My definition of nursing has changed drastically since I began my first day of school. When I started I believed that nurses where individuals who cared for the sick by: administering medication, changing dressings, bathing, feeding, and taking their vital signs. Now at the end of my first semester I have found that my definition has developed to include an emotional factor as well. If someone was to ask me my definition of nursing now, I would state that it is an individual who provides care for the physical and emotional states of a patient. Nurses have to be very strong people to be able to take care of another person who they do not know and possibly may not like. Nurses put their own feelings aside and place their patient’s needs before their personal opinions. Not only do nurses care for an individual’s body, but they also make certain to care for the patient as a person. By caring for a patient as a person I mean that a nurse recognizes the patient as a person who has needs, feelings, and traditions. A nurse will do what they can to make a patient comfortable not only by changing their body position or giving them their pain medications, but also by taking the time to talk with the patient and get to know them. Taking the time to get to know a patient builds a nurse-client relationship which enhances any caring therapies. Nurses are strong individuals who take care of patients through both medical and therapeutic interventions.
