Personal Views of Nursing and Nurses

While nurses can be found all around the world, they are viewed differently from person to person. These views vary on everything from their responsibilities and job descriptions, to their value and the important role they play in their patients medical care. After 10 years of working with nurses, my views have changed multiple times. In the following definitions, I will explain my current views on these important concepts in nursing and their connections to a persons health.

Nursing concept of person

The concept of person encompasses many more things than just the individual patient. Person covers all aspects of physiological and psychological being, just as I believe a person is made up of their experiences, emotions, physical body and environment, all of these aspects effect a patients care. In order to understand the concept of person, as it applies to patient care, a nurse must strive to understand the full range of patient needs. One of these needs is emotional, which can mean dealing with family issues or changes in a patients perception of their own limitations and body image. The nurse must also understand the patient physical condition, which some illnesses may cause actual disability in a patient while some may only cause perceived disability by a patient. Nurses care for both emotional and physical well being of a patient, as they are interconnected and a healthy balance needs to be found to encourage health.

Nursing concept of environment

A patients environment is made up of both the physical surroundings that they exist in as well as the emotional environment they exist in. An environment can effect a persons health is many ways. Being in a clean, well ventilated area with appropriate temperature and resting conditi...

... middle of paper ...

... health. We must understand a wide scope of needs, from the needs of the physical body to the emotional and spiritual needs of the patient. Nurses do more than following doctor orders and passing out medications. We need to understand the patients illness, the doctors plans for the patients health as well as the patients expectations of their healing process. We need to foresee possible complications from procedures the patient undergoes as well as complications from their medications and other treatments. We need to understand the patients emotional needs and their level of understanding of their condition. All of these aspects come together to make the profession of nursing into a collaboration of many other jobs. We are healers, therapists, spiritual support, educators, and in times of pain and need we are a source of strength for our patients and their families.