and protect his health and therefore nurses must help him pass the information on his health needs. Health is the psychological, physical and societal well-being of an individual, which cannot be taken to mean the absence of an illness. Bernice expands this definition of health to include the right of a patient to have his needs understood as this helps in increasing the speed of recovery and protection against illnesses. The environment is defined as the surr, rounding, or the conditions that an individual lives in; this definition does not deviate very much from the one that is meant in Bernice’s book. The only difference is that Bernice has used the word environment in a health setting to include all stakeholders in health care.

Caring can be defined as an art since it requires an individual, who is probably the nurse to perform several functions at the same time, for instance, a nurse is required to answer questions that a patient might ask, show compassion, provide a patient with food and at the same time provide medical attention. In addition, a nurse is also responsible for communicating the condition of a patient to the physician, passing information to the family and community on how to care for the patient to help him recover fully, and any other information that is required by stakeholders. Performing these responsibilities at the same time defines nursing as an art. As a science, nursing is concerned with the results of the process of health care; what is wrong with the patient? Why is the patient in the hospital? What information is needed in order to plan the care that is to be given to the patient? In addition, when should the doctor intervene? Are some of the practices that need to be supported with evidence, therefore, making nursing a science? The interaction of the two aspects of nursing is critical to the provision of quality nursing care since the omission of one aspect may hinder the fast and full recovery of the patient. For instance, when performing a certain procedure, such as feeding a patient a certain type of food, explaining to the patient why you are giving him that type of food will enable him to have confidence in you therefore he is likely to cooperate.

A friend of mine who has been in the nursing profession for the last 10 years had several experiences with patients that shaped her career in nursing. One of the experiences she had involved a patient suffering from cerebral malaria whom she had been allocated to take care of. The patient was always violent and did not want anybody close to him including the physician who was treating him. Attempts to tie him to his bed or give him sedatives had proven futile since his violent tendencies did not stop. As the nurse in charge, my friend decided to use a different approach; she would go to the patient’s bedside and try to talk to him in a bid to convince him they were trying to help him. Initially, the patient was violent towards my friend but after a few days, he calmed down and was willing to listen to what my friend had to say. She would explain to him about the condition he was suffering and how the doctor would help him and after some time, the patient was very receptive to the care that he was given.

Caring for the sick, aged, and needy in society has been emphasized in almost every book in the bible, the Old Testament prophets encouraged the people to care for each other and especially those in need of care. In the New Testament, Christ told his disciples that those who cared for the needy in society they were caring for him and they would be rewarded greatly in heaven (Matthew 25: 36, New English Translation). This therefore encourages Christians, especially those responsible for caring for the sick and aged in the society to give the best they can as their reward is great in heaven.