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Running Head: Philosophy of Nursing

Leigha Wilson

Old Dominion University

2/6/15

As graduation from nursing school is fast approaching, I am excited for what is to come. I am looking forward to beginning my nursing career and being able to achieve my dreams. My dream has always been to be a pediatric nurse at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and after gaining experience there through an externship, clinicals, and role transition, I am even more assured that this is the place that I want to spend my career. As a sophomore nursing student, my healthcare experiences were limited to that which I experienced with my own family and friends. In my Nursing 300 Philosophy Assignment, I referenced a video clip from the 1994 pilot episode of ER in which an experienced chief resident passes along wisdom to a new medical student regarding the separation of personal feelings from professional treatment of patients by stating, “helping them is more important than how we feel,” (Crichton). With this view, I began nursing school with the goal of helping patients and providing support.

Definition of Nursing

When attempting to encompass the nursing role into one definition, the American Nursing Association does well to include all roles of a nurse (“What is Nursing?”). Their definition states, “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and 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?”). Nurses play many roles including caregiver, educator, patient advocate, and source of support. Other main goals of nursing include health promotion, disease prevention, and education of the community. The nursing process can also be used when defining a nurse and the nurse must incorporate this into practice (“The Nursing Process,”). Assessment uses a systematic and organized way to obtain and organize date information about a patient, physical data, and factors such as psychological, spiritual, economic, and lifestyle that have an effect on the patient’s life. Diagnosis, in the nursing role, can be described as the clinical judgment about the patient’s response to health problems or needs and is the framework for the nursing care plan. The outcomes and planning stage is based on the nursing assessment and diagnosis and establishes measurable, patient-specific goals that can be achieved in both short and long term time frames. After a care plan for the patient has been established, the implementation stage is initiated so continuity of care can be achieved and needs can be addressed. Evaluation measures both the patient’s status and effectiveness of the nursing care provided, which must be modified as needed for the patient’s changing needs, (“The Nursing Process,”). Thus, there are many aspects that make up the definition of a nurse.

Purpose of Nursing

While many students have a broad idea of the nursing specialty they would like to work in after graduation, I have always known that I want to be a pediatric nurse, specifically at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and feel that it is in God’s plan for my life. At the age of nine, I had my plan for my career in line. My interest in pediatrics, and specifically this hospital, began in December 2002 when my best friend, Taylor Adkins, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. During her sixteen-month battle at CHKD before she passed away, I got to witness the extraordinary acts of the dedicated medical teams that cared for her and began to view it as a “magical” place. Since then, I have wanted to be a part of this “magic.” Always there for encouragement and inspiration were my mother and grandmother, who were also nurses, and my father, who has been an example of never giving up on your dreams. Growing up in a family with a large amount of medical experience has been incredibly inspirational to continue the tradition. Thus, my purpose for nursing began at an early age.

Assumptions About Nursing Relationships

In a culturally diverse setting, the relationship between the nurse and the patient should reflect professionalism and confidence. While being compassionate, caring, and empathetic, I believe it is important to remain professional. I believe that by separating personal from professional to focus on patient care, trust between the nurse and client can be established. If a nurse were to become overly attached to patients and families and disregard professionalism, the patient’s care could be compromised and may not be in their best interest. Regarding confidence, as students, we are not always confident in clinical settings, but I believe it comes with experience.

In a community setting, the relationship between the nurse and community should reflect the goals of health promotion, disease prevention, and education. Throughout the community, people seek the advice of nurses regarding their healthcare concerns inquiring guidance regarding treatment and refer them if necessary. Also, the nurse should have a positive attitude about the healthcare industry in order to make members of the community comfortable with seeking treatment.

When working with other healthcare professionals, nurses should develop a relationship that reflects positive teamwork and support of each other. Because no one person can do everything alone, working together is essential to providing patients with the best care possible. Good communication between staff, patients, and families is also important to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding care and patient status. For example, this week in role transition, a nurse that was working in the same pod as my preceptor and I had a three-month-old baby that was decompensating to respiratory distress and began to drop his oxygen saturations in the low 80s and displayed and increased work of breathing, head bobbing, grunting, and increased respiratory rate. Even though it was not our patient, my preceptor and I helped the other nurse along with the charge nurse, physicians, and respiratory therapist to improve his oxygenation and transfer him to the pediatric intensive care unit. By everyone working together as a team, the patient was treated quickly and effectively.

