The essence of nursing

pneumonia and with that breakthrough, a whole therapeutic industry was born. As our technical knowledge grows exponentially we are forced to adapt our cultural, social, political and ethical frameworks in the wake of such profound changes. It is in this context of global change, both frightening and exhilarating, that contemporary nursing finds itself. Weathered by history and tradition, professional nursing as a social phenomenon is a relative latecomer to the human stage. Although every society has its own methods and traditions around caring for the sick and dying, it is only within the last 100 years that an organised approach to nursing has appeared. What the building blocks for nursing were and whether they remain today, forms part of the debate in this article. Indeed, the search for the essence of nursing takes on millennium-type proportions, challenging us to consider what we should be cherishing as we move into a new century. Like all quests, communicating the essence of nursing will be familiar yet at times unrecognisable, riddled with paradox, sublimely simple, yet deeply complex, frustrating and at the same time satisfying. While history and personal experience will inform the journey, I will attempt to offer sound arguments and research evidence to defend my perspective. What is important is to be able to distil out those essential elements and to safeguard them over time, transmitting them through generations by word and deed. In doing so, those parts of stereotypes that are authentic can remain intact and other less helpful parts can be discarded. Similarly, in the wake of wider social and political change, decisions can be made around the appropriate statutory and legal frameworks, As the clock ticks on towards the inevitability of the millennium, more and more emphasis will be placed upon the meaning of the event. Imagine the world’s population engaged in collective reflection on the purpose of life, the meaning of suffering, the quest for wealth, the eradication of poverty and disease and the desire for happiness. Whether we like it or not, whether we personally wish to engage in these collective reflections or not, we will be caught up in a period of analysis. Add to this the surreal knowledge that the world’s computers might not make the move from the 20th to the 21st century and we have a quite fantastic plot for a science fiction story. The reality is, however, that in a world becoming more standardised, where more and more people can access far-flung corners through travel and technology, increasingly more individuals are feeling alienated. We are living longer than at any point in human history but universally, we seem less able to cope with frailty and death. With the rise of modern medicine, we expect to be fitter, younger, sexier and healthier than ever before. We expect science to work miracles for us. The idea of manufacturing a sheep from its own cell would have seemed ridiculous ten years ago and we hardly notice when news bulletins report on the first arm and hand transplant. Similarly, when researchers implant microchips deep into the brain cells of two quadriplegic patients and report that they can use their own thoughts to work a word processor, we hardly know how to respond to the significance of the event. The triumphs of science and technology seem to diminish the importance of other experiences. We forget that it was a mere 50 years ago that the first sulphonamides were used to treat key words