Nursing : My Philosophy And Philosophy Of Nursing

A theory is defined as “a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena (Merriam-Webster, 2017). In the nursing field, nursing theories have helped shape philosophies of many nurses in our history, as well as modern day. Every nurse, near and far, could probably tell you who Florence Nightingale was. She was a pioneer for women in nursing and made countless contributions to our field. Her nursing philosophy was based on Environmental Theory, “A belief that a person’s surroundings such as clean air, water,

To understand nursing philosophy, you must first understand what nursing means to you as an individual. To me nursing as well as nursing philosophy involves providing individualized holistic care to a patient, family, community, or even one’s own self. Holistic care is providing care involving the mind, body, spirit, and environment.

When my grandmother was dying of cancer in hospice, I had no intentions of becoming a nurse. Consistently, I repositioned her because she was in pain. Dutifully, I opened her windows because she loved the sunlight. Respectfully, I rubbed lotion on her skin because it made her comfortable. Devotedly, I prayed with her because her faith was strong, and she was ready to be reunited with my grandfather. Wistfully, I held her hand as she took her last breath, and told her it was okay to go. Afterwards, when the hospice nurses had told me that I would make a great nurse and I should consider nursing as a career, I politely said “No, thank you, nursing is not for me.”

The development of a philosophy related to the profession of nursing is important in that it provides a framework for the nurse to base his/her work on. Philosophy is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a search for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means”. In other words, philosophies are based on beliefs and assumptions with an overall goal of obtaining an objective which states the nurse’s purpose in the profession. In my undergraduate nursing program I was exposed to multiple nursing concepts that guided my practice. Coupled with my ten years of experience in the nursing field, I was enabled to formulate my own framework or guide to nursing. The paradigm which resonates with me the most is the interactive-integrative perspective as it views practice “as having multiple, interrelated parts in relation to a specific context.” (Newman, Sime, & Corcoran-Perry, 1991, p.38). My framework includes three main components: the client, the professional nurse, and the nurse-client relationship.

Abstract: This paper will explore my personal nursing philosophy that I want to convey in my nursing career. My personal believe is that the nature of nursing is rooted deeply in commitment to public service and the desire to help those in need. I think nursing is more than treating an illness or disease; rather it is a focus on delivering quality care that is individualized to the needs of individual patients. My philosophy of nursing incorporates evidence based care, experience and compassionate caring for my patient. My opinion is that I nursing care should be holistic and comprehensive while honoring patient values. I think, a crucial aspect of nursing is interprofessional and intraprofessional relationships, and collaborative efforts among healthcare professionals that promote quality patient care. My philosophy of nursing extends to my community which I serve and strive for continues health promotion.

Philosophy is a distinct disciple on its own right, and all disciplines can claim their own philosophical bases that form guidelines for their goal” (Meleis, 2012, p. 28). In simpler terms, philosophy is your worldview and thought process of life. Our philosophy transcends into our beliefs and values’, examining our philosophy allows us to discover what is important to us and helps define priorities and goals (Meleis, 2012, p.28). Being aware of our philosophy creates individuality in each person creating the foundation of the person we want to become. As Meleis (2012) stated, our philosophy helps set priorities and evaluate those priorities against societal and humanistic priorities.

To me nursing is more than treating an illness; rather it is also focusing on delivering quality patient care individualized to the needs of each patient. My philosophy of nursing incorporates the knowledge of medicine while combining it with relational, compassionate caring that respects the dignity of each patient. I believe each patient should be treated as an individual and given the best quality of care, regardless of their age, race, sexual orientation, gender, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, or immoral choices they may have made.

