Sociology and Nursing

Question: Can sociology Enhance Nursing? Answer: Introduction The essence of sociology in the practice of nursing has been a contentious matter. Nursing is a major caring profession; and as such, sociologists have greatly shown their interest in health care. The sociological interest of nursing insists that patients should be cared for holistically. Nursing dwells on the biological composition of an individual while sociology insists that things are not always what they seem. This part of the paper describes sociology, nursing and answers the question of whether sociology can enhance nursing. Sociology is described as study of human institutions and their relationships. Giddens (1986, p.4) define sociology simply as study of human life. The subject matter of sociology is diverse as it ranges from religion to crime, from state to family, from the beliefs shared about common culture to divisions of social class and race, and from radical change to social stability within the society. In order to unify all these subjects, sociology aims at understanding the manner in which consciousness and human action shape and are shaped by social and cultural structures. Nursing includes promoting health, preventing illnesses, caring for the ill, the dying and the disabled (Smith and Todd, 1978, p.5). It also includes promoting safe environment, participation in health policy designs, health systems management as well as education. According to Mills (1959), there exist two types of sociological knowledge that is relevant to nursing, that is, sociology in nursing and sociology of nursing . These two types make the ordinary daily activities of nurses to be viewed differently. Sociology can enhance nursing. This is because it urges individuals to view the daily processes and states of nurses in a different manner. Sociology leads people to view nursing beyond the obvious by making them seek for explanation. According to Giddens (1986, p.5), sociology makes nurses to realize the fact that the patients they care for are individuals with social, family and economic problems that result to or contribute to their illnesses. This makes them realize that patients conditions may not just be merely other diseases, but they may be sociological conditions. Sociology requires that nurses to appreciate economic and social relationships and how such relationships affect the world that people live in (Field, 1988, 298). In contrast to biomedicine that emphasizes on the same biological make-up of an individual, sociology makes nurses to question the familiar assumptions and expectations, thereby making such familiarity to be viewed in an entirely new perspective. In conclusion, sociology enhances nursing by ensuring that it increases nurses understanding of psychological and social needs of the patients. This understanding ensures that nurses care for their patients holistically rather than looking at the biological side only (Mills, 1959). Sociology makes nurses to achieve sociological imagination. That way, nurses would gain the ability to shift their thinking from a certain perspective to another and possess a particular quality of mind that is open to various interpretations of phenomena. References Field A. (1988). Teaching Sociology in UK medical Schools. Medical Education 22: 294-300 Giddens A, (1986). Sociology: A Brief but Critical Introduction. Macmillan London. Mills C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Penguin, Harmondsworth Smith G, Todd F. (1978). Inter-relating nursing care and the Social Sciences: Specialist Disciplines in an applied Course. International Journal of Nursing Studies 15: 143- 9