I chose this painting because freshman year I took art history for two semesters. I saw and studied a lot of art, but this one had always stood out to me. Knowing anatomy is a very important part of nursing, and is a class that every nursing student has to take it is interesting to look at that painting and see how teaching has evolved over time. By looking at the faces of the men in the painting, you are able to see how focused and amazed they are by what they are learning. I feel as though that is a similarity among students working to be in the health care field. We are always amazed and intrigued by the little things, even the anatomy of the human body. I also had read an article that stated if you start by looking at the outside of a painting, you will notice much more detail then if you bring your attention right toward the middle. Connecting that to the world of nursing, if you walk into the patient’s room and take a moment to look around instead of drawing all your attention right to them, you will notice more and learn about your patient before even meeting them just by noticing the items in their room. By looking at pieces of art, you will be able to find many connections to the world of nursing.
Alyssa, what a great perspective both about art and patients. I love it when I learn from the students and you taught me something today! I will never look at a painting now without starting at the edges and working inward. Thanks for your sharing.
Great work on your art in nursing response! It is interesting how you were able to connect something you learned in an actual art class to nursing. Although the mural that I chose is from during the coronavirus pandemic while yours is from over 400 years ago, we both had similar responses. You acknowledged the faces of the men and how you could read how they felt. I also talked about the eyes of the nurse painted in the mural and how I could almost feel all of her emotions. Once again, great work Alyssa!
Alyssa,
Your interpretation on this painting is really amazing and how you connected it to nursing by looking at the big picture instead. Like you mentioned, when a nurse looks at aspects of the patient outside of their body or illness, they gain so much more knowledge and if other healthcare professionals adopted this perspective, I think healthcare overall would improve tremendously. However, the ability for nurses to do such a thing is what makes them so unique and valuable. I similarly talked about the “little things” in nursing and patient care but in reality, those little things can be some of the most important details about a patient or the little things a nurse does for a patient may be the most memorable. Your interpretation was amazing and it is such an important view to recognize, great job!