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As an introduction, generally, sociology is mainly the study of society, communities and people whereas nursing is a profession which focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, maintaining and recovering optimal health and functioning. In this assignment, I will describe the definition of Sociology, the definition of nursing and explain why sociology is very important and is relevant to nursing practice. I hope this assignment will show the relevance of sociology to nursing practice and that will develop more professional and very reliable nurses. ) Definition of Sociology “Sociology” comes from the Latin word Socius (companion) and the ending –ology from the Greek logos (word). At a very general level, Sociology can be understood as the study of society as society itself has a huge influence on what we do, how we think and who we are. Sociology is essentially the study of people, by people – how people form cultures, societies, organizations, laws, beliefs, families, religions, and all other aspects of human life. Sociology reflects a wide range of differing views about how the world can be analyzed.
People are social creatures who require the existence and actions of others in order to survive. People are the producers of society, but they are also the products of society. Instead of simply accepting society as it exists, with all its inequalities and injustices, Sociology helps people make sense of why these inequalities exist, assists in challenging the norms of any society, and aids in changing the inequalities that still occur. 3) Definition of Nursing “Nursing” is concerned with caring for people throughout the spans of life, and all points on the continuum between sickness and health.
Nursing is a profession in its own right. At such it has the right and responsibility to govern its own practice and professional affairs, and accepts commitments to the society in accordance with professional ethics. Generally, nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people.
Hence, teaching healthcare towards common people is an important nursing function as nursing is involved mostly with health promotion, health maintenance, health restoration and the care of dying. These are the qualities which are essential and required by society nowadays. 4) Why is sociology important to nursing practice? Sociology is just as valuable and important to nursing as is psychology is. Sociology helps a nurse understand what makes people “tick” the same way psychology does. The only difference is that sociology does it from a “group” or “community” perspectives.
Sociology explores the issues of genders, social classes, stratification, families and economic policies which have impacts on health care and nursing. The information gleaned by even a cursory study in those fields could contribute toward being a kinder and gentler nurse. All of above are important because besides medical knowledge, a nurse really needs to be kind, sympathetic and compassionate. In addition, there are currently many ethical questions in medicine which can be partially covered through the study of sociology such as social welfare disaster such as homelessness.
Sociology will give a nurse knowledge and experience on how to deal with everyone better and to give the nurse better understanding with his or her patients. Sociology combined with nursing will help the nurses to develop responses and solutions. In relevance to nursing, it is very important for a nurse, when listening to the patients that the nurse must understand where the patients are coming from. Nurses have to understand and be aware of the various structures of society in order to clearly hear the patients’ thoughts or feelings.
For examples, someone who is raised in a stable and high income family will have a complete different aspects and thoughts on capital gains tax than someone who is raised in government housing with lower income. Or the nurse may be dealing with a very spoiled person who has had everything handed to them over dealing with a person who had to go to work at 10 years old to help put food on the table. Sociology also helps and teaches nurses to relate to his or her patients, co-workers, and the doctors the nurse will be working with.
It will give the nurses knowledge on how to deal with everyone better and to give the nurse better understanding with the patients. Sociology may help nurses to achieve their primary objectives which are good patient care, to show how nursing can contribute to sociology and to indicate some conditions for a healthy relationship between the two activities. It is also suggested that nursing education should encourage more critical thinking, to enliven nurses’ appreciation of what sociology has to offer, and to improve their ability to evaluate the quality of health care.
It is suggested that current patterns of disease and dependency increase the importance of the care model, and that nursing could play a crucial role in such a shift of emphasis. Having shown that sociology can make positive contributions to nursing. 5) Conclusion As a conclusion, the study of Sociology can be respected to be very important and relevant to nursing practice. Sociology researches and studies are benefiting to nursing practice as sociology have made different approaches in various patient care settings as mentioned earlier.
The study of sociology by nurses could unite communities and respect individuals without discriminating their race, social classes, religion, and skin colors. Although challenging, sociology have helped to develop the nurses’ skills in patient-nurse communications and this motivate the development of critical responses and solutions of the nurses. Finally, Sociology has provided a stable foundation for the nurses to more perform efficiently, reliably and professionally as the nurses have become more attentive and knowledgeable of their surroundings and also to their patients.