Nursing and what it means to me

Nursing to me is a career choice not a vocation, but a really good career choice if you hold the right qualities to be a nurse. Nursing is part of my life, it’s made me who I am.

It is both a science and an art and recall it being defined as ‘the finest of the fine arts’. This quote reinforces the idea that like a piece of art, nursing incorporates the soul, mind and imagination of those who practice which supports the theory that nurses need to be creative when it comes to caring for patients and their families and when implementing complex patient care plans.

Nursing is about science and evidence-based care. Well educated, experienced nurses make a difference to people’s lives with independent critical thinking and decision making. Nursing is about working collaboratively with other health care professionals to agree research-based pathways of care that utilise and complement each other’s role.

Good nursing is about being a reflective practitioner, whether that be reflection in action (reflecting on the situation whilst you are there) or reflection on action (reflecting about your practice after the event and turning it in to knowledge).

Nursing is about leadership – being visible, being confident, being a role model for future nurses. Changing practice, challenging poor care, having innovative ideas, taking risks at times!

Nursing to me is about holism – the ability to care for a person as a whole being – their relationship with their outside and inside world. Holistic nursing embraces the total of human needs, putting them into a hierarchy by accepting a person’s individuality and the importance they place on a specific need. Nurses don’t just see the problem (The wound), they look deeper, they explore for cause, they are detectives!

Caring is the essence of nursing and can be viewed as our moral responsibility to preserve a person’s dignity by gaining an understanding of their illness or disability in order to promote some sort of harmony in their life. Nursing is about compassion, kindness and empathy. Nurses should still be involved in front line care, attending to activities of daily living such as personal hygiene or toileting needs. Unfortunately, the experienced nurse appears to be undertaking less of this now and I do believe that is essential for holistic care and for giving the right message to junior staff.

Experienced nurses are a valuable resource, the tacit knowledge they hold which sometimes cannot be articulated or explained as ‘I JUST KNOW’…. Is so essential to clinical practice. We should treasure these experienced nursing roles.

Nursing is a privileged role that allows you into the lives of people who are often facing incredible trauma in their lives. Its about having and using a set of core values that despite the challenges faced by cuts in resources or pressure from staff vacancies, our priority will always be to deliver care with kindness, compassion and understanding.

Nursing is the best job in the world.