Personal philosophy of nursing

Philosophy of Nursing

Nursing

My professional and personal interest in health contributes to my perspective that health should be a prominent issue in every person's life. This concept is fundamental to my philosophy of nursing. Health should always have some part of our attention. Mental health, emotional health, and physical health are interconnected; no one aspect of health is more important than the others. My life experience and my professional experience has proven to me be repeatedly and very clearly the necessity for strong health. I am aware of the significance of health professionals and the potential the health industry has to affect great change on individual, societies, and the world. The paper illustrates my philosophy and predictions for the field of nursing.

When people feel passion toward a subject or activity, they devote themselves sincerely and genuinely to endeavors revolving around that topic. In my case, it is nursing to which I am devoted. Nursing is more than a profession for me; it is what I am meant to do with my life. I think nursing is the type of profession where it is very possible to be overwhelmed and to easily be caught up in the work -- to be busy "getting the hang" of the work, so to speak. Yet nursing is a profession where reflection is a huge asset because as we encounter a variety of patients, situations, and challenges, ideally, we become better at what we do because we have integrated those experiences into our current skill set and practice. I am specifically interested in present laws, as well as developing new laws that improve nursing and protect nurses in the workplace. My interest in my helping my community, strengthening families, and helping people live better lives inspire me to earn the appropriate, recognized credentials of a fully accredited and registered family nurse practitioner.

At the core of nursing should be empathy, diligence, and confidence. Nursing is a part of medicine, which is a type of civil or social service to society. Nurses deal with people; this is a profession that requires empathy. I do not advocate for nurses to be weak or naive, but I do think that nursing needs to be very much aware of the human element. Unfortunately, most people do not encounter nurses until after something detrimental has occurred; people are in highly emotional states. In order for nurses to get the information they need so that the appropriate care can be provided, nurses need to have a sense of what others are going through or else there will likely be numerous arguments between patients, families, and nursing staff, which only exacerbates a likely already tense situation. With nursing, "the devil is in the details," meaning that the profession demands attention to detail as well as quick action, which is why at the core of nursing I believe confidence is there, too. There will be many situations across a nurse's professional career where quick and important decisions must be made; if a nurse lacks confidence in his/her skills, experience, or self, lives will literally be at stake. The point of nursing and medicine is to prolong life and improve the quality of life; it is not to lose lives because of excessive second guessing and insecurity.

Medical ethics, in a narrow historical or political sense, refers to a group of guidelines, such as the Oath of Hippocrates, generally written by physicians, about the physician's ideal relationship to his peers and to his/her patients. Medical ethics in the 21st century world has expanded and additionally refers to the application of general and fundamental ethical principles to clinical practice situations, including medical research, and in the increasingly expanding field of nursing.

Nursing has come to the forefront as a popular and vibrant professional around the world, continuing to gain attention and increasing numbers of undergraduates and graduates studying nursing. An additional change or occurrence in recent years is that the term "medical ethics" has been modified to biomedical ethics, which includes ethical principles relating to all branches of knowledge about life and health. Thus, fields supplemental to and indirectly related to the practice of medicine are included, such as nursing, pharmacy, genetics, social work, psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and the like. Changes in culture, developments in technology, shifts in attitude regarding the political-legal-social-economic links have all influenced professional nursing practice.

I believe patients are valuable and should be respected. Patients are not always simple or easy to deal with as a nurse, but this is an accepted risk of the profession. Patients are one of the highest priorities in the nursing practice. Of course it would excellent if everyone everywhere was always in perfect health, but this is not a reality. At some point, everyone needs or encounters a nurse for medical reasons. In this way, nurses need nurses and nurses need patients.