In this paper, famous philosophies and my personal nursing philosophy are presented, including personal definitions of the four phenomena of nursing which includes the person, environment, health, and nursing. A Philosophy’s distinctive contribution comes in the education of nurses and teachers and in the development of nursing theory and research. More importantly, philosophy strongly affects the formulation of personal values which underlines all undertakings of a nurse in the practice of his/her profession (Meehan, 2012). My personal philosophy of nursing is to attain an exceptional nursing practice and the ability to decrease the cases of unresponsive and incompetent practice. This also serves as my career guide, which will aid in giving meaningful direction. Furthermore, it has been claimed that a philosophy can close the relevance gap between nursing practice and nursing science and help in gasping knowledge regarding patients, their environment, the workplace, and health and wellness (Meehan, 2012).

My personal philosophy of nursing is based on my understanding and knowledge of medicine combined with practical, compassionate patient based care that culturally respects each patient while at the same time fulfilling their healthcare needs. My philosophy focuses just not on delivering patient based

Nursing philosophy can be understood as “attitude towards life and reality that evolves from each nurses’ beliefs formed in three elements: conceptual analysis, assessment of argument, and concern with metaphysical and epistemological questions” (Edwards, 1996). It is important to articulate my philosophy of nursing to improve patient outcome. Each nurse is different and unique and have their own nursing philosophy. “As society and individuals change, our philosophy of nursing changes to be congruent with new and renewed understanding” (Masters, 2014, pg. 90). It is important to value one’s integrity. I at the high school try to treat each student as if was my child

My own nursing philosophy arises from my Knowledge as a nurse, personal beliefs and experiences, I have gathered throughout the years from my interactions with diverse patient population and other healthcare professionals, while working in different setting as a nursing in the health care. This also addresses nurse 's ethics, goal and values as it relates to my nursing practice. My Nursing Philosophy is based on five components: nursing, Person, environment, holistic care and health.

A nurse should be compassionate, loving, caring, competent, professional, and most of all knowledgeable. All of the attributes are only a small part of what an Advance Nurse Practice should be. The role of an APN is to focus on the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and care of sick and dying. They are also responsible for their clinical decisions and are held accountable by their fellow peers, professional organization, patients, and families.

In the fall of 1862, a war raged between the union and confederate forces at the Battle of Antietam. More than 130,000 soldiers fought, more than 22,000 were wounded. On the battlefront was a woman, Ms. Clara Barton, nicknamed the “Angel of the Battlefield”. Ms. Barton observed the strain of frontline battle, namely hunger, sickness, and wounds and once said “I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them”. (CITATION) It is this same dedication to nursing and our armed forces that drives my philosophy of nursing.

As long as I am working in this profession, my philosophy of nursing will always be a work in progress. However, it all started to develop years before I became a nurse. When I was 19-years-old, I became pregnant and decided I wanted to keep the baby. At my 20 week prenatal appointment, the doctor could not detect a heartbeat so he completed an ultrasound. He informed me instead of a fetus, I had a mass of cysts in my uterus which contained the pregnancy hormone. Since these cysts contained beta hCG, they made my body think it was pregnant when in fact, I actually had a type of uterine cancer. Over the next three years, I had five surgeries, seven rounds of chemotherapy and multiple trips to the emergency room because I would hemorrhage. While most people my age were going to college, I spent what felt like an endless amount of time in hospitals. During that time, it became evident to me that out of everyone involved in my care, the nurses had the greatest impact on my day to day life. That moment of clarity was when I decided instead of being a teacher, I wanted to be a nurse. I truly believe being a patient first gave me a very unique perspective on nursing. It created the framework for values, beliefs, and practices which I still follow anytime I care for someone.

The profession of nursing has matured from the time of Florence Nightingale. Nursing has gone from just treating dying soldiers on the battlefield to helping guide people through their entire lives from birth to death. The maturation of nursing has led to changes in nursing philosophy and allowed for practitioners of Nursing to meld these philosophies together to form their own philosophy. In this paper I will explain my philosophy of nursing and compare it to Virginia Henderson 's definition of nursing along with discussing some of the changes to Nurse philosophy I will also discuss some of the difficulties to being a patient advocate.