Nursing 501: Journal Learning

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF NURSING

Everything from taking a patient’s history to administering medications could be considered an art of nursing, but I see the art of nursing as more of the role that nurses play. Nurses are in the hospital for a majority of procedures and visits that patients may go through which gives nurses the opportunity to learn more about a patient and who they are. Nurses are compassionate and caring people who put all of their heart and soul into their work because they are not there for themselves, but for the patients. I see a nurse as one of the only people in the health care field who can touch a patient’s life. A nurse could easily do so by being there for patients in their time of need and making a difference by showing that they truly do care.

I see the art of nursing as something that is brought into the field by the nurse him or herself. It is not something that could be taught to one in a classroom to prepare for the hospital setting, but it is something that builds their personality and comes naturally; the want to care for somebody who is in need, show compassion, and touch someone’s life in a way that they will remember forever. On the other hand, I believe that the science of nursing is more of the use of technology. The science of nursing is the things that can be learned in the classroom and over time with experience. Not all people can learn to become a caring and compassionate person, but anyone could learn how to take a temperature or check a patient’s pulse.

The two shows that I chose to view were Pearl Harbor and Scrubs. Pearl Harbor was about the attack the Japanese made on the Americans at Pearl Harbor. Within the story of the beginning of World War two, is a love story between a dedicated nurse (Kate Beckinsale) and lieutenant (Ben Affleck) who is sent to England for war. This dedicated nurse and her colleagues are in Pearl Harbor when the attack occurs and are forced to work under intense pressure to save lives. Scrubs on the other hand was more of a comedy about the life of nurses working in the hospital. The episode I watched was called "My Overkill" from season two, and was about nurses working in the hospital who had a hard time dealing with the head doctor who often times was rude and a hard person to cooperate with. The nurses in this show find issues from their personal lives affecting their work life, such as sleeping with the head doctor’s ex-wife, and the head doctor liking one of the nurses.

In Pearl Harbor, I saw many examples of how the nurses showed the art of nursing. Mostly, I believe that the art of nursing was shown when the nurse (Kate Beckinsale) needed to stand outside the hospital and mark the forehead of patients, deciding whether or not they needed morphine, were in fatal condition, or if they needed critical care. In some ways it was up to her who was to live and who was to die. It takes a strong person to hold that type of position and although the nursing profession does call for caring and compassion, it also calls for composure and being able to think under the most intense pressure. Not just anyone can remain calm under stress and have a clear mind about what to do in certain situations.

I found no examples of art in the show Scrubs because it is more of a comedy. In the episode that I watched, the nurses barely even paid attention to the patients. Rather than making a diagnosis like they should have been doing, they were involved in their own worries. The nurses turned their workplace into more of a social, filled with gossip and rumors about either their co-workers or their own lives. The nurses and the doctors in Scrubs were very unprofessional about their jobs and did not seem to care about what did or did not get done. It definitely made the work atmosphere appear to be more stressful. Both of the shows that I chose to watch are completely opposite. While Pearl Harbor shows us exactly what it means to be a nurse, Scrubs shows us that there is no work involved and it’s all play.

I feel that science was demonstrated in both Scrubs and Pearl Harbor. In Scrubs, nurses were asked to make a diagnosis about a patient. The patient had already gone through several tests which all turned up negative, and it was the nurse’s job to find out exactly what was wrong with the patient. In Pearl Harbor, it was the nurse’s job to do such things as give Morphine, give eye exams, take blood, and give shots and stitches. Both shows showed the technicality of being a nurse and the physical labor involved. Scrubs showed a more in depth perception of the science of art while Pearl Harbor showed the typical things done by a nurse in the health care profession.

Pearl Harbor reinforced my visions of what it is like to be a nurse. The nurses helped to keep the doctors in check and help them out whenever needed. I feel that this is a nurse’s main job. In one scene, the doctor seemed unsure of himself and what was going on around him until the nurse helped him back to reality and pointed out that there was an emergency that needed to be tended to. While there may be doctors around to help in certain situations, it is always the nurses job to provide the best care possible, no matter what the case. Pearl Harbor definitely made it clear that the job of a nurse can be a hectic and overwhelming, but at the same time can have benefits. The nurse (Kate Beckinsale) actually saved the life of a lieutenant by applying pressure to his carotid artery which had been bleeding very heavily at the time. Due to the nurse’s actions of deciding to care for him rather than saying there was nothing they could do, the lieutenant was able to live another day and showed great thanks for it.

Scrubs did not match my perspective of what nursing is like at all. What I gathered from Scrubs was that more gossip is done in the hospital than actual work and caring for patients, which I know to be absolutely false. When working in a hospital, just being a nurse, it is one’s job to put one’s one life to the side while at work, and to put the patient’s needs first. It is my belief that shows like Scrubs, while they may be a huge hit, are what makes the nursing profession look like a joke. Not one person can interpret the job of a nurse until they have actually been in the position. A nurse is the one who does most of the work in the hospital while the doctors run around from patient to patient ordering tests to be done. I find it true that many nurses take their job seriously unlike the nurses in this show. Scrubs does no favors for the nursing profession except make it look like it’s completely irrelevant for running a smooth health care system.

Whether we are looking at the science or art of nursing, we are looking at nursing as a whole. They both tie in as one to form the large picture of nursing that builds a hospital into not just a place where patients receive medications and have surgeries done, but also a place of companionship and comfort. It builds a place where patients can feel safe and well cared for because they are the first priority. Neither art nor science is more important than the other. Nurses need to be well rounded with both areas by having good People skills such as good communication, being compassionate, caring, being a good listener and technical skills such as working with their hands and using different types of machines found in the hospitals.
I think it is the art of nursing that is overlooked. Although nurses are thought of as compassionate, caring, respectable people, it seems as though they are seen more as assistants to the doctors. Nurses are there to do the small work that doctors do not have time for, but that is not true. I believe that nurses are there for comfort and to make patients feel like they do matter, they will be cared for in the best possible manner, and that when they enter the hospital, they should have no worries because they are in the hands of professionals. Nurses play such a large role in the hospital setting by building a warm, serene atmosphere. With all of the chances and benefits to engage yourself both scientifically and artistically, who would not want to become a nurse, the caring hands and heart of the hospital world?