nurse
Meaning of nurse: The title covers many levels of training and licensure, and what a nurse may legally do is set by the jurisdiction, not the word.
Definition of nurse
A nurse is a licensed health professional who provides direct care to people who are ill, injured or recovering, and who works to prevent illness and support health. The role covers assessing and monitoring patients, giving medicines and treatments, coordinating the rest of the care team, and explaining what is happening to patients and families.
How does someone become a nurse?
Routes differ by country, and there is no single international pathway. In the United States a registered nurse qualifies through a hospital diploma program, a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor's degree, and then passes a national licensing examination before a state board grants a license; a shorter program leads to the separate licensed practical or vocational nurse role. In the United Kingdom and much of Europe the route is a university nursing degree followed by entry on a national register. Elsewhere the balance between hospital-based and university-based training differs again. What the qualification permits is set by the licensing body, so a task that is routine for a nurse in one jurisdiction may be outside the scope of the same title in another.
What do nurses actually do?
Nursing work runs from bedside observation to running a clinic. It includes assessing a person on arrival and repeatedly afterward, noticing the change in breathing or alertness that precedes a deterioration, giving medicines and checking their effects, dressing wounds, managing lines and drains, and preparing people for procedures and receiving them afterward. Much of it is coordination: nurses hold the thread between the different clinicians involved and are usually the ones who explain, in ordinary words, what a diagnosis or a treatment plan actually means. Nurses work in hospitals, clinics, schools, workplaces, care homes, prisons, public health services and people's own homes.
How do the nursing roles differ?
| Role | What distinguishes it |
|---|---|
| Licensed practical or vocational nurse | Shorter training, works under the direction of a registered nurse or physician |
| Registered nurse | Full nursing license, assesses and plans care independently within scope |
| Advanced practice nurse | Graduate education and an expanded scope |
| Specialty nurse | A registered nurse with additional certification in one field |
The advanced group includes the nurse practitioner, the clinical nurse specialist, the certified nurse midwife and the nurse anesthetist, all of whom fall under the heading of the advanced practice nurse. Specialty certification is different again: an oncology nurse, for example, remains a registered nurse but has completed additional training in cancer care.
Used in a sentence
The nurse monitored the patient's vital signs throughout the recovery period following the procedure.
Good to know
A registered nurse and a nurse practitioner differ in training and scope of practice, since a nurse practitioner completes additional graduate education that allows a broader role in diagnosing and managing disease.
Word origin
Where “nurse” comes from
From Old French norrice, ultimately from Latin nutrire, meaning to nourish or suckle.