According to the International Council of Nurses (2023), µrsing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings(p.1). Nursing includes the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, caring for the sick, dying, and disabled. dvocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education!re also key purposes of nursing (International Council of Nurses, 2023, pg.1).

I conducted a small qualitative study amongst a group of nurses. All of them have varying years and experience in the nursing field One of them has 12+ years in an office-based setting, and the other four have between 8-20 years of experience in the hospital setting in varying areas of care. I asked them each the following question èat is the purpose of nursing? The nurses all answered the question fairly similar to each other or had similarities to each of their answers.  They believe the purpose of nursing is to provide quality care for patients and their families. Two nurses also mentioned that it is their purpose to promote overall health and to teach disease prevention. All of the nurses questioned above mentioned how it is their duty to care for their patients not only their physical needs but also their emotional and spiritual needs as well.  

The same questions were also asked to five laypeople who do not work in the healthcare field. What is the purpose of nursing? All five answers centered around the same concept, the purpose of nursing is caring for individuals during a time of need. One answered that nurses care for sick patients under the direction of a doctor and to carry out doctors’ orders. Another answered that the purpose of nursing was to care for those who are ill and to educate them about their disease as well as the family. Another subject answered how the purpose of nursing is to be there to care for people whether it be through illness or time of need.  

Regardless of their background, every subject in the study mentioned that caring is the core concept of nursing. According to Sri et al., (2023), caring is an important and core value of nursing practice because it contains humanistic values, respects human values, increases the ability of and emphasizes independence, knowledge and respects each patient as an individual (Sri et al., 2023). 

References

International Council of Nurses. (2023). Nursing Definitions. https://www.icn.ch/nursing-policy/nursing-definiti…

Sri, A., Sri, M., Sri, F. (2023). Relationship of characteristics and motivation of nurses with caring behavior in regional public hospital aceh. International Journal of Nursing Education, 15(1), 99-104. http://doi.org/10.37506/ijone.v15i1.19000