My Philosophy of Nursing



Philosophy of Nursing By: Emmy WoolardOld Dominion University Author Note This paper was prepared for Nursing 401Philosophy of NursingAll throughout my life I have not been living with a said personal philosophy. I think most of what I have learned has come from my parents and sister. As I have watched them live and make mistakes and achievement’s I have learned to make decent decisions. Especially now as an adult I am learning from my own mistakes. Philosophy has a very deep root in our society. The word roots themselves hold immense value. The prefixes “Philo” meaning love and suffix “Sophos” meaning wisdom or lover of wisdom are powerful. ("Philosophy - Dictionary Definition", 2015) In setting out to determine my philosophy of nursing I had to sit down and get back to the basics. I have considered general beliefs, concepts, and attitudes that I feel towards nursing. The best way to make my personal philosophy purposeful is by making it simple and concise; it has to be something memorable and easy for my mind to comprehend. Most importantly I will live by my personal philosophy of nursing each day as I practice nursing. I know this because I know that I want to lead an inspiring life especially in the field of nursing. My approach to nursing is holistic and I will do anything I can to preserve life at all costs. Definition of Nursing Nursing as defined by the American Nurses Association (ANA) is “The protection, promotion, and optimization of health abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations.”("What is Nursing?” 2015). The little excerpt above is written by the ANA and the concept something that has a big meaning in our society. As a nurse I will protect my patients like I would someone in my own family. I always try to remember this person is someone else’s family. I will try to promote their health by offering the best options for their nursing care. It is my job to help them to enhance their abilities by being an advocate for them when they are in need of a voice. In some cases, as a nurse I will be one of the only advocates for my patients. In those cases, advocating can be a crucial role to play in the development of care for that patient. When someone is miserable I can make a difference for him or her by advocating and educating them. I have set out in to this world to make a difference to the many. I am doing this by committing my life and time to the profession of nursing. My goal as a nurse is to take care of my patients so they can encounter peace from within. That statement has a poetic edge but in essence it makes sense because for anyone to reach that ultimate balance and homeostasis they must be at peace with themselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I can be a resource for my patients so they can reach that place by preventing and treating illness or injuries. I want to help to mitigate that feeling of suffering people encounter who are already injured by looking at the whole picture and practicing holistically. In seeing the whole picture, I can efficiently diagnose and treat them based on the human response. The center of nursing care comes from within the human’s response to illnesses and overall health. In other words, I aim to treat my patients based on my evaluation of their care. I will tailor their care and use evidence based nursing interventions to help improve their outcomes. The vision of this idea of nursing runs throughout the individual and their families as well as communities and populations. This includes responses to the environmental and personal issues as well. The care that I will provide will be multidimensional and holistic in order to meet the needs of my patient. The Purpose of Nursing from My PerspectiveThe purpose of nursing is to be an advocate for people who cannot advocate on their own behalf. Additionally, it is for us to help people and do right by them. There will be times when the patients I care for have lost themselves and it will be my job to plant the seed in them and help bring them back to reality. Once I have helped give them the push they need they can work up the hierarchy of needs towards self-actualization. As a nurse my purpose is to be an encourager, an educator, a helper, a provider, an advocate, and a counselor. Nursing also requires a certain level of honesty so my patients can trust in me to serve that purpose. In 1978 Henderson and Nite stated that “The unique function of the nurse is to assist people, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or a peaceful death), that they would perform unaided if they had the necessary strength, will or knowledge. To do this in such a way as to help them gain independence as rapidly as possible.” ("Nursing Theory and Purpose, Careers", 2015) While this isn’t the exact purpose of nursing in my opinion I hold those words true to my philosophy of nursing. Independence is what each person needs to be functional as a person. As a nurse, it is my duty to help patients gain that independence they need they can go back to living an optimal normal daily life. It is essential that nurses do research and look for new evidence based practice techniques. When I was 16 I began my journey in nursing, from day one I learned that hand washing is the single most important way to prevent the spread of infection. This theory is based on hard scientific evidence that has been tested again and again. As a nurse I will learn by trial, encounter errors, and work out my differences along the way. I believe that evidence is used to define the optimum practices rather than supporting practices that already exist. As a nurse I must keep up with the latest technology and take advantage of what new knowledge and advancements are available to benefit my practice. Intuition is necessary, although it is not evidence based it is learned with experience. Values and Beliefs As humans we use these ideas called beliefs and values to direct our sense of attitude or our opinion towards different things. The two of them together are what comprise the morality of people. A belief is something I hold true to my heart, I believe in Jesus Christ and that the Holy Bible is a written pathway that can be used to help us solve our problems. In order for me to practice nursing I need to know where I stand on multiple issues, religion being one of the most important of them. I also have non-religious beliefs like that people are all created equal and we should all be treated equally. When I am