NURSING 202 EXAM 2 CHAPTER 5 | COMPREHENSIVE STUDY GUIDE, NCLEX-
STYLE PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
Why Define Nursing? - correct answer ✔✔-definitions clarify purposes and functions
-differentiate nursing from other health occupations
-influence health policy at local, state, and national levels
-focus educational curricula and research agendas
Definitions clarify purposes and functions - correct answer ✔✔-defining nursing assists people
to grasp its nuances, many of which are not readily observable
Definitions differentiate nursing from other health occupations - correct answer ✔✔-5 mil.
health care providers in more than 80 different occupations represent approximately 60% of all
health care providers
-these resulting costs figured greatly into the redesign of the health care system over the past
decade and required the redefining of roles within the system
-defining nursing is important to avoid losing the core identity of nursing
-keeping nurses in key positions of influence as health care reform takes shape in the next few
years is crucial to fulfilling nursing's social contract with the public
Definitions Influence health policy at local, state, and national levels - correct answer ✔✔-
without a clear understanding, legislators/regulators cannot institute good health care policy
that maximizes use of nurses' particular skills to protect and improve the health of the public
-a key reason to define nursing is that nursing practice is regulated at the state level
-when the roles are well-defined, legislators can pass progressive laws regulating and expanding
nursing practice
Definitions focus educational curricula and research agendas - correct answer ✔✔-one of the
major determinants of the design is their definition of nursing
, -a definition of nursing provides a good starting point for curriculum development
-without a good definition, deciding what to include in a nursing curriculum and how to
prioritize educational needs would be very difficult and unwieldly
Nightingale Defines Nursing - correct answer ✔✔-was the first person to recognize the
complexities of nursing that led to difficulty in defining it
-during her day, formal education in nursing was just beginning
-became the first person to attempt a written definition of nursing, stating, "And what nursing
has to do ... is put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him"
-informed observation has always been an integral part of the processes of nursing
-was also the first person to differentiate b/t nursing provided by a professional nurse using a
unique body of knowledge and physical care provided by a layperson such as a mother caring
for a sick child
Shaw's Textbook of Nursing definition - correct answer ✔✔"it properly includes, as well as the
execution of specific orders, the administration of food and medicine, the personal care of the
patient"
Harmer's Textbook of the Principles and Practice of Nursing definition - correct answer ✔✔"The
object of nursing is not only to cure the sick ... but to bring health and ease, rest and comfort to
mind and body. Its object is to prevent disease and to preserve health"
Virginia Henderson redefined - correct answer ✔✔"Nursing may be defined as that service to an
individual that helps him to attain or maintain a healthy state of mind or body"
Hildegard Peplau's definition (Post-WW2) - correct answer ✔✔"Nursing is a significant,
therapeutic, interpersonal process ... Nursing is an educative instrument ... that aims to
promote forward movement of personality in the direction of creative, constructive, productive,
personal, and community living"
-reinforced the idea of the patient as an active collaborator in his/her own care
STYLE PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2026/2027
Why Define Nursing? - correct answer ✔✔-definitions clarify purposes and functions
-differentiate nursing from other health occupations
-influence health policy at local, state, and national levels
-focus educational curricula and research agendas
Definitions clarify purposes and functions - correct answer ✔✔-defining nursing assists people
to grasp its nuances, many of which are not readily observable
Definitions differentiate nursing from other health occupations - correct answer ✔✔-5 mil.
health care providers in more than 80 different occupations represent approximately 60% of all
health care providers
-these resulting costs figured greatly into the redesign of the health care system over the past
decade and required the redefining of roles within the system
-defining nursing is important to avoid losing the core identity of nursing
-keeping nurses in key positions of influence as health care reform takes shape in the next few
years is crucial to fulfilling nursing's social contract with the public
Definitions Influence health policy at local, state, and national levels - correct answer ✔✔-
without a clear understanding, legislators/regulators cannot institute good health care policy
that maximizes use of nurses' particular skills to protect and improve the health of the public
-a key reason to define nursing is that nursing practice is regulated at the state level
-when the roles are well-defined, legislators can pass progressive laws regulating and expanding
nursing practice
Definitions focus educational curricula and research agendas - correct answer ✔✔-one of the
major determinants of the design is their definition of nursing
, -a definition of nursing provides a good starting point for curriculum development
-without a good definition, deciding what to include in a nursing curriculum and how to
prioritize educational needs would be very difficult and unwieldly
Nightingale Defines Nursing - correct answer ✔✔-was the first person to recognize the
complexities of nursing that led to difficulty in defining it
-during her day, formal education in nursing was just beginning
-became the first person to attempt a written definition of nursing, stating, "And what nursing
has to do ... is put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him"
-informed observation has always been an integral part of the processes of nursing
-was also the first person to differentiate b/t nursing provided by a professional nurse using a
unique body of knowledge and physical care provided by a layperson such as a mother caring
for a sick child
Shaw's Textbook of Nursing definition - correct answer ✔✔"it properly includes, as well as the
execution of specific orders, the administration of food and medicine, the personal care of the
patient"
Harmer's Textbook of the Principles and Practice of Nursing definition - correct answer ✔✔"The
object of nursing is not only to cure the sick ... but to bring health and ease, rest and comfort to
mind and body. Its object is to prevent disease and to preserve health"
Virginia Henderson redefined - correct answer ✔✔"Nursing may be defined as that service to an
individual that helps him to attain or maintain a healthy state of mind or body"
Hildegard Peplau's definition (Post-WW2) - correct answer ✔✔"Nursing is a significant,
therapeutic, interpersonal process ... Nursing is an educative instrument ... that aims to
promote forward movement of personality in the direction of creative, constructive, productive,
personal, and community living"
-reinforced the idea of the patient as an active collaborator in his/her own care
