As quoted by Meleis (2012), “A Discipline is characterized by goals, structure, and substance”. A discipline is embedded with key logic and thought processes that connect its parts. A Discipline is also “a branch of knowledge or teaching” (Meleis, 2012). In short it is the training that produces a particular character or pattern of behaviour. One can understand the discipline of Nursing through the precise viewing, organization, assessment, research, and understanding f the structure and substance. Disciplines are also characterized by viewpoints of discipline members; these viewpoints determine the way by which the phenomenon within a discipline and outside of it is seen. The discipline of nursing comprises of the processes and information pertaining to every role and responsibility of nurses, such as administrating, teaching, consulting, clinical operations, etc. With different perspectives of nurses, patients and situations are handled differently. A nursing field is defined by its unique features, the profession’s history, the socio-political setting wherein nursing care is offered, and the kind of member orientation of the nursing profession and the discipline. A unique facet of nursing as a practice-oriented discipline, further defining its perspective, is the round-the-clock healthcare services offered by nurses in hospitals. Typically, nurses monitor patients round-the-clock, hence they are more aware of the patients’ daily life activities and body patterns, which in turn helps them in better understanding of their previous experiences and their health care requirements. Nursing is an art synonymous to the art of caring. Johnson (1974) did an epistemic analysis on what the art of nursing means and identified five independent meanings. When nurses perform the following operations, it illustrates the nursing art:
Establish connections with patients
Skilfully undertake nursing responsibilities and activities
Select between alternatives
Morally carry out nursing practice.
References:
Meleis, A. I. (2012). Theoretical Nursing: Development and Progress (5th ed.). Philadelphia:
Lippincot.
Johnson, D. (1974). ‘Development of Theory: A Requisite for Nursing as a Primary Health
Profession. Nursing Research 23, 372-377.
