It is a common assumption that nursing is an art. Art in this sense is some
times taken to mean a fine art, and sometimes a skill or craft. This paper
reviews some of the arguments for nursing as an art and concludes that nurs
ing is not a fine art, but that it is an art in the more general sense of a
craft or skill performed by people. It is further argued that, in most ins
tances, to say that nursing is an art tells us little or nothing that is us
eful and the word 'art' is redundant in this context. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sci
ence Ltd. All rights reserved.