In each of these three relationships as nurses, I believe Sister Callista Roy’s Adaptation Model can be used (“Roy Adaptation Model”). In the relationship between the nurse and the client, the client is in the process of adapting to the new environment of the hospital while the nurse is adapting nursing care to that specific patient. In the relationship between the nurse and the community, the nurse has to adapt to the actual needs of the community rather than perceived needs. In the relationship between the nurse and other members of the healthcare team, all members go through the process of adapting to work well together and find what works successfully and what does not (“Roy Adaptation Model”).

Principles That Guide Professional Practice

One ethical nursing principle that I believe guides my personal practice is compassion. I believe that when patients area admitted into the hospital, they are not at their best; they do not feel well, are in pain, and require treatment. Also, family members of these patients are under a large amount of stress as well. I believe that by showing compassion and by helping in any way that I can, I can help make their experience a little better. For example, during role transition there was a two-year-old Spanish-speaking boy that had been admitted for almost a month for issues such as failure to thrive, cardiomyopathy, and developmental delays. During this extended period of time, his family was not around often due to other obligations, but I tried to pay extra attention to him throughout the days. During times that I was not busy and he was fussy, I would take him out of his room and go on a walk around the unit or have him sit with me at the nurse’s station and let him color. Before he was discharged, when I would enter the room, he would smile and hold out his arms for me to pick him up. Being able to provide support for this little boy became one of my favorite parts of my role transition experience.

Another principle that I believe guides my practice is competence. While still a student and as a soon-to-be new graduate nurse, there are many activities in nursing care that I believe I still need practice with. Even with experience in clinicals, as an extern in a pediatric emergency department, and role transition on a pediatric telemetry unit, I believe that every unit has different opportunities to learn and gain knowledge of new skills. In clinical situations when I am asked to perform a task that I am not completely sure of, I ask for help to ensure the safety of everyone involved. For example, on my first day of clinical in the intensive care unit, the nurse that I was assigned to work with insisted that I perform all activities independently for a complex patient. Because it was my first day and I was not very familiar with how everything was done on this unit, I was not comfortable with this and told the nurse. Throughout the day, I was able to help and gain more independence after having assistance initially. Thus, in clinical settings, I believe that I am eager to learn new skills and gain the competence necessary to effectively take care of assigned patients.

Conclusion

When examining the definition of a nurse, it can be seen that there are many roles such as caregiver, educator, patient advocate, and source of support. Since the age of nine, I have known that I wanted to be a pediatric nurse at CHKD and believe that my dreams are in the process of coming true. I have added the goal of returning to the emergency department at CHKD after a year or more of experience as a nurse on another unit in the hospital as a goal that I wish to achieve. When working with patients, members of the community, and other healthcare professionals, I believe that professionalism, a positive attitude, and teamwork can go a long way in terms of helping the patient receive the best care possible. From a sophomore nursing student, I believe that I have gained more experiences to reinforce the original idea stated in ER that “helping them is more important than how we feel,” (Crichton).

References

Crichton, M. (1994). Pilot [Television series episode]. In ER.NBC.

“Roy Adaptation Model. (2013, January 1).” Retrieved from theories-and-models/roy-adaptation-model.php

“The Nursing Process.” (2015, January 1). Retrieved from Need/Thenursingprocess.html

“What is Nursing?” (2015, January 1). Retrieved from

Honor Code

“I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a member of the academic community, it is my responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.”

Name: ____________Leigha Wilson__________________________________ (Print Name)

Signature: _____________Leigha Wilson______________________________

Philosophy of Nursing Grade Sheet

|Grading Criteria |Comments |Points |

|Appropriate introduction including a summary of the | | |

|professional outlook assignment from Nursing 300 (5 | | |

|points) | | |

| | | |

|The student’s definition of nursing, whether borrowed | | |

|or original, is described and explained. (15 points) | | |

| | | |

|The purpose of nursing from the student’s perspective | | |

|is clearly described. (15 points) | | |

| | | |

|Assumptions about the relationships between | | |

|the nurse & client in a culturally diverse setting | | |

|the nurse in the community | | |

|the nurse with other health care professionals | | |

| | | |

|are discussed in relation to an appropriate | | |

|theoretical model(s) (15 points) | | |

|TWO principles or rules that guide professional | | |

|practice are identified; and specific examples | | |

|specific of how these rules have been utilized or | | |

|demonstrated in a clinical practice experience are | | |

|described and analyzed. (15 points) | | |

|Conclusion summarizes main points of paper, describes | | |

|how personal philosophy has changed, goal for future | | |

|(10 points) | | |

|Three (3) or more references are cited in the paper | | |

|and included on the reference list (10 points) | | |

|Intro Page submitted (5 points) | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Correct use of grammar & APA format, including | | |

|adherence to page limit (10 points) | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Grade:

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