This blog post was found on LinkedIn, by Ali Fakher, BSN, RN, Nursologist originally posted June 14, 2026. Read his complete blog post and other postings at THIS LINK.
For years, I participated in the same conversation many nurses know well.
We debated caring.
We debated compassion.
We debated professional identity.
We debated whether nursing is a science, an art, or both.
Yet the more I examined healthcare systems, patient outcomes, and nursing theory, the more a different question began to bother me:
What exactly disappears when nursing disappears?
Not nurses.
Not nursing tasks.
Not nursing jobs.
But nursing itself.
That question led me down a path I did not expect.
And the answer may have profound implications for the future of nursing as a scientific discipline.
The Problem With How We Usually Define Nursing
Traditionally, nursing has often defined itself through what nurses do:
- Caring
- Educating
- Advocating
- Coordinating
- Supporting
- Monitoring
These activities are undoubtedly important.
But there is a scientific problem.
Virtually every healthcare profession can claim some version of these functions.
Physicians educate.
Social workers advocate.
Psychologists support.
Physical therapists coordinate rehabilitation.
If nursing’s identity is built primarily around activities, then nursing remains vulnerable to a persistent question:
What is the unique phenomenon that nursing exists to understand better than any other discipline?
(please go to the LinkedIn article to review the rest of these thoughts and insights.)
