Nurses And The Practice Of Nursing - 908 Words

INTRODUCTION Most professions are identified, recognized, and associated with certain concepts and terminologies that define the particular profession. For the nursing profession, the concepts of health, illness, disease, disability, and wellness are words that most people use to define the role nurses and the practice of nursing. A better understanding of the definition of these terminologies would provide a framework by which clinicians could build upon to create effective practices, educate patients and families and provide awareness to the community resulting in a healthier society.†¦show more content†¦As a nurse, this writer believes that having a sound mind and body is equivalent to being a healthy person. Thus, for this writer, a person who is healthy has all the capacity to be a productive member of society. The foregoing concept of health exemplifies the role performance model definition of health, e.g., the individual is able to keep up with family and society’s e xpectation of the person (Edelman, Kudzma, Mandle, 2014). The concept of wellness on the other hand, highlights the positive characteristic of health. Like health, wellness is a state; however, it connotes a more fluid condition; that moves from the two extremes of a continuum. However, wellness is open to an outsider’s perception of the person, e.g., one does not look well. From the standpoint of this writer, health and wellness are synonymous. This writer values health because it disposes her to be well to function to her fullest capacity. Lastly, disease, illness, and disability, all relate to a condition of a want, a disorder, or an imbalance. For this writer, having a disease, being ill, or disabled is equal to inability to function and fulfill responsibilities to her family and employer. This would explain the predominant health behavior as