The World Health Organisation in its publication Health for All Nursing
Series: Mission and Functions of the Nurse (1991) states:
The mission of nursing in society is to help individuals, families and
groups to determine and achieve physical, mental and social potential,
and to do so within the challenging context of the environment in which
they live and work. This requires nurses to develop and perform
functions that relate to the promotion and maintenance of health as
well as to the prevention of ill health. Nursing also includes the
planning and implementation of care during illness and rehabilitation,
and encompasses the physical, mental and social aspects of life as they
affect health, illness, disability and dying.
Nursing is the provision of care for individuals, families and groups
throughout the entire life span - from conception to death.
Nursing is both an art and a science that requires the understanding
and application of the knowledge and skills specific to the discipline.
It also draws on knowledge and techniques derived from the humanities
and the physical, social, medical and biological sciences.