Philosophy of Nursing

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)

Caring for others has always been a passion of mine, and becoming a nurse has always been my dream. While my dream has turned reality, I can say that nursing has blessed me with the opportunity to not only be a servant to those in my community, but it has also allowed me to be of some comfort to patients and their loved ones during their darkest and most vulnerable moments. Nursing offers a variety of opportunities, where the only restrictions are the ones we set for ourselves. As for myself, all things are possible, for if I want it, I strongly believe it’s already mine. The depths that I will go to reach the latitude of success that I so desire is boundless.

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

The term “nursing” is not enough to depict the nature of this concept. For me, nursing is much ‎more than providing care for the patient to help him or her to achieve health. Nursing is the profession ‎that encompasses the patient/client’s physical, psychological, spiritual needs to direct him or her to ‎wellness in a holistic approach providing patient-centered care, where the patient is integrated in the ‎implementation process and hence, is empowered through knowledge about his or her condition, is able ‎to make decisions concerning his or her health and is able to care for himself or herself to maintain his or ‎her health. Watson defined nursing as “A human science of persons and human health-illness ‎experiences that are mediated by professional, personal, scientific, esthetic and ethical human ‎transactions”. Nurses play a crucial role in educating patients about their condition, treatment ‎procedures, rationales for treatments given, and the available options for the patients to choose from ‎and promote their health through prevention educations. For nurses to be able to effectively deliver their ‎care, education and implement their interventions, they must first establish a therapeutic relationship with ‎the patient/clients, which is the basis for all nursing processes. ‎

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.

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.

A nurse should have a life long education to gain current knowledge of the best practice. Having the education will help you to efficiently and effectively give care. I want my patients to be educated, but I also want to learn from them. Nursing comes down to caring, for your patients and yourself. I always want to be the healthcare person that the patient feels most comfortable with. Nursing is a career that has so many emotions tied in it; your day can go from good to bad, or vice versa, within the hour. It is also a career that is very respected and honorable to do. As in every job it has its cons, but to know every shift that you have helped someone or changed their life for the better, is something that most people cannot say. My goal as a nurse is to recognize each patient as a unique individual and be their advocator and to not

I have been practicing nursing for four years; at this point, I perceive myself as a proficient nurse. I am competent and able to see a holistic views of each patient whom I care for. When unexpected clinical situations occur, I am able to manage those situations more effectively. Experiences from taking care of patients and interact with their families help me to be more confident in my nursing role. I strongly believe that nursing is a life-long learning career. A good nurse will learn from his/ her own experiences, both good and bad, critically think through, and apply what he/she learned into a real world of nursing profession. From my personal view, theoretical

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.

I have always had a faciniation with the inner workings of the human body, even more so a passion to care for people while in their most vulnerable state. I strive for excellence and will make it my mission to make a positive difference with every patient I encounter. While I fully understand that the nursing profession is about providing patient care, I often do not look at people merely as patients, but as people struggling with difficult circumstances and relying on me to help figure out what is wrong and aid them in the healing process. I have also always known what I have wanted to be. While it has taken me some time to get

Nursing philosophy “identifies what is believed to be the basic or central phenomena of the discipline, relates nursing to a particular world view, and provides some information on how one may come to learn about the world”. (p. 13, Salsberry, 2008). My personal philosophy of nursing evolved over the years and includes my observations, beliefs, thoughts, and practices. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my personal philosophy of nursing and the personal and professional experiences that have contributed to the development of my view of nursing.

According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is defined as “the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual and potential health problems” (Wilkinson, Treas, Barnett, & Smith, 2016). A special trusting bond is formed when a nurse provides individualized care to a patient. This also defines that nurse as a provider of care and healing. As a nurse, each individual has the responsibility to keep their patent safe while distributing the best quality of care and to make sure their patient is comfortable with manageable pain (Pappas & Welton 2015).

I believe that health has stagnation, depth and understanding “traditionally health was defined in terms of the presence or the absences of disease. Florence Nightingale defined health as a state of being well and using every power the individual possesses to the fullest extent”(Berman & Synder,2012, p.299). The nursing metaparadigm for health states “health is the degree of wellness or illness that client is experiencing, continuum of wellness to terminal illness” (Berman & Synder,2012, p.299). Personally when I think of health I think of illness and wellness. In the society of the twenty-first century there’s either healthy or unhealthy. Wellness is what many refer to as a healthy being, on the other hand many consider illness as unhealthy. I do believe with the help of the environment that the body can be nurtured back to health.

Nursing is one of the booming careers in every Country, and the United States is no exception. When I was a child, I used to tell my parents that I would become a nurse when I grow up. At that time, I was only interested because of the uniform, that white color uniform put smiles on my face when I see the nurses wearing them. As a child, I thought people who wore the white uniform were good people, and that they were closer to God. As I grew up, I released that a number of people were also interested in becoming nurses. In my mind, I thought if everyone was chasing the same career then it must have been easier for them to have gotten through. Not until I researched to it and I realized that, for me to be able to get into the program I needed

The person is what I believe to be the core basis of the metaparadigm. The person as a whole is at the core of the key central element of nursing theory. I have mixed views about the Eastern and Western culture philosophies. I agree somewhat that the whole person may be greater than the sum of the parts because the person as a whole- mind, body, and soul must maintain health.