What Do Nurses Really Do
What Do Nurses Really Do?
Alicia Wells
The University of Southern Mississippi College of Nursing
Over the years, the question of what nurses really do on a daily basis has confounded not only the general public, but also those who work in the healthcare field. However, one cannot attempt to explain what nurses do on a daily basis without first understanding what nursing is and why the healthcare field even exists. The field of nursing exists primarily to assist the physicians and to facilitate the recovery of ill, weak patients. Nurses exist to show each patient compassion, so the patient will feel welcome, and not like a burden onto others. It is the nurses’ obligation to possess the knowledge necessary to ensure and facilitate the patients’ health and healing process. According to Suzanne Gordon (2006), “Nurses use their considerable knowledge to protect patients from the risks and consequences of illness, disability, and infirmity, as well as from the risks and consequences of the treatment of illness. They also protect patients from the risks that occur when illness and vulnerability make it difficult, impossible, or even lethal for patients to perform the activities of daily living” (p. 1). Gordon’s personal thoughts on what nurses do basically wraps the nurse’s duties into a nut-shell. Although her statement is quite vague, with no clear-cut answer to what nurses actually do daily, one gets an idea of the overall role of the nurse in the healthcare environment and, more importantly, to the patient. Even some of the most obvious roles of the nurses, such as building a relationship with the family, has a positive impact on the patients’ health and the family’s coping with a loved ones’ illness. The main idea in Gordon’s belief of what nurses really do is protection. Everyday a nurse’s main goal is to protect the patient from existing and future complications of illness and disease. Patients realize this and tend to develop a close, trustworthy
Alicia Wells
The University of Southern Mississippi College of Nursing
Over the years, the question of what nurses really do on a daily basis has confounded not only the general public, but also those who work in the healthcare field. However, one cannot attempt to explain what nurses do on a daily basis without first understanding what nursing is and why the healthcare field even exists. The field of nursing exists primarily to assist the physicians and to facilitate the recovery of ill, weak patients. Nurses exist to show each patient compassion, so the patient will feel welcome, and not like a burden onto others. It is the nurses’ obligation to possess the knowledge necessary to ensure and facilitate the patients’ health and healing process. According to Suzanne Gordon (2006), “Nurses use their considerable knowledge to protect patients from the risks and consequences of illness, disability, and infirmity, as well as from the risks and consequences of the treatment of illness. They also protect patients from the risks that occur when illness and vulnerability make it difficult, impossible, or even lethal for patients to perform the activities of daily living” (p. 1). Gordon’s personal thoughts on what nurses do basically wraps the nurse’s duties into a nut-shell. Although her statement is quite vague, with no clear-cut answer to what nurses actually do daily, one gets an idea of the overall role of the nurse in the healthcare environment and, more importantly, to the patient. Even some of the most obvious roles of the nurses, such as building a relationship with the family, has a positive impact on the patients’ health and the family’s coping with a loved ones’ illness. The main idea in Gordon’s belief of what nurses really do is protection. Everyday a nurse’s main goal is to protect the patient from existing and future complications of illness and disease. Patients realize this and tend to develop a close, trustworthy
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