Personal Philosophy of Nursing

In my personal opinion, it is, firstly, imperative to define philosophy, before embarking on a discussion of the topic. I believe the following definition by Shrock is the most ideal: Philosophy represents an outlook towards reality and life, arising out of individual nurses’ personal beliefs. My personal nursing philosophy has the following elements: environment, society, care recipient (i.e., patient), and the relationship between the above three aspects. Individual experiences within religious, cultural and demographic contexts play a part in one’s interpretation of reality and subsequent worldview formation (Lorenc, Blair & Robinson, 2014). Worldview may be defined as a collection of presumptions and opinions articulating cultural interpretation and justification of experiences. It portrays a complex, comprehensive image of life, encompassing its value and meaning, and it is difficult to distil it into personal health related beliefs. Thus, the cost of overlooking it, for clinicians, proves rather steep. Contrary to discrete health-related belief constructs, one’s worldviews is associated with overall life, and not, essentially, only with health.
I am of the view that successful nursing professionals need to deliver patient care as an “art”, and be inspired to constantly acquire and implement knowledge “sciences” all through the course of their clinical career. One means of isolating nursing’s expressive element from its instrumental one is through care regulation as an art. In the absence of empathy, it is not possible to relate to one’s patients and, consequently, not possible to cultivate trust. Thus, therapeutic nursing cannot occur. Hence, caring forms the core of effective nurse-patient encounters. But this doesn’t mean the profession’s scientific aspect is any less important. It is crucial for nursing staff to be familiar with the human body’s physiology and anatomy, pathology, and existing pharmacological treatment guidelines.
My personal nursing philosophy is: nursing professionals are duty-bound to society to deliver safe, client-focused, all-inclusive healthcare. A nurse should bear in mind the fact that patients aren’t inorganic health issues or room numbers; rather, they are actual people who need and are deserving of personalized care and focus. Clinical acumen ought to be employed for meeting their needs. As patients’ advocates, nurses need to empower and urge them to actively participate in personal care and health-related goal establishment. Patient confidentiality ought to be upheld, with the only exception being the mandatory duty of reporting to superiors (Thompson, 2018). Patients and family members ought to be provided education with regard to ailments, therapy and healthy conduct for achieving better results. Furthermore, positive behaviors need to be modeled within nurses’ lives, based on the idea that those who care effectively for themselves, first, will subsequently be able to deliver improved care to other people.
The framework encompassing a society is its environment. This may be one’s physical environment, including one’s area of residence, household structure, or other relevant tangible aspects. Additionally, the environment covers an individual’s psychological awareness, including spiritual awareness, feelings and views with regard to one’s existing condition. Care recipients aren’t only patients; they cover patient kith and kin, patient care team members and clergymen. All individuals interacting with the process of nursing are favorably or adversely influenced, and every environment-society-patient interaction is of a synergistic and active nature.
Nursing staff need to be devoted to remaining updated on novel competences and information, and learn continuously for self-improvement. This will ensure they aren’t dormant or immobile in their beliefs, but are progressing on a professional level via technological advancements and evidence-based practices. My personal nursing vision is: I will forever engage in theoretical (through journals, textbooks, etc.) as well as practical (through interacting with patient care team members, involving myself in patient and family experiences, etc.) learning. I desire to acquire novel knowledge every day, put my knowledge into practice, and hone my nursing skills continuously. Interactions with diverse environmental spheres facilitates invaluable learning, and I aim at enriching my practice by integrating this into my profession.
I recognize disease and health as key elements of my nursing philosophy. When examining the concept of health, the following definition proved most apt to me: Health represents a process of being, or an aggregation of one’s life experiences. It is not a linear concept and one may not describe it as ‘more’, ‘less’, ‘bad’ or ‘good’ (Parse, 1981, 39). Hence, sickness may be considered a state which hampers or interrupts this process.
The objective is: delivering unbiased patient care irrespective of spiritual views, race, socioeconomic condition, disability, or lifestyle choices. I believe nursing helps one give back to the society. It is an honorable choice of career; a nurse should be more focused on serving mankind than earning money. I delight in being able to aid other people. It accords me inner peace. Nursing constitutes a succession of methodical steps aiming to offer excellent care. Its five stages are: assessment, diagnosis, planning, adoption and appraisal (Edwards, Staniszewska & Crichton, 2004). The above outlook developed within me at a later stage within my career. Initially, when commencing my nursing education, I believed it was about acquiring novel skills and being able to deliver clinical care. But, since those days, I have learnt that medication is not the sole component of the therapeutic process. Showing sincere empathy is vital, and it entails spiritual interactions with one’s patients. I have discovered that such a patient-provider bond offers a therapeutic foundation for promoting trust and thus facilitating healing. Thorough healing is obstructed in the absence of such a therapeutic atmosphere.
References
Edwards, C., Staniszewska, S., & Crichton, N. (2004). Investigation of the ways in which patients' reports of their satisfaction with healthcare are constructed. Sociology of Health and Illness, 26(2), 159-183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2004.00385.x
Lorenc, A., Blair, M., & Robinson, N. (2014). Personal and professional influences on practitioners' attitudes to traditional and complementary approaches to health in the UK. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences, 1(2), 148-155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtcms.2014.09.002
Thompson, C. (2018). How to Figure Out Your Personal Philosophy of Nursing - Nursing Education Expert. Nursing Education Expert. Retrieved 6 January 2018, from https://nursingeducationexpert.com/personal-philosophy-nursing/