The Art of Nursing

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2004

Great observations, everyone. Yet another reason this board should be mandatory--well, at least strongly recommended--for students.

I do think my instructors make every effort to teach the art of nursing, as far as it can be taught. Certainly, they model it.

I also feel that in visual, literary, and performing arts, the difference between art and craft is the extent to which one invests ones soul in the expression of it. The craft can be taught (and must be learned to be effective) but the student and the practitioner must decide how much of themselves they are willing and able to give, without losing themselves.

Just my .02. Soon as get this down, I'll tackle objectivity vs detachment.

But, seriously, thanks to all for the thoughts and feelings you post--you are educators, whether you know it or not.

nightingale, RN · Jul 30, 2004

Lovely thoughts fellow colleagues.

As whimisical, precise, and enthrauling a work of art can be so is nursing. We can not be all to all everyday. We do create masterpieces throughout our career to those care for.

Thanks for starting the thread Zen

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Jul 30, 2004

... the difference between art and craft is the extent to which one invests ones soul in the expression of it...

Liked that!

mrs/mom/rn · Jul 30, 2004

The poems and the essays are great. I have a 14 year old daughter who is going in to high school. I was trying to explain why I love nursing. I think I will show her this thread.

Rapheal · Jul 31, 2004

I think nursing teaches us to quickly assess not only a patients' physical needs, but also their mental and emotional needs. Nurses need to quickly make an assessment about how to handle a patient. I say handle for lack of a better word. But each patient is different. It is using this acquired people skill that will help build a trusting relationship.

You don't have time to do 20 minute 1:1 interactions with patients to evaluate their emotional state. As a nurse you need to develop a quick sense of what is needed to help the client participate with their plan of care. That is the art of nursing to me.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jul 31, 2004

These posts are all so poignant and well-written, I don't think I can add anything to them. You all have expressed what nursing really is all about in such a way that anyone who has ever known a nurse, been related to a nurse, cared for by a nurse, or been a nurse oneself will recognize that elusive quality known as the "art" of nursing in a heartbeat.

Well done. :)

CarolineRn · Jul 31, 2004

What is the "art" of nursing? Is it just a buzzword? Do you actually have time for it? Do you even think about it? Was it even mentioned in school?

Waay cool topic! Without having read prior posts, I'm jumping in and saying that the "art of nursing" has to do with the ability to use common sense/critical thinking skills to improvise when need be in a stat situation. So many nurses I know are so very resourseful, when they do not have something needed, they know enough about the human body and are "streetwise" enough to improvise and create fixes when there are none available. I will always respect my more experienced colleages for their willingness and ability to improvise and teach on the fly. I am convinced that there is NOTHING that one who is trained as and has experience as a nurse cannot do. Nursing is the one profession that integrates common sense with collegiate training. TO reach the ranks of our "experienced" and underpaid, yet so awesomly knowledgable colleagues is my main goal as a new nurse, is to indeed understand the "art of nursing" From my experience, the fallacy of nurses "eating their young" is crap. I have yet to meet a nurse who wants to see me fail. In fact, every RN I have met has gone above and beyond to help me. But maybe that's just me.

But there is indeed "an art to nursing," although I doubt any of us newbiws get it. Don't forget, the experienced RN's know this, and most try very hard to show us the way. I love my co-workers, especially the ones who've been at it for years, and I know I am indeed being taught an "art", and enjoy seeing them recognize when I see even the smallest of situations.

YUp, it's an "art" and be damned thankful when you have so many Nursing "Artists" ready to guide.

LOVE all of you nursing teachers. THANKS!

susanna · Jul 31, 2004

I also feel that in visual, literary, and performing arts, the difference between art and craft is the extent to which one invests ones soul in the expression of it. The craft can be taught (and must be learned to be effective) but the student and the practitioner must decide how much of themselves they are willing and able to give, without losing themselves.

Do you read or have you read Thomas Moore?

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2004

Do you read or have you read Thomas Moore?

Do you listen to or have you heard Elvis Presley???

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2004

Do you read or have you read Thomas Moore?

