Modern nursing science

Author: Chief Editor: Li Shuzhen
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-04-01
Features: This book is divided into 6 parts and 76 chapters, comprehensively and systematically elaborating on the brief history of the development of modern nursing, basic nursing theories, practical basic nursing techniques, new technologies and concepts in modern nursing, the nursing coordination of modern clinical diagnosis and treatment techniques, and the recent 20 years of new developments in nursing technology. It provides detailed descriptions of nursing for common diseases in departments such as internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, stomatology, outpatient clinics, and emergency departments, as well as the nursing care for war and trauma injuries, basic nursing skills before and after common surgeries, and intraoperative nursing coordination. It is accompanied by more than 300 illustrations. The book is well-organized, scientifically practical, and easy to understand, making it an important reference for nursing education, research, management personnel, clinical nursing workers, nursing students, and postgraduate students.
Excerpt: Nursing is an applied science that studies the theories, knowledge, skills, and development patterns of nursing to maintain human physical and mental health. It is an independent discipline within medical science, with its scope, content, and tasks involving factors affecting human health from biological, psychological, and social perspectives. Its research methods apply scientific thinking forms, methods, and principles to gain a holistic understanding of nursing research subjects, revealing the essence and development patterns of these subjects. It is a summary of empirical materials based on nursing practice, validated through nursing practice, and possesses objective truthfulness and logicality.
Chapter 1: Basic Concepts of Nursing
1. Nursing
The concept of nursing has evolved with the continuous development of nursing science. The term "nurse" originates from Latin, meaning to nurture, protect, and care. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of nursing, believed in 1859 that "nursing is to place the patient in the best environment for natural influences." At that time, nursing primarily aimed to meet society's needs for acute care patients. In 1943, Sister Olivia described nursing as "an art and science that encompasses all aspects of caring for patients, promoting their intellectual, spiritual, and physical health." In the early 20th century, with the advancement of medical science, nursing focused mainly on nursing centered on disease treatment, where executing medical orders was the primary content. The saying "the doctor's mouth, the nurse's legs" reflects this situation. Since the 1960s, with the rise of nursing doctoral education, the discipline has developed rapidly, leading to the emergence of nursing theories and nursing processes, which apply scientific thinking methods to nursing. This approach requires nurses not only to perform tasks but also to think critically, playing a role in overseeing clinical treatment techniques. With the shift in medical models and the evolving understanding of people, the environment, health, and nursing, American nurse Martha Rogers, influenced by the theories of ecologists Newnan and Fitypatrick, emphasized that individuals should be viewed as a whole and proposed a patient-centered holistic nursing approach. In 1966, American Virginia Henderson defined nursing as "the activities that help healthy or ill individuals maintain or recover health (or find peace in the face of death) until they can care for themselves independently." In 1980, the American Nurses Association defined nursing as "the diagnosis and management of human responses to actual and potential health problems." The content involves nurses assessing the status of patients' existing diseases and potential health issues, determining nursing diagnoses based on nursing theories, applying the scientific nursing method of nursing processes to solve problems for patients, and evaluating the outcomes. This concept positions nursing as a partner in healthcare, not just executing orders, and shifts the focus from diseases to holistic patient care, emphasizing nursing's contribution to human health. The above definitions of nursing each have their own emphasis and certain limitations, tied to historical development and scientific and technological progress. We can analyze their service goals, service objects, service content, and service settings based on the progress of the times to observe the trends in nursing evolution.
2. Nursing Science
Currently, there is no universally accepted standard definition of nursing science. With China's reform and opening-up, nursing science has made significant progress, and the understanding of it has gradually improved. In 1981, the renowned Chinese scholar Zhou Peiyuan said, "Nursing science is a comprehensive applied science guided by the theories of social and natural sciences." In 1986, Gu Yingqi, Vice Minister of Health, stated, "Nursing science is an independent discipline closely linked to medicine, complementing and enhancing each other." Lin Juying, a nursing expert, said, "Nursing science is an emerging independent discipline with gradually forming its own system of theories and doctrines, with clear responsibilities to serve the people." So, how should nursing science be defined? The definition of a discipline should first determine its research objects and content, clarifying its nature. From this perspective, many nursing scholars have proposed different definitions, but they all agree that nursing science is an independent discipline. Recently, some nursing scholars have defined nursing science as "an applied discipline that studies the theories, knowledge, skills, and development patterns of nursing to maintain human physical and mental health. It is based on natural and social sciences and is an independent discipline within medical science." The key points of this definition clarify the relationship between nursing science and medicine, positioning nursing science as an independent discipline within medical science. The research goal of nursing science is human health, not only patients but also healthy individuals. The research content includes nursing theories, knowledge, and skills to maintain human health, including promoting the health of healthy individuals, alleviating patients' suffering, restoring health, protecting the lives of critically ill individuals, and comforting dying patients. It also includes studying how to diagnose and manage human responses to existing and potential health problems. In healthcare, it plays an equally important role as clinical medicine and preventive medicine. With the development of material production, the progress of medicine, and the continuous renewal, differentiation, integration, and permeation of science and technology, the emergence of emerging interdisciplinary disciplines, and especially the deepening of human understanding of the objective world, the understanding of nursing science will become increasingly accurate and more aligned with the basic laws of nursing itself.
3. The Tasks and Goals of Nursing Science
With social development and the improvement of living standards, the tasks and goals of nursing science have undergone profound changes. The revised "International Code of Ethics for Nurses" in June 1965 stipulated that the rights and duties of nurses are to preserve life, alleviate suffering, and promote health; the sole task of nurses is to help patients recover health and help healthy individuals improve their health levels. The conference clearly defined the tasks of nursing science.
(1) The Tasks of Nursing Science
1. Establish a physical and spiritual environment conducive to recovery.
2. Focus on preventing diseases through teaching and demonstration.
3. Provide healthcare services for individuals, families, and communities.
The World Health Organization's Expert Committee proposed that nursing is comprehensive and holistic healthcare, providing services for all five stages of health and disease:
① Health Maintenance Stage: Help people achieve and maintain the best possible health status.
② Increasing Risk Stage: Assist people in maintaining health and preventing diseases in the pre-infection stage.
③ Early Detection Stage: In the early stages of illness, promptly identify issues and prevent the progression of the disease through early diagnosis and treatment.
④ Clinical Treatment Stage: Help those suffering from acute or severe illnesses relieve their pain or provide comfort and support when facing death.
⑤ Rehabilitation Stage: Help people overcome weakness caused by illness or help them maximize their potential to gradually recover health.
(2) The Goals of Nursing Science
The United Nations specialized agency responsible for health—the World Health Organization (WHO)—proposed a strategic goal in 1977: "Health for All by 2000." In 1978, WHO proposed that developing primary healthcare (PHC) is the key to achieving this goal. "Health for All" refers to the achievement of effective health and well-being levels for all people in all countries, which is a goal that the international community can accept and strive for, serving as a benchmark for all countries and individuals. The measures to achieve this goal—implementing primary healthcare—include the following eight aspects:
① Conduct education on current major health problems and their prevention and control methods.
② Improve food supply and rational food use.
③ Fully provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities.
④ Provide maternal and child health care programs and family planning.
⑤ Immunization against major infectious diseases.
⑥ Prevention and control of endemic diseases.
⑦ Proper treatment of common diseases and injuries.
⑧ Provide essential drugs.