Opinion: Is Nursing considered STEM Why or Why Not?

[Migrating]

Earlier, and about, I stumbled across multiple sources claiming that nursing is not a STEM major. I found the fact they stated that to be somewhat insulting and that those people genuinely have only a vague idea of what nursing is.

Is nursing science-based? Of course, nursing is science-based! We take a lot of the same pre-requisites that medical students do, and most of the "hard" sciences are not "allied health" nursing classes that the majority assume they are. We have to take the same Chemistries; most require a math class (many are demanding Statistics as well as pre-calculus... some I have seen need calculus), nurses also take Anatomy and Physiology I & II, Microbiology, Pathophysiology, and several various clinical sciences about the nursing field.

Technology? Go into an ICU, find out for yourself. Of course, nursing is technology-based, and it is becoming more than ever! Nurses today have to learn the mechanics and inner workings of so many medical chartings and screenings as well as the machines that are keeping people alive and those machine's functions. Overall, there are few fields more technology-based than nursing.

Engineering? In the classical sense, nursing isn't engineering. However, that is a particular subgroup, and one could argue that nursing does have to work with technology to in many cases, keep a patient alive.

Mathematics? Nursing is very math-focused in many areas. Drug calculations and dosages are everyday math that nurses have to chart and be aware of that can very well interfere with a patient's wellbeing. Several other factors could also be considered mathematical. Are we engineers or accountants? No. But is it a field that uses mathematics daily? Absolutely!

I believe the above reasons should qualify for nursing for "STEM." Further, we have a shortage of trained nurses in this country to meet the demand of today's healthcare system; why not consider it a STEM profession especially given the real need of them in today's society? Additionally, supporting women by counting them as a STEM field would increase the numbers and provide scholarships for women in healthcare across the nation. I fail to see why many academic institutions frown upon today's nurses given that it is no longer a "female-only" profession, it no longer provides horrible pay comparatively (it won't necessarily buy you a Ferrari, but it will very much so allow you to live a comfortable lifestyle in many locations), and it provides a real value to society.

[Golden_RN, MSN]

I agree with all that you say, and would add on all of the research that nurses conduct.

I had a friendly debate about this subject with some facebook friends (neither of which are nurses or have STEM-related degrees or professions). When looking at different universities, I noted that some do include nursing in their STEM majors, but most don't.

I think nursing is often still seen as a blue collar type vocation. In my experience, the public and and those outside of health care rarely understand what nurses do, what nurses study and what nurses know.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I'll give you the opposite side of the debate. While I fully agree that the nursing curriculum is very grounded in the sciences and the practical experience of working as a nurse definitely utilizes STEM as you've outlined in your post in my opinion there is also an art to nursing that precludes it from being strictly STEM.

While there are no doubt multiple nursing jobs that offer more of the true STEM based experience traditional bedside nursing has too great of a human interaction component to qualify. In my opinion we are beyond STEM, utilizing the core principles of STEM and incorporating that education into something that is so much more.

[MotoMonkey, BSN, RN]

While I agree with you on some aspects, I do not believe that nursing should be considered a STEM field. A tangential relationship to technology, engineering, and math does not mean we should be considered a STEM field. My understanding of STEM is that it focuses on disciplines which add to and develop new technology and science, not simply work around these technologies. This is not to say that nurses do not develop technology or produce science, but I think it is naive to believe that the nursing profession as a whole is developing as much new technology as the profession of biomedical engineering.

Likewise if you look to the amount of math, physics, chemistry, and engineering courses that go into a degree in something like biomedical engineering or even a bachelors in chemistry, you will quickly see that nursing does not live up to the same standard in those categories. Simply working around aspects of STEM does not make nursing a STEM field. Nurses do use math but it is essentially one equation for dosage calculation which is, in large part, not regularly used outside of pediatrics due to the way medications are ordered. I think it would be a bit insulting to equate that level of mathematics to the level that is possessed and used by an engineer.

Additionally I don't see how considering it a STEM field would solve a nursing shortage, a shortage which is regional and not reflective of the profession as a whole.

