CARING AS AN ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CARING AS AN ART - Essay Example In Bernice’s book â€Å"from silence to voice: what nurses know and must communicate to the public† the definition of a patient is expanded to include a person who is not aware of the requirements to improve and protect his health and therefore nurses must help him pass the information on his health needs. Health is the psychological, physical and societal well being of an individual, which cannot be taken to mean absence of an illness. Bernice expands this definition of health to include the right of a patient to have his needs understood as this helps in increasing speed of recovery and protection against illnesses. Environment is defined as the surrounding or the conditions that an individual lives in; this definition does not deviate very much from the one that is meant in Bernice’s book. The only difference is that Bernice has used the word environment in a health setting to include all stakeholders in health care. Caring can be defined as an art since it re quires an individual, who is probably the nurse to perform several functions at the same time, for instance, a nurse is required to answer questions that a patient might ask, show compassion, provide a patient with food and at the same time provide medical attention. In addition, a nurse is also responsible for communicating the condition of a patient to the physician, pass information to the family and community on how to care for the patient to help him recover fully and any other information that is required by stakeholders. Performing these responsibilities at the same time define nursing as an art. As a science, nursing is concerned with the results of the process of health care; what is wrong with the patient? Why is the patient in the hospital? What information is needed in order to plan the care that is to be given to patient? In addition, when should the doctor intervene? Are some of the practises that need to be supported with evidence therefore making nursing a science. T he interaction of the two aspects of nursing is critical to the provision of quality nursing care since omission of one aspect may hinder fast and full recovery of the patient. For instance, when performing a certain procedure, such as feeding a patient on a certain type of food, explaining to the patient why your are giving him that type of food will enable him to have confidence in you therefore he is likely to cooperate. A friend of mine who has been in the nursing profession for the last 10 year had several experiences with patients that shaped her career in nursing. One of the experiences she had involved a patient suffering from cerebral malaria whom she had been allocated to take care of. The patient was always violent and did not want anybody close to him including the physician who was treating him. Attempts to tie him to his bed or give him sedatives had proven futile since his violence tendencies did not stop. As the nurse in charge, my friend decided to use a different a pproach; she would go to the patient’s bedside and try to talk to him in a bid to convince him they were trying to help him. Initially the patient was violent towards my friend but after some few days, he calmed down and was willing to listen to what my friend had to say. She would explain to him about the condition he was suffering and how the doctor would help him and after sometime, the patient was very