Nursing as a distinct body of knowledge

Can anyone tell me what body of knowledge we nurses possess that other health care professions do not possess? or in other words, What makes Nursing distinct from everything else?

I ask this question because I have found it difficult to find answers from professors on the subject. It seems that our profession blends with so many; for example, nurses give injections but MD's also are educated in injection technique (albeit they don't have as much expertise as a nurse in this area).

Maybe what I really am asking is, "Do we have a distinct body of knowledge that originates within our profession."

I look forward to hearing everyone's ideas on this; I am a proud nurse and believe it is important to know what real nursing is and to also know what has influenced our profession.
"Can anyone tell me what body of knowledge we nurses possess that other health care professions do not possess?"None that I can think of, other than nursing diagnoses. "or in other words, What makes Nursing distinct from everything else?"It's not our body of knowledge but how we use the knowledge that we have that sets us apart from other healthcare professionals.

This question, and its example of injections, begs the question. This means, it rephrases the set-up as proof without offering any proof. (It does not mean, "makes you want to ask a question.") http://begthequestion.info/: "Begging the question" is a form of logical fallacy in which a statement or claim is assumed to be true without evidence other than the statement or claim itself. When one begs the question, the initial assumption of a statement is treated as already proven without any logic to show why the statement is true in the first place.A simple example would be "I think he is unattractive because he is ugly." The adjective "ugly" does not explain why the subject is "unattractive" -- they virtually amount to the same subjective meaning, and the proof is merely a restatement of the premise. The sentence has begged the question."Other than" nursing diagnosis? That's pretty huge, certainly specific, and reserved to registered nurses alone, although I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that the OP doesn't know enough about it to comment on it clearly. OP, get you to the Amazon or other bookstore, get yourself a copy of the NANDA-I 2012-2014, read the introductory sections, read the diagnoses, and think about it. Then get a copy of your state nurse practice act, or better, the ANA Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice (also cheap at Amazon), and read it -- it's a slender book and won't tax you too much.Then think long and hard about overlap in knowledge between specialties, discard them as not relevant to your question (see injections, supra), discard tasks, and look at what nursing is, not just what you think it does.

It is the overlapping of disciplines that nurses do best. We are the gatekeepers. In a hospital setting the admitting doctor does not usually talk to PT/OT, RT, Dietary, ----. We do it all. And "basic" nursing is our forte. If we can keep the patient comofrtable and clean then that is an accomplishment. Patients may appreciate that more than knowing we monitor telemetry, vents, medication administration and all the rest. When I worked in a teaching hospital the new MD's learned quickly to ask nurses about the patient care and condition. We are with the patients longer and in a more intimate fashion. Nurses rock.

I think our unique body of knowledge in bedside acute care is that we are the center of the patient universe. We know everything about the patient that other staff (sometimes even MDs) only have a piece of. We are the funnel through which everything about the patient flows, which makes us excellent coordinators of care and advocates. Example: just yesterday, I discharged a breast feeding patient who was required to pump and dump. She was concerned about her decrease in breast milk. I called OB to get her education and gave her the number of the on-call lactation consultant. Although I don't know a whit about mother/baby, I was able to get her the information she needed. Another patient was scheduled for a paracentesis. She was transported to U/S, and the GI doc called asking where she was and if she was ready for the procedure. Then cath lab called for the patient to do the paracentesis, but I had to tell them that it would be done in the GI lab. I, the nurse, was the only one who knew enough about the plans for the patient to direct everyone appropriately. NO ONE else does that like a nurse can. NO ONE.

Great observations by everyone here. I see what you are all saying is basically that we experts at doing healthcare in the trenches were the patients live and breath. We are trained to be the best advocates of the patient.In all honesty, I am ignorant on many aspects of nursing I am just not familiar with but what to learn. I will graduate in May, but really just want to know what my identity is as a nurse.I think as classicdame said, what makes us special is that we have a broad background in many disciplines which helps us to facilitate for our patients.