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The Difference Between Illness and

Disease: A Key Concept for Student

NursesNursing is Concerned with Illness While Medicine is

Concerned with Disease

Jennifer Budd, RN, Yahoo Contributor Network

Sep 15, 2010 "Share your voice on Yahoo websites.Start Here."

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Although these terms are used interchangeably, there is a difference between illness anddisease. And this difference is a key concept that student nurses must ingest throughout

their education. To understand the difference between illness and disease, we must first

define each term and then apply their definitions to nursing and medicine.

What is illness?

An illness refers to the human response to disease. Let's say a patient has diabetes. What is

the human response to having diabetes? Mentally, a newly diagnoseddiabetespatient may

experience denial. This denial can include refusing to monitor glucose levels or changedietary habits. Physically, a diabetes patient may experience abnormal blood glucose levels

resulting in hyper/hypoglycemia. In 1972, Dr Anthony Suchman defined what we know

today as the four stages illness:

-Experiencing signs and symptoms

-Assuming the sick role, or validating the sickness

-Seeking medical care

-Assuming dependent role while recovering

What is Disease?

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A disease is an alteration of the mental and/or physical structure of the human body or

mind. Diseases can have numerous causes: biological (like viruses), chemical (like drugs or

heavy metals), genetics, physical agents (like temperature extremes), and alterations in

immunity or metabolism (like allergies or hormonal disturbances.) With disease comesspecific signs and symptoms that manifest themselves, allowing physicians/medical experts

to diagnose their patients.

How can student nurses tell the difference between illness and disease?

In a previous article I wrote hereon Associated Content, I advised first semester nursing

students to think like a nurse and not a doctor. This mentality will help student nurses

understand the difference between illness and disease. As a nurse, you will need todiagnose the human response to your patient's medical problem. That is why there are

specific nursing diagnoses you will learn and familiarize yourself with. A physician can

diagnose a patient as being diabetic (disease.)But if that diabetic patient does not monitor

his glucose levels or make necessary changes in his diet, the nurse can diagnose him withrisk for unstable glucose levels (illness.) Thus, nursing is concerned with illness while

medicine (or a physician) is concerned with disease.

Sources:

Priscilla LeMone and Karen Burke, Medical-Surgical Nursing: Critical Thinking In ClientCare, 4

thedition, Chapter 2 'Health and Illness in the Adult Client', pp 22-23

www.NANDA.org

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