I read Utopia years ago--is that the More you meant (I've seen it spelled both ways)? As I recall, I was more impressed with More's life.

I do like some of the early Elvis, but even then, he is overrated. Buddy Holly lives!

Jill1215 · Jul 31, 2004

tracy--that is a beautiful poem. i agree with what everyone here has posted...i too think that nursing is both a science and an art. one poem that i found back in nursing school fits it well (but it is long so bear with me...)
i was found from the journal of emergency nursing (i don't have what month though)
on being a nurse
nursing produces knuckle-whitening, pulse-racing, palm-sweating fear on a regular basis, no matter how "seasoned" we are:
when your blood pressure is falling and the intravenous start depends on our expertise....when the man with the crusing chest pain is you, my neighbor...when the baby is coming and the doctor has not yet arrived. you will look at us with trusting eyes and ask if you are going to die; we will meet your eyes and answer" not on my watch."
we will hold your hand as your view your son's broken body and beg him not leave, although you know he already has. we will weep with you for all the broken, unsalvageable sons and we will silently curse our dead of the night phone calls that will change your sleep forever.
we will accept your howls of protest at your too warm room and your too cold soup and recognize that you are protesting your terminal prognosis at age 39 years, or the cruelly unfulfilled promise of motherhood, or the permant loss of body symmetry that you have know since puberty.
while your physician cures your disease, we will care for your body, your mind, and sometimes, your soul. in the deep of the night, we will hear your confessions and seal our lips in the light of day to all you have confessed. we will pray with you and for you, even if our beliefs differ. we have seen people die despite our best efforts and live against all odds; we know what we do is not all there is to healing.
we will treat you with respect, although you remind us of our alcoholic uncles or abusive ex-husbands or the school bully who plagued us until we moved away. we will do so because you are someone's uncle or someone else's husband and they care about you or because no one cares for you at all.
when duty calls, we will rise from out thanksgiving table or warm bed to see you safely to another hospital, and while the sirens wail above our heads, we will whisper softly about all of the reasons to hold on...such as thanksgiving dinner and your own warm bed.
we will hold your fragile, elderly body when your relatives have abandoned you to your dementia; we will tell you it is okay to go and follow the light. we will hold your battered body and remind you that you are blameless. we will hold your tiny babies as small as our palms and urge them to live. sometimes we will hold each other.
we will laugh at macrabe jokes that make our non-clinical co-workers blanche and leave the cafeteria table. we may, on occassion, seem overly joyous and oblivious to your pain while attempting to hide our own. we are, after all, human. it is our humanness that allows us to care for you. it is also our greatest vulnerability.
we will tend to your open sores and your infectious coughs and your unidentified rashes and hope that our personal protective equipment is all the manufacturer promised. we will try not to think of the ramifications of tuberculousis, hiv, and hepatitis a, b, c and d to our future and our families. instead, we will scrub our hands a thousand times a day and wear bleach like the finest perfume.
we will teach you all about nutrition and good cholesteral while drinking too much coffee and eating too many delivered pizzas that turned cold while we answered yet another call for help. and when our day or evening or night is over, we will walk our calloused feet down the hall and out the door...but we won't go alone. you will go with us...your agonies and your joyful recoveries, your tearful good-byes and your jubilant reunions, your disappointments, and your great courage, your human failures and your newfound faith. you will go with us...always.
anyway, some of the poem is a little mushy, but i think that alot of it is true...it stuck a cord in me when i was in nursing school and i still like to read it every now and then...

that made me cry and smile all at the same time. whoever wrote that poem is amazing. i am only a nursing student, but i cannot wait to touch people's lives. what a gift this profession is to those of us lucky enough to do it.

thanks everybody! this is a wonderful thread.

jill

Altra, BSN, RN · Jul 31, 2004

One poem that I found back in nursing school fits it well (but it is long so bear with me...)
I was found from the Journal of Emergency Nursing (I don't have what month though)
On Being a Nurse
..

Beautiful ... thank you Zambezi. I've copied it and saved it. :)