Nursing keeps changing.
The role of the nurse grew out of a Christian understanding of the human person as created in the image of God, and viewed the body as a living unity and the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor 6:19). Contemporary nursing, however, is increasingly characterized by a diminished understanding of personhood. The impact on patient care has proven confusing and discouraging to many nurses.
In the revised and expanded Called to Care: A Christian Vision for Nursing, Judith Allen Shelly, Arlene B. Miller, and Kimberly H. Fenstermacher define nursing for today based on a historically and theologically grounded understanding of the nurse's call:
Nursing is a ministry of compassionate care for the whole person, in response to God's grace toward a sinful world, which aims to foster optimum health (shalom) and bring comfort in suffering and death for anyone in need.
Called to Care asserts that nursing is a vocation, giving nurses a framework for understanding their mission and living out their calling: service to God through caring for others.
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