define nursing

It's no wonder we (nursing) aren't understood by the Public - we don't seem to be able to describe what we do LOL. According to our own professional organizations, our independent scope of practice is to - diagnose & treat human responses to illness.

I know a lot of traditional nurses get their drawers in a bunch when we say we "diagnose", but that is what nursing diagnosis is all about. We don't make medical diagnoses, we make nursing diagnoses. That is why our dx are worded in such a strange way, with all that "related to" stuff tacked on. Think about this - nursing dx describe human(physiologic or emotional) responses to "medical" conditions. We don't "cure" illnesses, but we are responsible for not only anticipating what 'could occur', but recognizing the responses that actually have happened.

We also have an inter-dependent scope of practice - in which we carry out medical interventions under the direction of a physician... I would argue that we do not have a 'dependent' function, because we always are accountable for exercising independent judgement rather than blindly carrying out medical orders.

And that's my

I think to define the term "nursing" is a very different thing than to define what nurses do or what nursing as a profession is. To make a comparison, think about the difference of defining "teaching" versus defining "professional teaching"... and then compare that to defining what requirements you'd define as necessary for a "licensed teacher."

The things that today's nurses do and what we call nursing do not, in my opinion, nicely fit under one umbrella definition. I think today's nurses are responsible for so many different aspects of care that to try to fit it all into one definition ends up leaving us with an almost meaningless definition. So I tend to lean towards restricting the formal definitions of nursing as it relates to nursing as a profession to focus on what I'll care "bedside nursing".

A possible definition of bedside nursing (written on the fly): taking care of the basic needs (feeding, toileting) and providing physiologic interventions to promote comfort and healing and prevent deterioration. Ideally, this type of nurse also provides emotional comfort as well. Notice that the most basic level of this nursing care doesn't necessarily require a nursing license. While not all those requiring this kind of care are bedbound, their health or bodies are compromised in some manner, thus the requirement for nursing care.

Taking this type of nursing up a notch, there's acute care nursing, which includes all of the above as applied to patients receiving aggressive medical treatments. These nurses are responsible for all of the above as well as for administering these more aggressive treatments (coding a patient, administering chemotherapy). Traditionally, it was a physician who determined the course of this treatment. Mid-levels are now part of the mix, including nurse pracitioners. There is much debate over whether NPs practice nursing or medicine or some combination therein.

Bedside nurses (of this definition), with their hands on experience and health care knowledge, have been recruited to or volunteered for many other health care related roles - assistant to physicians (in the OR, in private practice, etc), procedural specialists (in a GI lab for example), public health screenings and education, case management, and much much more.

To me, it makes more sense to restrict the definition of professional nursing to "bedside nursing" and then say the other roles (case management, public health, some areas of advanced practice, etc) are offshoots of or enhanced by nursing. For example, preventative health education is something that many nurses do, but so do physicians, and public health specialists. On the other hand, preventing skin breakdown, monitoring for adverse reactions to a blood transfusion, and keeping an eye out for constipation... those are specifically nursing responsibilities.

This question is clearly of interest to me. I'm interested to hear other opinions!