Some say the art of caring is a dying art, others say only nurses know how to care. The truth is caring is an essential skill for all health care workers.
The art of caring combined with scientific knowledge and skills are essential factors in providing quality health care and achieving goals of improving outcomes for patients.
Some will argue that only nurses truly understand the art of caring and that otherwise it has become a lost art.
Caring was once seen as a weakness and one of the reasons nurses were looked own upon especially by doctors who were too busy treating and curing patients to spend much time caring.
In some countries, caring is still seen as a weakness, and is one reason why foreign-born nurses often have a hard time adapting to Western culture.
As health care has seen a shift to improving wellness and health status as well as placing more responsibility on patients for their health status, the need to be cared for and the art of caring have seen a renewed emphasis.
The events of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina and the devastating tsunami in Asia in 2005, left many with a hunger to help others and to find a purpose to their lives and their career. Many have turned to health care for career paths to provide that substance to their lives. The art of caring has begun to fill voids.
As a result, health care has seen professional growth as the need for a team approach rose from shifting of roles and responsibilities. Team members such as doctors, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, and patients have developed ways to work together efficiently and to respect each other for their skills and contributions to improved outcomes for patients.
A strong desire to help others and learn the art of caring is an essential quality for anyone seeking a career in health care whether or not your job involves direct patient care.