While I do not disagree that nurses use and work around aspects of STEM every day, I feel that the profession as a whole is essentially a science based profession which focuses on communication and high level data processing.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I don't think nursing is a true STEM field either -- for the reasons stated by the previous few posters. I have seen some people discuss "STEMH" or some other arrangement of the letters -- with the "H" representing the health care disciplines. That makes more sense to me -- acknowledging the similarities among the fields, but recognizing that the health care disciplines are not the same as the basic sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

6 hours ago, MotoMonkey said:

Nurses do use math but it is essentially one equation for dosage calculation which is, in large part, not regularly used outside of pediatrics due to the way medications are ordered. I think it would be a bit insulting to equate that level of mathematics to the level that is possessed and used by an engineer.

I'm going to expand on that. Though as a student, I'm around a lot of people who make that simple equation as hard as what I'm about to add.

/-GMm \
| -------- |
\d*2+mv²) /
---------------- = 0
d

/ \
while M= | (v²)*d |
\ /
-----------
G

That's the equation for the mass of our observable galaxy. We then need to calculate the mass of the dark matter, which is:

G[Mo + M(r)]²
----------------
r²

Then those 2 are combined to calculate the total mass of the entire Milky Way galaxy.

That's the difference between STEM and Nursing.

[MiladyMalarkey, ASN, BSN]

My opinion is nursing is STEM based, but there is also an art and social work-like aspect to it. I could see the argument from either side really. But, I see it more as our foundation is STEM based and we expand into other non-STEM areas of the spectrum. I also worked a social work-like job previous to this, so I can see the overlapping similarities to that strictly social work based job and nursing.

[offlabel]

Saying nursing is STEM or even STEM based is like saying playing pool is golf based 'cause you use long things to hit balls into holes.

[Migrating]

On 2/26/2019 at 7:29 PM, tonyl1234 said:

I'm going to expand on that. Though as a student, I'm around a lot of people who make that simple equation as hard as what I'm about to add.

/-GMm \
| -------- |
\d*2+mv²) /
---------------- = 0
d

/ \
while M= | (v²)*d |
\ /
-----------
G

That's the equation for the mass of our observable galaxy. We then need to calculate the mass of the dark matter, which is:

G[Mo + M(r)]²
----------------
r²

Then those 2 are combined to calculate the total mass of the entire Milky Way galaxy.

That's the difference between STEM and Nursing.

Well, that is true! Thank you for enlightening me. I do find it interesting that they consider some finance-related subjects in STEM despite none of the math, in particular, being too "advanced." Though using representative data and organizing exponential functions is a little beyond the average day-to-day "typical" nursing job.

19 hours ago, MiladyMalarkey said:

My opinion is nursing is STEM based, but there is also an art and social work-like aspect to it. I could see the argument from either side really. But, I see it more as our foundation is STEM based and we expand into other non-STEM areas of the spectrum. I also worked a social work-like job previous to this, so I can see the overlapping similarities to that strictly social work based job and nursing.

I have to agree again that nursing does have that social component that truly elevates itself. Thank you also for your insight as a previous social worker and how that relates to this topic.

On 2/25/2019 at 9:03 PM, kbrn2002 said:

I'll give you the opposite side of the debate. While I fully agree that the nursing curriculum is very grounded in the sciences and the practical experience of working as a nurse definitely utilizes STEM as you've outlined in your post in my opinion there is also an art to nursing that precludes it from being strictly STEM.

While there are no doubt multiple nursing jobs that offer more of the true STEM based experience traditional bedside nursing has too great of a human interaction component to qualify. In my opinion we are beyond STEM, utilizing the core principles of STEM and incorporating that education into something that is so much more.

This was actually very insightful as well. Thank you for your input! I have to agree that nursing does encompass a social aspect that uniquely utilizes STEM.

19 hours ago, offlabel said:

Saying nursing is STEM or even STEM based is like saying playing pool is golf based 'cause you use long things to hit balls into holes.

That was funny!

-- Thank you all for contributing your opinions to this topic. It has opened my eyes even more than I previously thought. I now understand better why Nursing may not fall under STEM in strict conditions.