Health: Nursing Overview

Health care refers to services provided by medical professionals aimed at promoting physical and mental welfare, through the prevention, treatment, and management of illness

Modern medicine emerged in the nineteenth century, when the development of the germ theory of disease, the discovery of anesthesia to control the pain of surgery, and improved sanitation began to curb the horrors of infectious diseases.

Nurses are the largest single group of staff working in the health service.

Field of medicine and hygiene dealing with the prevention of disease and the promotion of health by government agencies

Nursing is a discipline that is critical to the health and welfare of all nations and the backbone of any health care system. Without a sufficient supply of nurses to care for the public’s needs, the public’s health is at risk.

Vital signs, by definition, are a person’s temperature, pulse, respiration rate, and blood pressure (BP). These signs reflect the status of a person’s circulatory, respiratory, neurological, and endocrine functions.

Hospitals are the centerpiece of U.S. healthcare. Hospitals are multipurpose healthcare institutions. They provide a place for physicians and other clinicians to treat patients, for special diagnostic and treatment services, and for emergency care services.

The nursing home industry remains an important part of the health care continuum, providing housing and health care services to more than 1.5 million older adults in the United States

From Nursing leadership Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are registered nurses (RNs) with advanced educational and clinical preparation. APRNs include clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), certified nurse–midwives (CNMs), and nurse practitioners (NPs)

From Encyclopedia of nursing research As a specialty within the nursing profession, emergency nursing encompasses care of individuals across the life span, seeking help for perceived or actual physical or emotional alterations of health that require emergent or nonemergent interventions

From Webster's new world Medical Dictionary
A trained person who assists women during childbirth. Many midwives also provide prenatal care for pregnant women, birth education for women and their partners, and care for mothers and newborn babies after the birth.

From The Gale encyclopedia of nursing and Allied Health
Nurse anesthetists, or certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), are advanced practice registered nurses with specialized graduate level education, training, and certification in anesthesiology.

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health Broadly defined, an NP is an advanced practice registered nurse who has attained a formal NP education, primarily at the master's degree level.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Health-care professional who provides patient services ranging from taking medical histories and doing physical examinations to performing minor surgical procedures

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
Registered nurses, or RNs, are health care professionals who work as part of health care teams to promote health and prevent and treat disease.

The branch of medicine concerned with conditions and diseases of the aged.

From Encyclopedia of nursing research The goal of palliative care is to prevent and relieve suffering and to support the best possible quality of life for patients and their families, regardless of the stage of the disease or the need for other therapies.