Why Sociology Is Important to Nursing Essay

Words: 969
Pages: 4

1) Introduction

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.

2) Definition of Sociology

“Sociology” comes from the Latin word Socius (companion) and the ending
–ology from the Greek logos (word).

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