Theoretical Perspectives Written Philosophy of Nursing

Modules 1-2 Assignment: Written Philosophy of Nursing

Philosophy of nursing practice outlines the beliefs, ethics, and values of nurses that motivate them in their profession (St. Augustine University for Health Sciences, 2020). It plays an important role in decision-making processes given that nursing involves working with different stakeholders in diverse settings. Indeed, according to St. Augustine University for Health Sciences (2020), philosophy in nursing shapes the decisions that nurses make regarding patient care in different environments. However, it is often difficult for nurses to make effective decisions regarding their patients as individuals without applying theories of nursing and deploying theories from other disciplines. According to my personal philosophy, providing the best care for patients would require collaboration of various disciplines. Collaboration in nursing practice enhances communication thus improving patients’ outcomes (O’Daniel and Rosenstein, 2008). This is more so the case given that nursing practice happens to be more than the treatment of diseases. Therefore, to be able to help patients and learn about their environment, it would be prudent to learn how their environment influences their health. For this reason, nurses would have to apply nursing theories such as middle range theories and theories from other disciplines to provide the best possible care. In this essay, I will review the middle-range theories that I applied in my philosophy of nursing. In addition, the essay will include a description of how the health behavioral model can further inform my philosophy of nursing.

One of the middle-range theories that I applied in my philosophy of nursing in psychiatry was the theory of self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1978), the ability of individuals to exercise control and social environment is determined by their beliefs, norms, attitudes, and expectations. Given that self-efficacy is based on individuals’ beliefs, nurses are able to base their interventions and provide care to patients by evaluating the beliefs of patients. In psychiatric nursing, nurses come up with interventions aimed at improving their patients’ self-efficacy. This is more so the case given that high self-efficacy improves resilience to symptoms related to mental health illnesses (Bandura 1978). For instance, patients experiencing stress owing to a mental illness can work through the said situation by improving their self-efficacy regarding behavioral change. The other middle-range theory that I applied in my philosophy was the social cognitive theory. It is important to note that human behavior is determined by their environment. Essentially a change in environment may have an impact on an individual’s behavior - positively or negatively. For this reason, nurses in psychiatry can improve their patients’ health outcomes if they advocate for adaptation of environment. For instance, a mentally ill patient whose illness was caused by abuse can be helped if their environment is changed.

Health belief model influences a person’s belief in relation to their behavior (Boskey, 2020). Given that my personal philosophy is based on caring for patients as well as their environment, the health belief model would further influence my philosophy. This is more so the case given that the health belief model explains the beliefs of persons, which explains the effects of environment to their health behavior. In addition, the model could be applied to the middle-range behavioral theories that I applied in my philosophy of nursing. According to Boskey (2020), the health belief model is based on individual beliefs which are determined by various factors. For instance, an individual’s confidence comes in handy when determining their ability to succeed. Second, the thoughts of an individual with regard to the consequences of an illness would determine their health behavior. Third, the thought of how susceptible an individual is to an illness may influence their behavior (Boskey, 2020). Further, an individual will likely change their health behavior if the said change will result in benefits. Moreover, exposure to information and thoughts of any barriers may also determine health behaviors among individuals (Boskey, 2020).

To treat illnesses among patients, it would be prudent to evaluate individuals’ behavior as well as their perceptions towards the said illness. Applying the health belief model would have an impact in determining the actions that people take with regard to illnesses as well as how the said actions impact their environment. According to Jones et al. (2015), individuals are likely to take precautionary actions with regard to an illness if they think that they are susceptible to the said illness. For instance, during the present COVID-19 pandemic, people are taking actions to prevent the said illness owing to the fact that they believe that the said disease would have severe consequences on their health and wellbeing. If an individual has a perception that the change in behavior has few negative effects on their health, then the said individual would not take any action towards change (Jones et al., 2015). On the other hand, an individual would change their health behavior if the said change would have positive effects on their health and wellbeing. Researchers suggest that self-efficacy also influences health behavior - thus it is also included in the health belief model. According to Bandura (1978), a person’s belief can influence their ability to exercise control of their behavior. An individual’s environment can determine the actions that the said individual would take regarding their health.

Therefore, it would be prudent to note that the health belief model is important in nursing practice given that it is involved in decision-making processes. This happens to be critical in nursing practice given that the said decisions influences health behaviors among individuals (Rural Health Information Hub, 2005). For instance, health belief model influences nurse decisions whereby the said nurses conduct needs assessments to determine the perceived risk associated with an illness so as to help in preventing the said risk. In addition, the health belief model happens to influence the philosophy of nursing whereby nurses are involved in conveying health information to persons at risk so as to help them understand the severity of risky behaviors to their health (Rural Health Information Hub, 2005). Further, nurses would be able to highlight the benefits of a perceived action to a targeted population and the actions they should take so as to reap maximum benefits. Moreover, nurses are involved in identifying and helping reduce the barriers that prevent people from changing their behavior and embracing better behaviors. Nurses could also be involved in education so as to improve individuals’ self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1978), individuals can improve their self-efficacy by learning from others, learning from past experiences, and through education. Therefore, nurses can act as role models by utilizing healthy behaviors in their life so that others can imitate them. Nurses can also teach or sensitize individuals through demonstrations so as to help such individuals learn the relevance of behavior changes (Rural Health Information Hub, 2005).