Personal Philosophy

¶ … Personal Nursing Philosophy Introduction believe that nursing practice is a chance for me to provide patients with my best effort to help them achieve their highest level of health. I feel that through my skills and care, I am best able to meet people's health needs, and help them cope with their own level of health. When forming my personal philosophy of nursing, I examined the metaparadigm of nursing to formulate my ideas on what nursing is really about.

Metaparadigm "represents the worldview of a discipline (the most global perspective that subsumes more specific views and approaches to the central concepts with which it is concerned). There is considerable agreement that nursing's metaparadigm consists of the central concepts of humans, environment, health, and nursing." (Powers & Knapp, 1990, p. 87). According to Benner (1984), a human is "a self-interpreting being, that is, the person does not come into the world predefined but gets defined in the course of living life" (Marriner-Tomey, 1989, P. 192).

Environment is explained as situation which implies social significance and the interaction of people within that situation (Benner, 1984). Health is portrayed in terms of what can be assessed by the nurse and includes wholeness as a description of well-being. Benner describes nursing as an "enabling condition of connection and concern" (Marriner-Tomey, 1989, p.192), which implies a high level of emotional involvement in the nurse-client relationship (Benner, 1989). My personal nursing philosophy is centered on a set of beliefs regarding these metaparadigm concepts of the nursing discipline.

These beliefs, in addition to those regarding the learning process, provide the foundation for my personal nursing philosophy. Metaparadigm Concepts of Nursing Humans are holistic beings who are made up of biological, psychological, cultural, and spiritual dimensions. They are thinking and acting beings, who exhibit complex and assorted behaviors throughout their lives. All people are different, yet each is entitled to fair and equal treatment. Humans move through distinct phases of development, each having their unique set of tasks, needs, and health care requirements.

As humans advance through the stages of life, they show different levels of health and illness, some of which convey their phase of development. Humans function in society as individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations and constantly interact with their environment. Orlando (1972) defines nursing as "concerned with providing direct assistance to individuals in whatever setting they are found for he purpose of avoiding, relieving, diminishing, or curing the individual's sense of helplessness" (p. 22). She feels that nurses practice independently on behalf of their patients.

I believe that all people have specific basic rights, including the right to health care and the ability to make their own decisions regarding their care. As patients, people participate in their health care as individuals, families, and local and global communities to achieve a variety of health goals. The environment has various physical, social, cultural, economic, and political dimensions. These dimensions provide a setting for people as they progress through their lives and are reflected in their state of health.

These settings influence the nature of human behavior and nursing interventions. As a nurse, I can use my environmental background to facilitate health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention strategies for people through the health care system. I believe that the environment can be successfully used to improve health care. Health is a forceful physical, mental and social phenomenon that surfaces from human-environment interactions. Health is assessed by a person's subjective feelings of well being and by bio-behavioral measures and standards.

Health needs can be determined within a developmental context and are met through health promotion, risk reduction, and illness and symptom management. Health and illness are coexistent, and reflect the quality of the person-environment interaction. Genetics, education, economics, living environment, work, and personal life-style choices all determine a person's health. While individuals are largely responsible for their own health, I believe that health care providers share the responsibility of maintaining health with the community.

Therefore, as a nurse, it is my responsibility to provide education, advice and care for people to promote health and prevent illness. I believe nursing is an art and science with the focus of professional practice being to assist individuals, families and communities in achieving optimum health and well being. This assistance includes preventive health care, education, facilitating recovery and continuous support through illness, disability, or death.

As a nurse, I believe that it is my duty to work with physicians and other nurses to insure patient care that is coordinated and comprehensive. Health care takes place in many different settings. Nursing can be considered an art that promotes, restores and maintains the health of humans throughout their lives through sensitive care to various communities within the context of their environment. Nursing science is a complex body of knowledge that comes from research and scientific methods.

The science of nursing describes, explains, and forecasts phenomena related to the metaparadigm concepts of nursing and provides the foundation for the entire nursing practice. Nursing's focus.