Nursing science vs. healthcare/caring science

[jjjoy]

I ran across an interesting article that questions the drive to carve out a unique field of "nursing science" as opposed to a more patient-centered "health care science" or "caring science." Any thoughts on the idea in the excerpt? (I hope it's okay to quote this much)

Nevertheless, a unique theoretical base, exclusive to nursing, appears to be most important for those theorists who emphasize nurses' professional competence. When focus is moved from nurses towards patients it is more urgent to discuss patients' needs, goals and unexplained discomfort, etc. From this point of view it seems fair to assume that all professional care providers, i.e. physiotherapists, physicians, nurses, therapists and so on, must put an effort in meeting patients' needs in order to give adequate support. Hence, it does not seem constructive to talk about nursing science as exclusive to nurses, but healthcare science, or caring science, as a cross-professional concern.

Nystrom, Maria "A patient-oriented perspective in existential issues: a theoretical argument for applying Peplau's interpersonal relation model in health care science and practice" Scandinavian Journal of Caring Science 2007; 21; 282-28

[jjjoy, LPN]

We need more -- a lot more -- to serve as a foundation for practice, teaching, and research and to distiguish between ourselves and other disciplines.

I'd agree with that. That's why I found the initial article interesting. What it defined as "caring science" or "health care science" encompassed much of what is often considered in the realm of nursing in the most broad definitions of what nursing is. For example, there are professional caregivers who definitely give care of all sorts and often perform basic nursing care, but no one will seriously argue that they are nurses. There are also people who work with clients in supported residential facilities and mental health community workers. Again, lots of caring and care planning going on, but not "nursing."

When nursing is defined so broadly as to emcompass every role that nurses currently play both at the bedside and in the community, to me it waters down the essence of nursing, making it indistinct from other disciplines (such as public health, social work, psychology, etc). It also makes it difficult to focus in on what NEEDS to be taught at a basic level that will minimally qualify someone as a "nurse."

So I was thinking it might make sense to switch it up by narrowing the definition of nursing care and then including the extended nursing roles as in addition to or complementary to nursing care.