What is nursing?

By: Sara Ellis

Despite having practiced nursing for more than twenty years now across a range of clinical settings and specialty practice areas I’m not sure that I have the writing skills necessary to clearly define the Nursing profession, or “Nurse”, but during the course of my travels through various “nursing information” sites springing up across the web I frequently come across articles that define the nursing profession in such ridiculous terms that I knew I had to say something to try to clear up misconceptions about what nursing is, and what nurses are.

Here’s an excerpt of one such article:

“In hospitals, nurses are the limbs while doctors are the eyes and brains. Neither can work without the other's presence. Without doctors, the patient's diagnosis would not be delivered whereas without nurses, the medical treatment and other services would be put to a halt. Nurses conduct every form of activity from seemingly minor needs like changing the bed sheets and fixing meals, to drawing blood and handling medical equipment and machinery. Nevertheless, nurses are not authorized to do any of these tasks without a doctor's approval.” Source: The Differences Between a Nurse and a Doctor

“Nurses are the limbs while doctors are the eyes and brains”
Despite such ignorant statements, nurses are not mute “doctor’s handmaidens” or “helpers”. Neither are they mere “Nancy Do Gooders”, “Angels of Mercy”, dumb bimbos, sex toys for residents, or servants who perform a plethora of menial tasks “after getting approval from a doctor”.

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