Why is microbiology important in nursing

Microbiology is a very important topic for nurses to study. This is because our infectious diseases are caused by microbes. This was discovered in the late nineteenth century and is defined in the “Germ Theory of Disease”. In a few cases, even cancer is associated with particular infectious microbes and viruses (liver carcinoma, stomach cancer and Burkitts Lymphoma).

Learning about microbiology will help a nurse prevent transfer of germs from one patient to another, prevent germ transfer to oneself and even prevent germ transfer from inanimate objects. The nurse will learn to appreciate the differences between pathogenic microbes and nonpathogenic microbes that play important roles in the environment. The nursing student will even learn how the immune system can resist less pathogenic microbes but require prior exposure (vaccines) in order to resist more pathogenic varieties.

I believe most nurses feel grateful for their knowledge about microbes and their disease causing mechanisms