practicing as a nurse there are a few things I always try to keep in my mind. Beliefs are my own assumptions about the world. My values, or in other words, the things I find important are rooted in education, professionalism, honesty, equality, faithfulness, and respect for cultural differences. My values are derived from my beliefs about life. I was raised in the Christian church so I have a foundation based on the ten commandments. I believe in holism or in focus of caring for the whole person. As nurses, if we believe in this holistic nursing care, we can help lead people to a higher quality of life. This type of nursing care is based on evidence that shows improvement in the quality of care. The big picture of nursing is that people are the heart of it all and in order to refine nursing care I know I must focus my care on the direct needs of the patient. I believe that circumstance brings about choices that influence a person’s health so I need to consider how that persons circumstances have affected their choices. I believe in being non-discriminatory and that everyone deserves a chance at a good wholesome life. I value empathy for it is what will help us connect to our patient by trying to understand them. This process can take a while for the reason that to establish rapport with them is not an easy task. It takes communication and interaction with my patients to develop that rapport. It is important that they know that I have given them my direct attention and time to them and as a gift in return I can learn to better understand them and what they are going through. The awareness nurses gain by trying to understand their patients is incomparable to any objective evidence you can obtain. Finally combining all of that objective with the subjective evidence I can provide interventions for my patient that will lead to improvement of their overall health. Life presents us with a lot of choices that we have to sort through as we go through each day. It is important to know where I stand in my beliefs and values so I can make optimum choices possible to better the health of my patient. Two principles that guide my practiceTwo principles or rules that guide my professional practice as a nurse are be creative and preserve life at all costs. I always need be creative when I am working. Being creative is what brings the fun out in nursing; always work with what you got. One of the most recent memorable experiences I had at the hospital was when I was getting ready to change a wound and didn’t have all of the supplies I needed. I got with my nurse and we figured out how to be creative and work with the supplies we had. The final outcome ended up being more efficient than what we would’ve used. Always be creative in all you do. Finally, there is one other thing I learned early on in CNA School that I have always found important as a rule for nurses. Preserve life at all costs. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you do it is so important to keep that system moving. Most often once the heart stops beating and the brain waves fall flat there is no going back. In CPR class I have learned that after about 4 minutes brain tissue is irreversibly lost. After about 7 minutes the potential of a person is lost and they become a couch potato. One important thing to remember is to make sure that while preserving life I treat my patients with dignity. Saving life becomes meaningful when you treat the patient with dignity and respect. When the patient is released from the hospital they should be better off than they were when they came in. Specifically, I worked with a patient in the hospital after a knee surgery. She was in horrible pain when I got there that day. The nurse on the previous shift rolled her eyes as she told me what a needy patient she was. When I assumed her care I cleaned her up, talked to her, helped her feel better, and educated her on how to prevent a queasy stomach. When I left that day she was in much better condition than when I found her. She even commented to my instructor how she had not only met a new nurse that day, but she had met a new friend. That comment made me feel really good about what I was doing as a nurse. In my opinion it is just a good concept to go by. Always treat people the way you want to be treated. Conclusion As Bachelor of Science nurses, and especially advanced practice nurses and Doctors of Nursing Practice or any person who is part of the patient care system it is our job to promote continuous improvement of health care outcomes. As a nurse I can do this by practicing holistically, being honest, hardworking, and conscious about my actions. I will stick to my values and beliefs as and know in my mind how they impact the care I give to patients. I will have strength and perseverance even when all else fails I will hold my head up and fight for those in my care. My philosophy is simple. Provide for those who cannot provide sufficient means for themselves. Provide safe evidence based care. Finally, consider the individual in front of me lying there in the bed at my mercy, give them the helping hand they need, and be the change I want to see. ReflectionIn reflection about writing my philosophy of nursing I have come to a solid realization that writing such a paper is not an easy thing. I have put in major hours on this piece and I really like my ideas. I feel like I have learned about who I am by taking the time to think about what I am and what I am not. I enjoy knowing and sharing who I am with you.My career in nursing education is coming up on a decade since the very beginning when I was 16. By the time I am finished I will have put in decades to this career in health promotion and maintenance. The commitment I have made to learning and education in nursing is lifelong. I know that in living the life I live I can encourage and inspire at least a hand full of people, that is what makes this career full circle for me. This paper provides a positive learning experience for the student, knowing who I am and what I seek as a professional is detrimental to my career. Works Cited Page Philo Philosophy - Dictionary Definition. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from - Dictionary Definition. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from is Nursing? (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2015, from Theory and Purpose, Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2015, from ................
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