Personal Philosophy of Nursing I believe that nursing may or may not always be curative but it is always caring. That is why the philosophy of nursing which resonates with me the most is that of Dorothea Orem's self-care deficit theory. This theory suggests that nurses must step in only when patients cannot take care of themselves. Nurses have a supportive function for all patients of all states of health but this function differs depending on the needs of the patient. For a patient that is a healthy weight, a nurse may provide advice about how to maintain that weight and improve health through exercise. For an overweight patient with advanced diabetes, the supportive function of the nurse will be much greater and will likely involve helping the patient manage his or her condition through tracking glucose readings and using medication appropriately. What I like about Orem's theory is that it simultaneously affirms the value of caregiving and patient empowerment. According to Orem, many different factors can affect a patient's ability to engage in self-care, including "age, developmental state, life experience, socio-cultural orientation, health, and available resources; therapeutic self-care demand" ("Self-care deficit theory," 2015). From my own perspective, nursing is helping...

Health is also relative to the belief systems of the patient and is not an objective construct. Decisions like when to pursue an aggressive versus a conservative treatment should be made in consultation with the patient and the patient's family. Patients should have as much information possible to make a decision and part of the responsibility of a nurse is to put medical terms into a layperson's terms to be understood.
The nurse must also be sensitive to the patient's environment when giving advice. A good example of this is access to healthcare. Patients who are under-insured or who face considerable obstacles in obtaining regular access to healthcare if they live in a rural area or work long hours face additional challenges. A nurse must work to create a constructive plan with the patient to manage his or her own health and to stay in communication with providers. In addition, on a psychological basis different environmental factors (literacy, the patient's social environment, and living circumstances) may demand a different psychological approach on the part…