Nursing is the art of caring for any human being who is ill, helping to prevent disease and promoting health. This care includes both the mental and the physical welfare of the patient and is carried out under the supervision of a doctor. It demands strict discipline and obedience to all his instructions.
The home and community health caregiver should be taught that nursing has preventive, promotive, curative, as well as rehabilitative aspects. This is consistent involving in health education, inter-family primary health care and good neighborhood assistants. It is the purpose of this course to train those who wish to learn the basic principles of this art so that they may be of invaluable assistance to the sick whether at home, old-age home or any fragile health care institute. The home and community health caregiver is given the important duty of caring for the patient with regards to observation of the patient, taking and charting TPR, administration of prescribed medicine, bed-making, bed-bath, care of the mouth, pressure sores and other important basic nursing techniques. The procedures are vital to the comfort of the ill patient, as his bed is often his home for long periods.
The importance and value of these comforts and the role of the home and community health caregiver in this respect cannot be over-emphasized.