250- Defining Nursing questions and answers
25/2026
ANA Definition of Nursing - Answer protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities,
prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human
response; and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities and populations
ICN Definition of Nursing - Answer encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all
ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion
of health; prevention of illness; and the care of ill, disabled, and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a
safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems
management, and education are also key nursing roles.
expert clinical nursing - Answer application of knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, and clinical experience.
ability to interpret clinical situations and make complex decisions
Nurses are not paid for what they do - Answer paid for how they THINK, nursing education makes you
"Think Like A Nurse"
Critical Thinking in Nursing - Answer Purposeful, goal directed thinking for clinical decision making
Clinical Decision Making - Answer strategies used to understand the significance of data, identify real
and potential patient problems and choose the best actions to achieve desired outcomes
Goal - Answer to make decisions that enhance CLIENT SAFETY & WELL-BEING
Factors that influence decision making in nursing - Answer The nature of nursing practice, (school nurse
vs. ICU)
The Nurse (all different),
The health care system, (always changing)
The patient (ea pt is own community)
Legal and ethical principles (must follow)
, Historical Development- Religious - Answer Religious influences:
-values: self denial, devotion to duty, hard work
-Angel of Mercy
Historical Development - Military - Answer Florence Nightingale: Crimean War, 1st nurse researcher,
kept tallies of pts (clean, dirty, etc), 1st epidemiologist, advocated fresh air cleanliness, nutrition,
hydration
-her pts were VERY ill, not rich
-designed first nursing school
-decreased mortality rate 42%-2.2% in crimean war hospitals
More Military Influences - Answer American Civil War - Clara Barton > Red Cross
Dorothy Adix > open hospitals
-Values: submission to authority, conformity
Historical Dev - Education - Answer originally controlled by hospitals in 1800s-1900s
-AMA Committee on "Training of Nurses" 1869, wanted all the same, Linda Richards developed the first
true nursing schools
Edu Cont - Answer 1923- Goldmark Report > quality of nursing edu directly related to qual of pt care
Yale SON first autonomous school (not in hosp)
-1934 - frist PhD prog in nursing NYU
-1965- ANA recommends BSN for entry
First NP program in US - Univ of Colorado
Contemporary Nursing Practice - Nursing Education Today - Answer RN - diploma programs, few,
hospital based (school nurses, residential homes)
-associate degree programs (ADN)
-baccalaureate degree programs (BSN) > hospitals need to get magna status so bridge programs
common (RN>BSN)
25/2026
ANA Definition of Nursing - Answer protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities,
prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human
response; and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities and populations
ICN Definition of Nursing - Answer encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all
ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion
of health; prevention of illness; and the care of ill, disabled, and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a
safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems
management, and education are also key nursing roles.
expert clinical nursing - Answer application of knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, and clinical experience.
ability to interpret clinical situations and make complex decisions
Nurses are not paid for what they do - Answer paid for how they THINK, nursing education makes you
"Think Like A Nurse"
Critical Thinking in Nursing - Answer Purposeful, goal directed thinking for clinical decision making
Clinical Decision Making - Answer strategies used to understand the significance of data, identify real
and potential patient problems and choose the best actions to achieve desired outcomes
Goal - Answer to make decisions that enhance CLIENT SAFETY & WELL-BEING
Factors that influence decision making in nursing - Answer The nature of nursing practice, (school nurse
vs. ICU)
The Nurse (all different),
The health care system, (always changing)
The patient (ea pt is own community)
Legal and ethical principles (must follow)
, Historical Development- Religious - Answer Religious influences:
-values: self denial, devotion to duty, hard work
-Angel of Mercy
Historical Development - Military - Answer Florence Nightingale: Crimean War, 1st nurse researcher,
kept tallies of pts (clean, dirty, etc), 1st epidemiologist, advocated fresh air cleanliness, nutrition,
hydration
-her pts were VERY ill, not rich
-designed first nursing school
-decreased mortality rate 42%-2.2% in crimean war hospitals
More Military Influences - Answer American Civil War - Clara Barton > Red Cross
Dorothy Adix > open hospitals
-Values: submission to authority, conformity
Historical Dev - Education - Answer originally controlled by hospitals in 1800s-1900s
-AMA Committee on "Training of Nurses" 1869, wanted all the same, Linda Richards developed the first
true nursing schools
Edu Cont - Answer 1923- Goldmark Report > quality of nursing edu directly related to qual of pt care
Yale SON first autonomous school (not in hosp)
-1934 - frist PhD prog in nursing NYU
-1965- ANA recommends BSN for entry
First NP program in US - Univ of Colorado
Contemporary Nursing Practice - Nursing Education Today - Answer RN - diploma programs, few,
hospital based (school nurses, residential homes)
-associate degree programs (ADN)
-baccalaureate degree programs (BSN) > hospitals need to get magna status so bridge programs
common (RN>BSN)
