The act of instinctive nursing per se like a mother to her child obviously does not require a nursing degree. Same is true when one takes care or nurses a spouse, one’s parents, a friend or a close relative.   However, to provide nursing services to people as a source of living or a profession to which one is paid for the services, apparently requires a nursing degree.

Professional nursing is not a simple case of administering medicines or handing over instruments needed by a doctor conducting surgery.  It is a job that involves knowledge about healthcare and healthcare provisions.  It is a job that involves intricate services that require comprehensive health and medical care background such as  monitoring symptoms of patients’ conditions and vital signs, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests, preparing patients for medical exam or surgical operation, evaluate the needs of patients and relatives, instruct patients and relatives on how to take care of patient needs at home,  administer medication, inhalation, injection, anesthetics, and conduct specific lab tests, and a whole lot of more.  For obvious reasons, a nurse must have a thorough knowledge of medicine in order to effective carry its functions.  For instance, how can a nurse evaluate the condition of a patient as part of its report monitoring if the person has no idea about the illness of the patient or what symptoms or signs indicate that the patient is improving or worsening.   How can a nurse properly administer medication if one is not knowledgeable on operating or using pharmaceutical devices?

A nurse needs to have a degree to ensure that he or she has the necessary educational background and training, to execute one’s designated tasks and functions.  The need for a degree has in fact become more and more necessary because as medical science advances, so to must healthcare practitioners keep themselves knowledgeable and familiar with these latest knowledge about nursing.  Knowledge about these things is not as simple as watching a movie and learning its plot.  It takes study because new knowledge today entails understanding of older knowledge, thus resulting to a long term study like college and earning the diploma that says that one has successfully learned these things.

Part of requirements for attaining a nursing degree is to understand by heart the nature of the profession.  In particular, compassion and patient safety should be central in the practice of the nursing profession.  The learning for caring of humans using a human heart is integral in attaining a nursing degree.   Nurses must learn that they are not just repairing machines like auto mechanics.  Nurses deal with humans with dignity.  And instilling this by heart is part and parcel of the requirement for obtaining a nursing degree.