The role of a nurse is to improve people’s health and to help their recovery from illness. In order to understand how to improve people’s health, it is crucial to make clear the concept of health and illness and how attitude has an influence on them. The belief that an individual’s health can be improved by a change in behaviour is based on the assumption that certain specific attitudes or behaviours are better for health.
The word “Health” is derived from the same root as “whole”, reflecting the traditional idea that a healthy person is someone who exists in a state of equilibrium of mind, body and spirit; when this equilibrium is disturbed then the health of the individual is impaired. It is not just the absence of disease and ill-health, but the psychological disturbance can be just as real to her or him as physical suffering. In general, people see health in relative terms. It is also judgemental and varies from person to person, which has to do with their attitude. Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness, organized through experience, which applies directive and dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to people, objects and situations. (Allport, 1935) Therefore it is necessary to investigate how both patients and nurses’ attitudes correlate to illness and have an influence on preventing and aiding recovery.