Abstract
Nursing and Medicine are two related terms in the field of science. Both relate to the same matters however, both have specific approaches to these matters. The approach that nursing utilizes is the patient-based approach. The concentration is in helping the patient get over with the disease or illness that he is facing. The nurse tries to educate the patient and his family regarding the disease, how it can be prevented or if not, how to treat it. Medicine on the other hand is focused on the treatment. Its approach is finding what the best treatment for the disease and how this treatment can be undertaken on the patient.
Understanding Nursing and Medicine
The demand for health workers is continuously growing around the world because of the many illnesses that have developed and the need to provide appropriate care for these patients. Among those health professionals who are in demand today are nurses and doctors. They are the ones who are primarily needed in providing patient care around the world. Although these professionals similarly deal with patients and illnesses, their jobs have glaring differences and similarities both in the kind of practice and the nature of their jobs.
According to Ellis and Hartley (p. 151), the primary differences between nursing and medicine are the purposes and goals reflected in each profession as well as the required education to be able to perform each role. Generally, medicine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of a certain disease while nursing is concerned with providing care for the patient in different health-related situations.
Both the nursing the students and medical students study the sickness, intervention, medicine, treatment and kind of care that is needed by the patient however, the difference lies in the way they appreciate these things. In nursing, these are being taught in order to guide the nurse in properly dealing with the patient. A nurse is patient oriented and patient focused while a physician is treatment oriented. The physician is concerned with how to cure the patient and what are the drugs or medical procedures that need to be done in order to complete the healing or treatment process. Unlike nurses, doctors are more detached with the patient.
The professional energy of physicians is focused in preventing or if not, treating a disease. Nurses on the other hand focus their professional energy in reducing the risks of the disease, promoting patient care, maintaining life processes anticipating the needs of the patient, extending comfort and collecting and interpreting patient data (Lavin et.al, p.3).
Nursing, according to the International Council for Nurses (n.pag.) is providing an autonomous and collaborative care to all kinds of individuals in all kinds of settings. Nurses engages in the promotion of health, advocates for a healthy environment, prevention of illnesses and care for the sick, disabled as well as the dying. They help in shaping health policies in patient management system and health management systems.
Nurses function dependently and independently.
Among the duties which a nurse can function dependently are the carrying out of the orders of a physician, changing dressings on wounds as well as administering the medications needed by the patient. These tasks are performed by the nurse under the order of licensed physicians. They cannot simply perform them on their own volition. However, they also have tasks which are not dictated by the physicians and these are their independent tasks. Their independent function includes bathing patients, giving nutritional counselling and teaching patients to care for themselves among others.
The specific dependent and independent functions and duties of nurses are conditioned on the type of nursing practice which the nurse indulges into. There are several specialized areas of nursing and they include the following: medical-surgical nursing, community health nursing and psychiatric nursing (MSN Encarta, n.pag).
Each specialized area of nursing requires a different kind of care and approach. The theories and principles that are applied also vary from area to area because of the difference in the focus of care and the needs of the patient. The proper approach and care which the nurse provides to the patient will play a big factor in the recovery.
Medicine on the other hand deals with the science and art of making a diagnosis, treating and preventing a disease. One of the goals of medicine is to help people live longer and enjoy life with less disability, illnesses or suffering.
Physicians who are engaged in this profession go through continuous study and research in order to determine the best possible treatment for a certain disease. Over the years, many treatments and drugs addressing deadly diseases have been discovered and formulated through intensive research and experimentation in the field of medicine (MSN Encarta, n.pag).
Compared to nursing, the knowledge and education needed in the field of medicine is broader and deeper. The responsibility is also greater because the life of the patient is basically left at the hands of the physician. Giving the wrong diagnosis and treatment might worsen the sickness of the patient or might even lead to his death. The physician is responsible for instructing the nurse on what to do with the patient and the type of care that should be employed.
Among the ten key roles for nurses are admitting and discharging patients under certain conditions and protocols, ordering of diagnostic investigations such as x-rays and pathology, making and receiving referrals direct to health professionals like therapists, managing the case load of patients including diabetes and clinical depression, running clinics, prescribing medicines and treatments, carrying out procedures, performing minor surgery to patients, triage patients and taking the lead in the way local health services are organized to run (Jones, n.pag.).
According to Jones (n.pag.), the role of nurses in the health field has been constantly increasing thus the traditional way of looking at nurses have been changed. These new roles include the first contact practitioner and physician assistants, nurse anaesthetists, surgical practitioners and medical nurse practitioners.
Jones said that the increase in the roles that nurses play in the hospital is an offshoot of the decreasing number of general practitioners or hospital doctors. This problem has been causing the blurring of distinction between nursing and medicine. If before, identifying a physician from a nurse is easy, now it may be more difficult especially with the parallelism in the work and the tasks that they are completing. The greatest change which was recently made was the power to prescribe. This additional role to nurses allow more avenue for the nurse to offer a more expansive care for the patient.
