Nursing and the Human Culture

The studies of human culture presents in the nursing field through Humanities courses. Subjects that do not have much relation to nursing have been reconsidered as important and incorporated into nursing as a means to train better nurses. Looking into the branches of Humanities, moreover, you will see that it has subjects that would make nurses knowledgeable on certain issues that aren’t in their nursing curriculum.

One of the branches of humanities is languages. If you know at least one additional language as a medical practitioner, you will have a lot more opportunity as a nurse. Talking to your patient is one thing, but communicating with them in their own language is a higher level of nursing entirely.

Art is a branch in humanities that can be of use when it comes to the nursing profession. Sometimes it takes art to be able to treat a patient, especially when the latter needs special attention. It helps that you can be creative when dealing with your patient. Art can help to open the doors of trust between the nurse and patient. Artistic creativity is a way of thinking that transcends traditional nursing.

Literature is also a study in humanities that is useful in nursing. There are some patients who just can’t stop talking and sharing a their stories. As a nurse, you should be able to handle this type of patient. Sharing an intimate story with them is at times more effective than giving them technical reports about their illnesses. Be prepared and take time to share a line or two.

Philosophy and religion are also main tenets of humanities. This branch in humanities is perfect for those older patients, because these are topics that they usually talk about. If you can join in on the discussion, then you have given them something worthwhile with which to relate to you and their care – something more meaningful to them than administering medicines.

Humanities goes a long way with nursing courses. It makes for a more complete and knowledgeable nurse in return.

Studying the Humanities    

Why is studying the Humanities important? Many have asked that question because to be honest many have also argued that studying the liberal arts or the humanities in general is a complete waste of time. Others would even argue that the Humanities are the unwise path for college students to take because non-technical degrees tend to have unemployment rates compared to those who are studying to be engineers, accountants, or business people.

Dr. Elwood Watson, in his article at diverseeducation.com, has discussed why studying the humanities always will be important. Dr. Watson said, “To minimize the value of the humanities, or any other area of academic inquiry for that matter, to one’s ability to earn an ample salary is to misunderstand the purpose of what such an education is about.”

The humanities provide students with the ability and vital ingredients necessary to think critically and holistically about an overabundance of issues, including business, science and technology for that matter. And, in an article by Scott Samuelson of the Wall Street Journal, businesses and employers were aggressively seeking to employ graduates who possessed “a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly and solve complex problems.” Therefore, discrediting the argument of some about the irrelevance of the humanities and how students who study it will not earn as much as those who study other hard sciences.

In addition, Clayton State University, on its departmental website, listed the top 10 reason for people to study the humanities:

  • To practice the analytical thinking skills you need to be a successful student and employee.
  • To improve your skill at oral and written communication.
  • To see the interconnectedness of all areas of knowledge ― how it all fits together.
  • To develop a global perspective by studying cultures throughout the world.
  • To deepen your understanding and appreciation of other’s cultures and other’s points of view.
  • To support and strengthen your local arts community by learning to appreciate the importance of creativity.
  • To clarify your values by comparing and contrasting them to what others have thought.
  • To deepen your sources of wisdom by learning how others have dealt with failures, success, adversities, and triumphs.
  • To appreciate what is enduring and to be able to tell the difference between the meaningless and the meaningful.
  • To be inspired by some of the greatest minds and thoughts of the ages.

The humanities are the cornerstone of any and complete well-rounded education because it provides a good, solid foundation in critical thinking skills. The importance of the humanities should not be dismissed.

The World Needs Humanities

It seems that colleges everywhere are getting together to speak up for the humanities. A couple of weeks ago, in London and Oxford, an activist humanities conference gathered Oxford, Soas, Delhi, Nanjing and Virginia. Just hours before, in the US, George Washington University huddled with Turkey’s Bogazici and Morocco’s Al Alkhawayn to begin a worldwide humanities initiative. Next month, at Going Global, the biggest yearly worldwide higher education gathering run by the British Council in Miami, ways to mobilize the humanities, will be one of the main subjects of discussion. And the conversation won’t stop at the higher education surfaces. It will need to pay attention to how to move on from the groundhog times of such workshops and to free this discussion from the academia cycle and into that challenging “real world” which the humanities claim to be able to impact and enhance.

humanitiesSo what’s up with our cloistered researchers and philosophers, our fictional experts, classicists and students of the fine, performing and otherwise liberal arts? Clearly there’s some gathering worldwide anxiety within the academia and it’s mainly around the problems of getting wider public identification for the two beliefs about humanities that are encouraging these discussions. The first conviction is that humanities graduates are very employable and are qualified with exclusive abilities which bring serious benefits to the world of work. Last week saw phone calls in the UK to decrease the expenses for learners of technological innovation and mathematics in order to generate a bigger pool of certified graduates, particularly to educate these crucial subjects in educational institutions.

At the same time in the US, we can see the obverse of that harmless purpose. Political figures in Texas are suggesting that liberal arts learners should anticipate paying full charges and more, with no suspicion of subsidy. Their conversation is that such research is self-indulgence and of no forward value to community, so there’s no reason why such niceties as art appreciation, the history of Russia or the theologies of Hinduism should be openly reinforced. Instead, resources should be completely devoted to STEM subjects (science, technological innovation, engineering and mathematics) and business studies.

Humanities Course to Employment

A new research by Georgetown University discovered that career rates for higher education graduates with humanities degrees were on par with those in the mathematical and computer fields. The review shown hiring on Hound.com, where many jobs continue to value and require the broad-based abilities highlighted in liberal arts programs, such as reading, composing, and interaction. A latest research performed by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Employees, published May 29, 2013 and examined career styles among higher education students, depending on data from 2010 to 2011. The research discovered that degree-holding job-seekers continued to improve than their counterparts: an unemployment rate for higher education graduates was 4.6-4.7 percent for those 25 years and older, while those without at least a bachelor’s degree had an unemployment rate of 9-10 percent or more than double. For those who followed graduate studies, the unemployment rate dropped even further, to 3.3 percent.

humanitiesInterestingly, the review discovered that unemployment rates for certain humanities and social sciences degrees were comparable to certain computer and arithmetic degrees. The unemployment rate for information technology degrees, at 8.7 percent, was only a little bit reduced than the rate for English and lit degrees, at 9.8 percent. In some areas of study, humanities degrees actually had the leg up on career over their more technical and science-based alternatives. English degrees (9.8 percent) and history, spiritual research, and philosophy degrees (9.5 percent) had reduced unemployment rates than information research degrees (14.7 percent).

The results countered the common argument that technology and mathematical degrees, without exception, tend to have better job prospects compared to humanities and liberal arts students. While most humanities programs do not directly convert into a specific job description, many graduates are finding that the abilities highlighted in these liberal arts programs do carry over into the working world. Many careers, such as marketing, literature, and composing, award the high-level interaction abilities that are taught and perfected in college-level humanities courses.