People, individually and as members of families and communities, are major foci of nursing. Persons exist and are influenced by a dynamic, complex, and multidimensional environment. There are reciprocal interactions between persons and their environment. Imbalances in this relationship may cause alterations in health. Professional nursing focuses on environments which enhance health and the quality of life.
Health is dynamic, characterized by unity between person and environment.
Health can be affected by an individual's genetic predisposition, lifestyle, position in the life cycle, and by the health behavior choices the individual makes. A major goal of professional nursing is to assist persons to achieve optimal health. Professional nursing is both an art and a science. The art of nursing is providing a caring human service which promotes health behaviors that modify environments to reduce threats to the quality of life. Nursing science is the evolving body of knowledge which, when applied to practice with persons, results in health promotion, disease prevention, assistive care, rehabilitation, and supportive care.