My personal nursing philosophy and definition of care

¶ … nursing philosophy. It explores several elements of nursing including illness, personal beliefs, and patient care. It then provides a blueprint of the writer's philosophy when it comes to the field and practice of nursing.

As a nurse, I am a believer in complete patient care. I understand my role is that of caregiver for the patient, facilitator of the physician's orders and liaison between the family and the medical care professionals involved with the patient's care and treatment. One of the things I enjoy most about being a nurse is the fact that today's nursing professional wears many hats. With the diverse nature of society today, I believe it is important to embrace and study the different cultures so that we can deliver the best care while still showing respect for the life and traditions of the people that we are charged with caring for.

My work environment is at a hospital. I work on the regular room floor and this entails caring for many different types of illnesses and needs. We handle after surgery care as well as chronic and terminally ill patients. I enjoy working in this capacity because of the variety of duties and learning opportunities that it provides. Many of my beliefs and philosophy elements when it comes to nursing have been developed through my experiences on the floor.

MY DEFINITION

My definition of nursing has been derived from professional definitions combined with my personal experience in the field and in life. When the American Nursing Association first developed a definition of nursing in 1980 in covered many of the basic beliefs and standards that the profession is expected to follow and practice (Wilson, 2005). However, in the two decades since that definition was publicized and accepted many things have changed within the industry and society thereby creating the need for additions to the definition.

While it has always been important to keep our fingers on the pulse of society, it has recently become a multiple pulse community given diverse cultures, races, and society members.

My current definition of nursing actually dovetails with the 2003 ANA's Social Policy statement. It includes the belief that nursing is:

the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations (Wilson, 2005). "

There is a debate among people who work in the medical profession about whether nursing should come from applied sciences and those who believe it is a profession of caring through human sciences. My personal definition incorporates both philosophies. I think nursing is clearly defined as a caring profession in which human sciences must play a part, however, the science aspect of it cannot be denied as we are also expected to understand physiological elements of care and deliver that care with precision and competence.

The art of nursing is prescience. This means that the artful acts in nursing are those activities that science cannot explain (Wilson, 2005)."

This is when personality types come into play. One must be able to feel compassion and empathy for the patients and their families. We, as nurses, have more contact with the patient and families than any other medical professional. We are who they turn to for comfort, support, knowledge and advice. While we are there to follow the doctor's orders it is our duty to provide support and comfort as needed to the patient and their loved ones. We are also going to be asked many technical questions. I believe the definition of nursing also mandates that we remain well versed on the science aspects of care so that we can answer the questions that are asked of us in an informed and knowledgeable manner.

I believe everyone has a different purpose for being a nurse. For me however it is about being able to provide care to people who are in need. When I was a small child my grandmother became terminally ill. She was afraid as the illness began to take its toll on her body and she knew that death drew closer and loomed on the horizon. There was no turning back, she was going to die. I was small and used to go with my parents to sit with her at the hospital and I remember the nurses coming in around the clock. They not only delivered the medical care that she needed, but they held her hand, hugged her, put lotion on her, made her feel that each day was another gift. She became very attached to two of the nurses and I believe they were the people who helped her accept her fate and enjoy the little time she still had left.

As I grew up and encountered nurses at various places I saw their ability to deliver care at the same time they delivered caring.

My purpose for becoming a nurse is to be able to provide comfort and assurance and medical care to those who need it. Whether it is relieving a patient's pain, handling their post surgery care, or helping them recover from a heart attack, it is important to me that they had someone they could count on medically to provide a consistent level of confidence, comfort and care.

The basic moral purpose of nursing -- working for humanity by doing what is essentially a vital, worthwhile and ethically demanding job (Woods, 2005)," contributes to my decision to become a nurse.

CONCLUSION

The field of nursing is an exciting one. Historically nurses have been caregivers but in recent years that element of human compassion and science has become mixed with scientific demands and knowledge. I am in the nursing field because I grew up seeing that nurses are the connective tissue within the body of medical science and the circle of life. Whether it is easing a terminally ill patient into death, helping another patient recover, or celebrating the joyous gift of life through birth a nurse is usually on hand to be part of the process. It is a profession with meaning and ethics and one that I am proud to be a part of.