Caring is not simply a demonstration of sympathy and empathy for an individual's particular situation, as focusing on such might impair the ability of the nurse to look at long and short-term health goals that could be uncomfortable but might realistically assist the patient to maintain a better quality of life in the near future. Caring for those who are limited in ability to do so themselves, children, soldiers, the poor and the elderly and this is the historical precedence of nursing in general. The text of this course stresses that the development of nursing, like many other caring professions had a great deal to do with the need to provide professional caring to those who were at risk, and lacking the family and economic connection that was the basis for the maintenance of health in earlier times. Urbanization,...

When the nurse seeks to care for the individual she or he then developed a sense that they must balance professionalism and the caring of a family member, with attention to detail and health associated with the knowledge of the medical industry. The skills required for this job have expanded exponentially but the concept of caring has remained the core of the essential role of the nurse, as not only the replacement of family-based care but now the preferred provider of caring practice. (pp. 41-42)