My Personal Philosophy Of Nursing

In order to explore my philosophy it is important that I be aware of how I would define nursing. “Definitions of nursing, like nursing itself, are dynamic; nursing is constantly evolving to meet new needs and take account of new knowledge.”(Clark, 2003, add p. # for direct quote)

“Philosophies of nursing are statements of beliefs about nursing and expressions of values in nursing that are used as bases for thinking and acting. Most philosophies are built on a foundation of beliefs about people, environment, health, and nursing” (Chitty & Black, p. 298). By using person, environment, health, and nursing as a guideline to achieve the ultimate goals of nursing; I will discuss my personal philosophy and how these factors are used in nursing.

The greatest aspect about nursing is that it is never going to be just a job and is even more than a merely profession. Instead, it is a belief system or way of life and not a discipline that can simply be practiced then abandoned to the dictates of a time clock. To simply say that “I love people” or want to “help people get better” does not demonstrate the drive behind this feeling. Articulating my philosophy is not an easy task, to better explain my philosophy of nursing, I am going to use some values that I have learned. These tools truly explain how I feel and what has motivated me to pursue nursing as a career.

My name is Alexis Leann Guthrie and I am 21 years old. Recently, I completed my associates of arts degree at Jones County Junior College. I am currently enrolled in my first semester of nursing school at the University of Southern Mississippi. As a transfer student, I have experienced many changes in this past month. I have a goal to graduate this nursing program and go back to school to earn my Nurse Practitioner degree. My first year at Jones County Junior College, I was a Pre-med major. After many prayers and job shadowing, I felt that God was leading me to become a nurse. In this paper, I want to tell you about my own personal nursing philosophy as a beginner-nursing student.

For as long as have been a nurse, I have had a desire to care for people in need, and I feel that it is my duty to help these in need. This desire ultimately led me to become a nurse and choice nursing as my career. I feel most fulfilled when I am caring for others people, and I think my personal attitude is centered on compassion, duty and serving others. My philosophy of nursing incorporates knowledge of modern medicine, relational and compassionate caring for each patient. I would say my Personal Philosophy of Nursing is

My nursing philosophy integrates the essential professional nursing concepts of people, environment, health and nursing. The people are the patients we encounter on a daily basis. Patients must know when a healthcare problem exists and be willing to accept care.

Nursing is a worthy career that allows the specialized nurse to improve healthcare. I believe that nursing is not only caring for the sick and injured, but also making the patients your priority. They should be treated with care, kindness, dignity, respect and compensation and not judged. In return, they should be able to trust you and be comfortable in their environment for a healthy development. The nurse should be able to understand human being on all emotional, physical and mental levels. My personal nursing philosophy characterizes the discipline of nursing using the four metaparadigms:

Discovering one’s own philosophy in nursing reveals dynamic aspects and history that is authentic within one’s own journey. My personal nursing philosophy is a phenomenon by itself, I am calling it integrative holistic sensitive care. This theory fits into a metaparadigm that is intimately connected to personal experiences, learned behaviors, combination social and public health, laughter, harm reduction and patient centered care. The theorist who expressed in words and contributed to my own personal philosophy include Hildegard Peplau, Virginia Henderson, Madeleine Leininger, and Betty Neuman’s.

It’s a great personal challenge in modern times to combine life as hectic as it can be with work and study. It has become for many of us a race against time and daily nuances of life. To successfully manage work, family, and study is a hard thing, they all have their own goals and demands, and on top of that the Nursing Career takes extra sacrifices, the long hours together with working with sick people requires a personal disposition that not everybody possesses. Sacrificed must be made, and after all this is an excellent way to help the sick and perform professionally. A personal philosophy of nursing is the core values and beliefs that a nurse upholds when taking care of another person, it is the reasoning why we do nursing the way that we do. I believe that each patient should be treated as an individual and given the best quality of care. It is important as a nurse that we develop trusting and therapeutic relationships with not only the patient, but their families and significant others so that we are able to provide

I believe it is important to articulate your own personal nursing philosophy because it reflects who you are as a nurse and as a person. Nursing is something that is a part of you, not something that you can just learn. I believe that anyone can learn a nursing skill such as starting a iv, but not everyone possesses the compassion for caring for others. My personal nursing philosophy is characterized by my integrity, empathy, and care for my patients and co-workers.

For us to talk about nursing philosophy, I believe that one must first decide what philosophy means to them. There is not one clear definition of philosophy, but according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English language (2000), philosophy is an “underlying theory or set of ideas relating to a particular field of activity or to life as a whole.” I believe this definition ties with my nursing philosophy, because every nurse has different ideas of their own. Therefore, my nursing philosophy is to provide holistic patient centered care, to deliver compassionate care and to care for my patient with the best of my ability using all my knowledge, I believe that education plays a significant role in my philosophy. Continued education gives me more knowledge, which allows me to provide better care every day. Nurses need to use that knowledge to help those who are unable to help themselves.

My philosophy of nursing has developed and evolved over my career as a nurse from taking care of just the patient to a more holistic approach that fosters hope and includes caring for the entire family unit while placing the patient at the center of care. I believe that all people are important no matter their culture, station, or religious background. Patient care affects not just the individual patient. It affects everyone around the patient including the society in which they live. Nurses should practice with compassion, respect, and dignity while being the patient’s advocate and maintaining competency within their scope of practice. My philosophy has been influenced by the Quality Care Model, personal values, historical nursing figures, and my personal experiences with nurses. Even one nurse can make a difference.

Developing a personal nursing philosophy might seem like a difficult topic to some, and others might argue it takes experience in the field of nursing to formulate a philosophy. My belief is that anyone who is even considering going to nursing school already has a nursing philosophy brewing in their head. I think a person’s natural nursing philosophy stems from the personality trait that will be most beneficial to them while practicing. I believe nurses expand on their philosophy through the different experiences they have. For instance, if a nurse is exceptionally understanding, they might develop a philosophy that favors showing empathy to their patients. In addition, a person with an ingrained attribute

Personal philosophy of nursing to me means being an advocate. Advocacy is an area of lay specialization in health care concerned with advocacy for patients, survivors and careers. The patient advocate maybe an individual or an organization, often, tough not always, concerned with one specific group or

The purpose of this essay is to depict the personal philosophy of nursing and any future aspirations I have acquired in my first semester of nursing school. Before I can create my own philosophy of nursing, I must first understand and define what philosophy is and how it relates to nursing. According to the Oxford Dictionary, philosophy is “the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline” (Oxford University, 2010). This paper will describe my personal philosophy of nursing and reflect on my futures educational and career goals