My Personal Nursing Philosophy
Philosophy of nursing expresses our personal thoughts on what we conceive to be truthful about the nursing professional nature and helps in providing the basis for nursing activities. It bases our beliefs on theory and endorses our ethical values. The main goal of this paper is to discuss my own personal theory, which is what I conceive to be the central meaning of nursing. The characteristics of my nursing philosophy and belief/value system include: patient privacy, honesty, respect, advocacy, caring/compassion, time management and knowledge. All these characteristics together with my own personal value system encouraged me to undertake a nursing career. Nursing is a profession people strategically choose to help and care for others; those who choose this profession share many common beliefs and value systems.
Knowledge is the key to success in nursing. Nurses are supposed to apply the knowledge and skills they acquired in college to their work places in order to perform effectively. Passing an exam in college does not guarantee that you will perform well in the health care setting. Therefore, I believe that they ability to apply the knowledge you gained properly is the most valuable quality. Bedsides it, manner and personality are also exceedingly significant when caring for patients; however, these are not the only aspects of nursing that assist a nurse to succeed. A competent nurse should think holistically, constantly prognosticating the needs of his/her patient. I believe that a nurse should be able to prioritize health care issues among the patients he/she is taking care of, as well as interacting effectively with them. Time management goes hand in hand with prioritization. Considering the daily activities one should handle, poor time management and organization will lead to inadequate health care provision to the patients one is taking care of.
My personal belief/value system emphasizes being caring and compassionate. I acquired this belief system from my family background. Both my parents were rather caring and compassionate towards others in the society. Through their practice, I developed this belief system. As a nurse, you are supposed to be caring and compassionate for your patients and their relatives. You should not only care for the patient’s physical health; emotional support is necessary as well. As a trained trauma nurse, my philosophy has helped me a lot in caring for trauma patients. I am able to support them emotionally. For instance, there was a case whereby my patient was injured as a result of an accident that killed four of his relatives; I had to offer emotional support to that patient for him to recover fully from the trauma.
The other four characteristics of my nursing philosophy are concerned with basic human rights and ethical issues. Every person deserves privacy, honesty, advocacy, and respect; thus, these aspects are extremely significant in a healthcare setting. According to the American Nurses Association (2001, p. 12), a nurse promotes for and strives to protect the rights, safety, and health of all patients. Although these are clear nursing roles, all health care professionals must work together and collaborate to observe the patient’s needs and rights. Ineffective collaboration among these professionals will cause the patient not to receive well-managed healthcare services they require and deserve.
I am interested in the shift in nursing from pure caring to cost-efficient quality care delivery. Though our current health care system can be considered to be rather quality, it is not cost-effective. If health care becomes expensive, not everyone will be able to access it. I believe we are all supposed to have equal rights to get access to health care without any discriminatory factors such as cost. There is a need to have a closer look at the society and understand the main health issues it is facing and the factors contributing to those issues. There is also a need to address factors that are limiting the elimination of common health issues in our society, like costly health care, for example. If all the characteristics described in my nursing philosophy were well incorporated in the health care system, our health system would be much better.
I have decided to continually study in order to enhance my empirical knowledge and skills about nursing so as to provide excellent health care delivery to patients, families and community. I can enhance my nursing practice by continually learning from all aspects of life. Currently I have enrolled in an MSN Hospital Admin program, which will assist me in advancing my knowledge in the nursing profession. However, as a student interested in nursing, I still have a long way to go before achieving excellence in care delivery. Although I am studying the latest academic nursing knowledge, I require a lot of experience in order to become an effective nurse. For instance, I need more clinical experience in different sections of nursing to improve my nursing skills.
In conclusion, I would urge all nurses to apply their values, knowledge and idealism in their workplaces. If they apply most of the core characteristics of the nursing profession, such as patient privacy, honesty, respect, advocacy, caring/compassion, time management and knowledge, they will be successful and respected in their field of work. I bring my personal nursing philosophy into my professional life, and I adhere to my philosophy on a daily basis. I do not have to be at work to offer nursing care; I provide it whenever it is applicable. In all situations of my life, I exemplify my beliefs. I consider nursing to be my life, and I always strive to observe and adhere to my nursing philosophy.
