Unit 1  Nursing and Nurses

The science of nursing is the knowledge base for what is done, and the art of nursing is the skilled application of that knowledge to helping others reach maximum function and quality of life.

Chapter 1  General Description of Nursing

Definition of Nursing

International Council of Nurses  The following definition was written by Virginia Henderson and adopted by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1973: the uwww.med126.com/jianyan/nique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will, or knowledge, and to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible.

American Nurses’ Association  In 1965, the American Nurses’ Association (ANA) Committee on Education issued a position paper that broadly defined nursing as an independent profession. The statement said:

●  Nursing is a helping profession and provides services which contribute to the health and well-being of people. Nursing is a vital consequence to the individual receiving services; it fills needs which can not be met by the person, by the family, or by other people in the community.

●  The essential components of professional nursing are care, cure, and coordination. The care aspect is more than ”to take care of”; it is “caring for” and “caring about” as well. It is dealing with human being under stress, frequently over long periods. It is providing comfort and support in time of anxiety, loneliness, and helplessness. It is listening, evaluating, and intervening appropriately.

Aims of Nursing

Apparently, many definitions of nursing exist. From these definitions, the following four broad aims of nursing practice can be identified:

Promoting wellness

Wellness promotion is the framework for nursing activities. The client’s self-awareness, health awareness, wellness skills, and use of resources are all considered as the nurse gives care. Through know- edge and skill, the nurse:

Preventing illness 

The objectives of illness-prevention activities are to reduce the risk of illness, to promote good health habits, and to maintain the individual’s optimal functioning. Health promotion is carried out by organizations and institutions as well as by nurses. Nurses primarily promote health by teaching and by personal examples. Such activities include the following:

Restoring health 

The activities directed to restore health encompass those most traditionally considered to be the nurse’s responsibility and are probably an area in which most practicing nurses are employed. This area focuses on the individual with an illness but ranges from early detection of a disease to rehabilitation and teaching during recovery. The activities include:

Facilitating coping 

Although the major focus of health care is promoting, maintaining, or restoring health, these goals cannot always be met. Nurses can facilitate an optimal level of function through understanding and acceptance of the individual and the family, the maximizing of strengths and potentials, teaching, and knowledge and referral to community support systems. Nurses provide care to both clients and families during the terminal illness, and they do so in hospitals, long-term nursing facilities, and homes. Nurses are also becoming more active in hospice programs, which are developed to assist individuals and their families in preparing for death and in living as comfortably as possible until death occurs.

Chapter 2  Factors Influencing Nursing Practice

Historic Development

Florence Nighwww.med126.comtingale’s contributions are numerous and far-reaching: recognizing that nutrition is an important part of nursing care; instituting occupational and recreational therapy for sick people; identifying personal needs of the client and the role of the nurse in meeting those needs; establishing standards for hospital management; establishing a respected occupation for women; establishing nursing education; recognizing the two components of nursing-health and illness; believing that nursing is separate and distinct from medicine; stressing the need for continuing education for nurses. Florence Nightingale elevated the status of nursing to a respected occupation, improved the quality of nursing care, and founded modern nursing education.

Since the 1950s, nursing has broadened in all areas, including practice in a wide variety of health care settings, the development of a body of knowledge specific to nursing, the conduct and publication of nursing research, and the recognition of the role of nursing in promoting wellness. Increased emphasis on the importance of nursing knowledge as the base for nursing practice has led to the growth of nursing as a profession and as a discipline.

Current Influences

   To function effectively amid media bombardment, rapid systems of communication, and advances in research, the nurse must develop in response to outside influences. The current major influences can be grouped into nine broad areas

●Consumer demands  Consumers of nursing services have become an increasingly effective force in changing nursing practice. The public’s concepts of health and nursing have also changed.

● Economics  Another factor that has increased the demand and need for nursing services is the greater financial support provided through health insurance programs in the United States and Canada. Medicare, Medicaid, and other government programs as well as other public and private financing agencies have increased the demand for broad nursing services.

Chapter 3  Development History of Nursing

Development History of Nursing in Foreign Countries

Nursing as an activity that provides help to the ill, to children, and to babies has existed since the earliest times. Before the early Christian period (1-500 A.D.), caring for the sick was chiefly done by women in their homes. Later, monastic orders provided nursing functions as part of their activities. The first nursing order, the Augustinian Sisters, was established in the Middle Ages.

During this period the concept of the clinical nurse specialist arose. In 1933, the need for “experts in the nursing art and specialists in the clinical branches they represent” was recognized. This concept, was discussed by nursing leaders in the 1930s and 40s. This nurse is responsible for increasing her or his own clinical knowledge and competence and for enhancing the quality of nursing care and the quality of the organizational climate for learning and research.

Nursing management 

To enhance the leading to the nursing work, the Medical Departments of the Ministery of Health have set up a nursing office to be responsible for the national-wide nursing work. The Health department of every province, municipality and autonomous region has placed some special nursing administrative cadres under the guide of Medical Department. In March 1993, the Ministery of Health issued the first minister’s orders on nurse’s job and registration, and the “Management Measures of Nurse of the people’s Republic of China”. In June 1995, the first national-wide professional nursing examination was held.

Nursing study  

After 1990, our country’s nursing research has had a quicker development. Some higher nursing educational institutions or hospitals have set up the center of nursing study. The research topics as well as achievements have played a positive role in guiding the clinical nursing work. The research articles published on academic meetings or academic journals have increased day by day, and its quality have also being improved.

Academic exchange  

After 1950, China Nursing Association organized domestic academic exchange actively. Since 1997, China Nursing Association and its branches resumed the academic activity successively.