Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Nursing held an event titled “The Power of Nursing Care During the Pandemic Process”. During the program, nursing and the power of nursing care were discussed from many perspectives.
The guests of the event, moderated by Prof. Dr. Besti Üstün, a faculty member at Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, were Prof. Dr. Süreyya Karagöz, Head of Bilgi University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Kol, a faculty member at Akdeniz University Faculty of Nursing.
Prof. Dr. Süreyya Karagöz: “I Am Moving the Definition of Nursing Beyond Rote Learning”
Referring to the meaning of care in nursing, Prof. Dr. Süreyya Karagöz said: “To understand nursing, one first needs to answer the question, ‘How does a person become healthy?’ Why do people get sick? What is care? Is it possible to make people healthy with care? Can I do this? If I'm not doing it, why am I not doing it? One needs to ask these questions. When I answer these questions, I can actually understand my job better. I am moving the definition of nursing beyond rote learning.”
“To understand the world, we need to start with ourselves”
Stating that understanding nursing involves understanding life, and to understand life, we must first start with ourselves, Karagöz said: “Understanding and finding meaning is a characteristic of being human. We are beings who come into the world to be human, and therefore we have differences from animals. Because we want to understand and give meaning to ourselves, our work, the world we live in, and everything that happens in it. Because none of us want a relationship, a job, or a world that we find meaningless. Therefore, understanding and finding meaning has an important place in human life. We see that everything we try to understand and find meaning in is related to each other. For example, when I understand myself, I understand humans. When I understand humans, I understand my profession. In fact, to understand the world, we need to start with ourselves.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Kol: “Integrated care has been adopted”
Making statements on ‘The Visibility of Nursing Care’, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Kol said: “Care has come a long way. We are much further ahead compared to the years 96-97. Initially, our care was task-oriented. Everything, from arranging the environment to keeping the patient's room clean, was assigned to us as tasks by physicians. We also had tasks assigned by managers, such as being cheerful, managing the clinic, and not making mistakes with materials. We performed these tasks without thinking, like rote learning. Like twisting screws in a factory. At that time, there was no need to think about these things; someone would tell you, and you would do it, without needing to take responsibility. Thus, you wouldn't be responsible for any mistakes made. However, after a while, integrated care was adopted. Nurses slowly began to question things.”
“I See Nursing Like My Child”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Kol, speaking about the power and possibilities of care, said: “Our laws and regulations, our areas of specialization, our organized structures, our lobbying-friendly working areas, and many other things constitute our strength. Today, there are many disciplines without laws and regulations. They are striving to acquire them, but we obtained ours long, long ago. We have even revised them according to our needs, determining what we deal with and which areas are our specialties. We have organized structures, and this is a great power of ours. But only if we can succeed in using it. We have working areas suitable for lobbying. I attach great importance to lobbying. I see nursing as if it were my child, and I actually praise the nursing profession everywhere.”