The Art of Nursing in Public Health

Abstract

The art of nursing helps nurses express aspects of their work that may not be articulated through other ways of knowing including empirics, personal knowing or ethical knowledge. This qualitative descriptive study was conducted to discover how public health nurses (PHNs) describe the art of nursing within their practice. There are many aspects of public health nursing that are ambiguous and difficult to measure, making the art of nursing in public health a challenging yet vital concept to understand. Seven participants described the art of nursing in public health through semi-structured interviews and follow-up e-mail correspondence with the researcher. Data analysis was completed using qualitative content analysis and involving coding, categorizing, and thematizing to understand meaning. Results provide insight into the ways that PHNs express and enact the less tangible aspects of their practice and improve understanding into how artful public health nursing practice can be fostered.