Finally, she states that some nurses write poetry about aspects of their work that defy scientific analysis and cannot be easily contained in technical papers. In this, then, nurses' poetry goes beyond the personal satisfaction accompanying expression; it preserves a unique angular view of nursing's lived world and adds to our store of clinical wisdom. As Trautman concludes: "Poetry has trailed the profession for many years, probably because nurses were not encouraged in creative writing of any kind. Today, however, I think that poetry leads the profession because most of it never loses sight of human needs--both nurses' and patients'. Our poets lend a clear and vital voice to our profession. They cite their experiences, emotions, beliefs, and awareness in lieu of a science-oriented bibliography. They appeal to our common sense but, more importantly to our hearts. They tell us to observe honestly and to feel. Above all, our poets tell us to believe in our observations and to trust in our feelings--for patients, for ourselves."[4] Some elements or aspects of nursing lend themselves to scientific exploration and discovery while others, equally important and likewise deserving expression, reveal themselves only through the artist's vision. So what has been said of poetry, therefore, may hold true in other arts. Each art has its own form of dialogue with reality. The painter, for example, feels with his eyes; he feels lines, points, planes, texture, and color.[5] What could the nurse-painter share? Or as Garner, a nurse-musician, suggests, nursing could be conceptualized along the schema of tones, texture, rhythm, meter, intensity, temperament.[6] What nursing content would accrue if the various nurse-artists used their forms of knowledge, skill, and vision to explore nursing as the various nurse-scientists do? What can our poets, painters, musicians and dancers see, hear, feel in the nursing dialogue? Therapeutics There is a third way in which humanistic nursing and art are related. For many years, the arts have been used in nursing for their therapeutic effects, especially with psychiatric, geriatric, and pediatric patients. The nurse and a patient or a group of patients participate in an artistic experience together. These may be passive activities, such as, attending a concert or play or visiting {89} an art exhibit; or they may be active ones in which nurse and patients are involved in artistic expression or creation.