However, nursing is not all about providing care for the patient. It is also providing the patient the needed education in order to help the patient cope with the diseases or the illness. The nurse teaches the patient and his family on what to do in certain situations. He also educates them on the illness, what it is and what should be done in order to avoid it or if not to limit the negative effects that it may cause. This duty of the nurse is one of his independent functions. No interference of the physician is needed in order to undertake it.
The difference between nursing and medicine can also be reflected in the way they appreciate the medical model. The medical model is all about providing cure for the sickness by the licensed medical worker. Physicians are guided by this model. Only those who are properly licensed can prescribe treatments and drugs for patients. Those who are not cannot make such prescriptions or diagnosis (Loren, n.pag.).
Nurses and physicians are both guided by the medical model, however, the way they appreciate it is different.
The nursing process model has adopted the medical model process using its own terminologies. In the medical model there is assessment while in the nursing model, they have patient assessment or the identification of patient needs and problems. Among the nursing tools used are nursing interview, nursing history and physical examination. Diagnosis, as known in the medical model is known as nursing diagnosis in nursing processes. Diagnostic taxonomies are the implementing tools that are used in this process.
Unlike medical taxonomies, nurses do not use the information they gather in the assessment in formulating the diagnosis of the illness. They instead use it for the formulation of their nursing care plans (Stevens et. Al pp.25-27).
Prognosis in the medical model is known as goal setting in the nursing model. It is through this process that the nursing care plan is developed. Prognosis is a practised guess of the likely health outcome of a certain disease fro the patient. Goal setting on the other hand do not depend on statistical approach but on outcomes. Statistical probabilities and unique individual factors are combined in order to come out with long term goals for the patient (Stevens et. Al pp.25-27).
Another process adopted from the medical model is prescription and this is termed as nursing order and nursing care plans in the nursing model. A good care plan shows both the immediate and long term goals. It also shows a connection between the two-how each is being utilized in order to achieve the other. Care plans are essential because they show continuity in nursing approach and it also helps in identifying the precise components of nursing care that should be employed (Stevens et. Al pp.25-27).
Therapy in the medical model is known as nursing intervention in the nursing model. Routine nursing notes and nursing progress notes are employed in this process. Another process adopted in the medical model is evaluation and this is known as quality assurance in the nursing model. Nursing quality control forms as well as nursing chart audit are used in this process (Stevens, et. Al pp.25-27).
There is a necessity for determining the type of model to be adopted because it serves as a big help in eliminating waste. “ models provide the necessary structure as well as clear information for clinical and final decision making”(Stevens et.al p.33).
In terms of research, the two fields also reflect differences and at the same time similarities. In medicine, the research methods include double blind, case control, randomized controlled trial and the controlled trial. Some of these research methods are also applicable in nursing. These methods provide an avenue for medical and nursing scientists to objectively study the effects of treatment, prevalence of certain diagnoses and prognoses and the etiologic factors. However, nursing is not only limited to these research methods. In addition to those mentioned, nursing also employs research methods of its own. Thus, the research methods employed by nurses are broad enough in scope to cover both medicine and nursing (Lavin et.al p. 3)
In terms of research subject matter, medicine sees diagnosis in terms of disease while in nursing, this is seen in terms of the responses of the human body to health and illness. Medicine defines therapy based on interventions and frequently used drugs for the disease while nursing defines the term based on nursing treatment and interventions. Etiology on the other hand is defined in medicine in accordance with disease etiology while nursing defines it according to the factors which are related to human response to sickness and health (Lavin et.al p. 3).
There are actually many differences between nursing and medicine, however, these differences can only be summed up to one: the approach that they use in dealing with health matters.
Identifying the differences between nursing and medicine is quite a challenging task in the real world as compared when they are just being discussed on paper. An ordinary person would find difficulty identifying specific differences because the tasks and duties have been overlapping. Rarely can one identify which should be done by the nurse and which should be done by the nurse.
The scarcity with health workers has contributed a lot to this phenomenon. If only there are more health workers and people who are willing to become doctors then perhaps, nurses would not be too preoccupied doing works which used to belong to doctors only. However, it is no longer shocking that year by year, the number of people willing to become physicians is decreasing. The path to being one is a long and narrow road and only those who are willing and have the patience and resources can make it through the end.
Becoming a licensed doctor is a struggle. There are so many things that you need to learn and make yourself familiar with. As stated earlier, the responsibilities of a doctor is greater. The life of the patient depends on their knowledge and decision making. If they make the wrong decisions, prescriptions or diagnosis then the life of the patient is placed at risk. Thus, there is a need for medicine students to study hard and familiarize themselves with medicine related matters in order to make the right decisions when they become physicians.
Nurse on the other hand, should also exercise similar care as that of physicians because they are also dealing with the patient’s life. Although their responsibility is less, still if they fail, the consequence is great.
The problem with nursing and medicine is that most decisions are irreversible. Whatever you do or make must be precise because there is no way that such step can be redone if mistakes are committed. Health practitioners are required to exercise utmost care and precision because of the rigidity of their job and the sensitivity of the subject matters that they are dealing with.
References
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