Defining nursing
Values and principles of nursing 4 Fundamentals of general nursing practice 6 Differences between medicine and nursing 8 Scope of practice 10 Evidence-based nursing practice 11 Standards of clinical nursing 12 Nursing has traditionally focused on providing a compassionate service to patients. The purpose of nursing as defined by Florence Nightingale in 1882 is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon them. Nightingale emphasized that the nurse’s role is to anticipate the patient’s needs and to do things for patients even before they recognize their own needs. This type of anticipatory care forms the basis of nursing care in all clinical situations and is often regarded as the cornerstone of essential nursing care....