Development of Nursing

2. DEFINITION OF NURSING

2.1. Definitions of Nursing by Key Figures

Florence Nightingale (1860)
Florence Nightingale defined nursing as helping the patient recover by using the environment. She believed things like clean air, proper lighting, warmth, cleanliness, and good nutrition could support healing.

"Nursing is the act of using the environment to help the patient recover.


Virginia Henderson (1966)
Virginia Henderson was one of the first modern nurses to define nursing. She defined nursing as the unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well in the performance of those activities contributing to the health or its recovery. (or to peaceful death). It means the client would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge and to do such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible.

In 1966, Henderson described nursing in relation to client and the client’s environment as compared to nightingale, Henderson saw the nurse as concerned with both the healthy and the ill individual.