What does nursing mean?
Nursing is the care and support given to people who are sick, injured, elderly, or otherwise unable to meet their own needs. In modern usage, it most often refers to the profession and practice of caring for patients, including monitoring health, administering treatment, and helping people recover. Nursing also has the older and still familiar meaning of breastfeeding a baby. The word can be used more broadly for the process of caring for or fostering someone's growth, although that meaning is less common today. As a field, nursing combines medical training with observation, practical judgment, communication, and compassion. It is a central part of healthcare and is associated with hospitals, clinics, care homes, and community health services. The term is used similarly in British and American English, with no major regional difference in its principal meanings.
nounThe practice or profession of caring for people who are sick, injured, or otherwise in need of medical or nursing care. It can also refer to the act of breastfeeding a baby.
- The profession or practice of caring for sick, injured, or otherwise dependent people.
- The act of breastfeeding a baby.
- The process of being cared for or trained in a nurturing environment, especially in the sense of being brought up or developed.
"She devoted her career to nursing and worked in a children's hospital."
"Nursing requires a combination of medical knowledge, practical skill, and compassion."
"The baby was still nursing when the mother returned to work."
The plural is rare; the word is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The study compared different models of nursing in rural communities."
From nourishing a child's growth to caring for a patient's recovery, nursing covers the acts that keep people alive and thriving.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does nursing come from?
Nursing comes from the verb nurse, which originally meant to nourish or bring up a child. The verb developed through Middle English from Old English norrīan, ultimately related to Latin nutrix, meaning a nurse or foster mother, and to the Latin verb nutrire, meaning to nourish. The same broad root is reflected in words such as nourish, nurture, nutrition, and nutritious. In the sense of caring for sick people, nursing developed during the professionalization of nursing care in the 19th century.
Related word forms
How nursing is actually used
In its professional sense, nursing is usually uncountable and refers to the work or profession as a whole. In the breastfeeding sense, it is also commonly uncountable. The word is used in both British and American English.
Easily confused with nursing
Nursing refers primarily to caring for people who need health or medical support, whereas nurture means to foster someone's development or wellbeing over time.