Gaarder and Moller as well as Okasha have written books that raise the issue of the actual definition of the term nursing. After reading the two books and watching a film dubbed, The Examined Life compiled by Astra Taylor, the issue of nursing being a science or an art lingers in one’s mind. Upon relating the two readings and the film with the discipline of nursing, one might claim that nursing is more of a science than an art. Nursing involves looking after patients and this process entails the utilization of art and science through hypothetical perceptions and conscious dedication to the art of caring as a character of nursing. In his book, Okasha describes how induction is used to establish the foundation of numerous theories. Theorists use a small number of subjects to come up with arguments supporting their theories (Okasha, 2002). The same case applies in the nursing field. Nurses use their experience to address the challenges facing their patients. In most cases, they rely on scientific research to come up with the most appropriate mechanisms of taking care of different patients. Nurses make most of their conclusions based on past experiments. In most cases, they do not have concrete evidence about the steps they take in treating their patients.
According to The Examined Life, a movie directed by Astra Taylor, people make their assumptions based on their long time observations. For instance, Mr. Zizek uses the term “conservative” to express his long time observation about how people work hard not to change the world, but to interpret it (Taylor, 2008). The same case applies to the nursing career. A majority of the suppositions made in the nursing field emanate from observations made over a long time. This makes nursing more of a scientific field than an art.
Nurses deserve cognitive learning
The nursing career requires individuals with great exposure to different situations. Nurses that have limited experience in certain illnesses end up not serving their patients as expected. It is not amazing to see nurses who performed well in their courses fail to deliver in the field. Good grades do not matter in the actual field. What matters is the experience that an individual has in the nursing industry. This aspect underlines the reason why nurses should undertake cognitive learning. From the book by Gaarder and Moller, it is evident that the experience, which an individual has and not the number of books that a person has read, measures learning. In a bid to make sure that Sophie learns the history of philosophy, Alberto takes her through numerous lessons where he poses varied philosophical questions to guide her in the study. Besides, Alberto employs different reasoning methods during the study (Gaarder & Moller, 2007). The book underscores the importance of cognitive learning.
Whenever a nurse fails to deliver in the workplace, s/he is not the failure. Rather than blaming the nurse, the blame should rest on the system of study that the nurse went through. Therefore, to ensure that nurses cope with the challenging tasks at their working places, they are supposed to go through a learning process that encourages them to evaluate the prevailing situations in different dimensions before coming up with a certain decision. For nurses to offer quality care to their patients, they need to have a clear understanding of why and what they are doing. Therefore, if the system of learning does not promote this aspect, we should not blame nurses who pass in class, but fail to deliver at the workplace. Instead, we should change the system of learning to make sure that it equips nurses with the relevant practical skills.
References
Gaarder, J., & Moller, P. (2007). Sophie’s World: A novel about the history of philosophy. New York, NY: Berkley Books.
Okasha, D. (2002). Philosophy of science: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, A. (Executive Producer). (2009). Examined Life [Film]. Canada, Sphinx Productions.