While the nursing profession has evolved over time to meet the changing needs of people and the health care delivery system, it has remained true to its very core values that continue to inspire nurses to face new challenges, thus rendering them with greater opportunities for growth and development. As a caring profession, nurses were initially regarded as individuals who carried out tedious tasks of maintaining the cleanliness of hospital wards, in addition to reporting to their superiors such as physicians and providing direct patient care. Through the years, the profession has developed and adopted practices that were considered important in advancing the needs of patients within a healthcare setting. The nurses of today offer more than just direct patient care. They play a vital role in pursuing clinical practices that are evidence-based to maximize quality of patient care and promoting health and wellness in the community at large, through prevention and treatment. The nursing profession of today is founded on the core values that nurses in the past embodied in their work. It is a dynamic profession, which continues to evolve and provide new and exciting opportunities for future nurses as they face the changing needs of people and society. In the earlier times, the healing of illnesses was based on superstitious beliefs and magical thinking. People from different parts of the world used traditional means to address illnesses, such as the casting away of evil
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.
anything thrown your way, yet sympathetic enough to be understanding of it. There is so much
Nursing is based on caring in nursing. Compassion and concern for protecting and enhancing the
Philosophy is a set of ideas, values, and beliefs behind what a person does (Merriam- Webster Dictionary, 2015). All nurses have beliefs about what nursing is and is not. It is important to stay true to one’s personal, moral, and ethical values at all times. Nurses are morally and ethically responsible for their patients, decisions, and actions (Lindh, Barbosa, Berg, & Severinsson, 2010). Every nurse brings something different to healthcare because they have different philosophies and/or believe in different nursing theories that guide their practice.
For centuries the development of nursing knowledge has been influenced by numerous theorists and their respective theories. These theories have influenced, and continue to influence, nursing education, practice and research. (Johnson & Webber, 2005)
Nursing philosophy is defined as a nurse or students thought of what they believe to be true about the nature of the profession of nursing and to provide a base for nursing practice. (2016, para.1) The nursing field continues to develop into a professional scope of practice and nurses continue to work to develop a high standard for the profession. The values and skills that nurses’ learn as they care for patients continue to develop into rules and regulations for future nurses. As a nurse it is important to create the best environment for patients, family members and co-workers. After graduating from high school I obtained my STNA and then began my college career in the health field as a physical therapy major. This past year I transitioned to nursing after seeing how much more I am able to work directly with patients. The reasoning behind my nursing philosophy is that I have gained knowledge and love for the profession through working as a certified nurses aide for the last four years. The love for helping others and the ability to help individuals during their times of need has grown on me and developed into a passion. Through education and work experiences my philosophy will transform overtime. Currently, I believe in a nursing philosophy that states strong principals that encompass empathy, compassion, and respect towards patients and their families. In addition, nurses must stay abreast of developing health care trends, be critical thinkers and
Nationally, nursing has become one of the most flourishing and outstanding occupations in the medical field. Years ago, nurses were discriminated by people because they provided care for ill individuals, which was against social law. The term nursing has been generalized to helping others who are sick. However, nursing is more than an oversimplified definition. This paper will examine the role of nurse: interview of a nurse, nursing theorist, and my personalized definition and philosophy of nursing.
Every nurse’s philosophy develops through education and experience. As I reflect on my clinical experiences and nursing education thus far, I acknowledge that I have unknowingly developed a set of values, beliefs, and virtues that makes up my personal nursing philosophy. As I move forward in my nursing education, the values and beliefs that I have associated with a diverse patient population, health, the environment, and the role of the professional nurse will progress with me.
A nursing philosophy is the thoughts and beliefs about the job of a nurse based on one’s values. My values that have formed over the years have influenced me to purse a forever career as a nurse. I grew up in a small town Smithfield, Pennsylvania with my parents and younger brother. My community consisted of close relationships between the residents. Every one helped and cared for one another when needed. The practices of my community guided me to want to become a nurse. I want to continue to care for my community and give back to them by treating their illnesses and providing them with better health care. I am particularly interested in caring for pediatric patients. My goal is to try to provide every infant a chance to live their beautiful life created for them by God. While doing this, the primary focus of being a nurse will be to accommodate my patients and allow them to become a healthy person again.
NOTE: You will create a new Word document for this Assignment instead of typing directly into this document.
There are various definitions when it comes to describing the profession of nursing. It is a job that has many different factors involved, including their responsibilities as a nurse, the patient as a person, the patient’s health, and the environment they create. In order to be the ideal nurse, each of these must be a top priority. My philosophy is influenced by the original nursing paradigm, because I believe that the four major components are equally important. A nurse should do their best to create a clean environment, have a positive relationship with their patient, do what they can to restore their health, and care for whatever the patient needs. When I was a senior in high school, on the first day of soccer practice I tore my meniscus
A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, a Chinese proverb that I have come to live by through my journey of nursing. I never thought in a millions years that I would have become a nurse. When I was younger nursing was the only profession my mother pushed. It was as if everyone in our family had to be a nurse. Honestly, I think I rebelled from the thought of being a nurse simply because it was my mothers desire for my life. I went from wanting to become a lawyer, to a therapist, to a pharmacist, to even a radiology tech. Ultimately; nursing became the clear path that God wanted for me. Interestingly enough I have come to realize my personal
Nursing is not a field for just anyone to go into. When going into nursing you need to realize that your patients and their family needs come before yours. The values and beliefs of a nurse can influence the way care is provided to a patient and their family. I believe every patient should be cared for equality regardless of race, gender, religion, beliefs or economic status. Each person has the right to decide the treatment and care they want to receive. I will put my patient’s needs, values and beliefs before mine.
Nursing goes beyond caring for a patient during their illness and managing their disease process. Nursing includes adapting to a patient’s and their family’s physical, social, spiritual, environmental and psychological needs. I believe in treating the whole patient and being supportive of the family’s needs as well. Shelly & Miller (2006) asserts “while critical thinking, decision-making, and leadership skills are extremely important, the characteristics nurses need most are compassion, competence, faith, integrity and responsibility” (p. 291).
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.