Holistic Nursing Philosophy: Ethics, Morality, and Care
This paper presents a personal nursing philosophy built around holistic patient care, patient rights advocacy, and ethical decision-making. Drawing on nursing literature, the author argues that sound nursing models remain relevant to practice and that nurses must address patients from a multi-dimensional perspective encompassing nutrition, activity, and stress management. The paper explores the origins of personal morality—rooted in experience, family, and society—and applies two major ethical frameworks, deontological ethics and utilitarianism, to concrete nursing scenarios such as patient advocacy, truthful communication, and triage. Together, these elements form an integrated philosophy that guides professional nursing conduct.
- Introduction: Nursing Models and Holistic Care: Holistic care philosophy and nursing model relevance
- Patient Advocacy and Therapeutic Relationships: Advocating for patient rights and building trust
- The Origins of Personal Morality: Family, society, and innate sources of morality
- Deontological Ethics in Nursing Practice: Duty-based ethics applied to nursing scenarios
- Utilitarianism and Nursing Decision-Making: Outcome-based reasoning in treatment and triage
- Conclusion: Integrating Philosophy, Morality, and Ethics in Nursing: Synthesizing holistic care, morality, and ethical theory
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds abstract philosophical positions in concrete nursing scenarios—such as blood pressure disclosure and triage—making ethical theory immediately applicable to clinical practice.
- It integrates peer-reviewed nursing literature (Meehan, Nyatanga, Rudge) to support claims rather than relying solely on personal opinion, lending academic credibility to a reflective essay.
- The author establishes a clear personal position early and builds toward it systematically, connecting holistic care, patient advocacy, personal morality, and ethical theory into a coherent whole.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the technique of grounding personal reflection in theoretical frameworks. Rather than treating philosophy as abstract, the author maps deontological and utilitarian principles directly onto recognizable nursing situations—truth-telling, rights advocacy, and resource allocation—showing how theory translates into everyday professional decisions.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with a statement of the author's nursing philosophy centered on holistic care, then moves to patient advocacy and the value of therapeutic relationships. It transitions into a personal account of moral development before introducing and applying two ethical theories—deontology and utilitarianism—each illustrated with nursing examples. The conclusion synthesizes all elements into a unified philosophy of professional nursing practice.
Introduction: Nursing Models and Holistic Care
"For over forty years, the nursing profession has debated the relevance of nursing models to nursing practice, and it is clear that most nurses, particularly practicing nurses, continue to judge them to be not relevant" (Meehan, 2012, p. 2906). I disagree and believe firmly in the implementation of sound nursing models in nursing practice. My philosophy of nursing centers around holistic care and the use of knowledge to drive practice. This means that in order to heal and assist patients and clients, one must be willing to approach a situation from a multi-level perspective. Nutrition, activity level, supplementation, and stress management are just some of the dimensions a nurse should discuss and monitor in patients.
"Traditionally, nurses have sought to care for the whole person, and as formal nursing knowledge was developed, this intention was conceptualized as holistic nursing" (Meehan, 2012, p. 992). Furthermore, keeping up to date with research and innovative practices will keep nurses informed not only about what to expect from patient illnesses, but also about how best to help.
Patient Advocacy and Therapeutic Relationships
When it comes to certain situations, I believe that failing to advocate for a patient is always wrong, in any and every circumstance. Nurses should always stand up for a patient's rights and act as an advocate. This can be understood in two ways. First, by upholding a patient's rights, a nurse also avoids potential legal ramifications arising from accidents or misunderstandings.
Second, when patients are well informed of their rights and feel comfortable, they are more willing to share information that can assist with diagnosis and management. They are also more likely to follow instructions and pursue goals that lead to better health. As noted in the literature, "community nurses may end up playing a big part in deciding where patients might be cared for and eventually die, hence the importance of forging strong therapeutic relationships with relatives" (Nyatanga, 2010, p. 413). Connection is built on trust and communication. Without proper advocacy for patient rights, the connection between patient and medical staff is lost, which can create serious problems for both parties in the future.
Deontological Ethics in Nursing Practice
The ethical theories I favor are Utilitarianism, as developed by Jeremy Bentham and refined by John Stuart Mill, and Deontology — more specifically, Kantian ethics, as articulated by Immanuel Kant. I favor deontology over utilitarianism but find value in both frameworks. My preference for deontology stems from its practical application in nursing.
Deontology is a group of ethical theories based on the rationalist view that the rightness or wrongness of an act depends upon the nature of the act itself, rather than the consequences that follow from it. It demands strict adherence to duty. One application of deontology in a nursing setting involves rights-based theories, which hold that an action is ethically right if it sufficiently respects the human rights of all persons in society. These theories suggest that people should be lawfully free to do as they wish, provided their actions do not infringe upon the rights of others. As noted earlier, this ideology applies directly to patient rights advocacy.
Another example concerns honesty with patients. Lying to a patient is unacceptable within a deontological framework, because its universal principles forbid deception even if the patient would never discover the untruth. For instance, if a patient asks whether his or her blood pressure is borderline high and a nurse wishes to say no in order to avoid causing alarm, deontology requires the nurse to say yes — because it is the truth. Elevated blood pressure can indeed be detrimental to health, and the patient deserves accurate information. This connects directly to the broader principle of deontological ethics as a foundation for professional conduct.
Conclusion: Integrating Philosophy, Morality, and Ethics in Nursing
There are many things to consider when applying one's philosophy to nursing. I feel strongly that nurses should approach the treatment of patients in a holistic manner that, in some ways, was seen in the origins of nursing and should still be adhered to today. This means gathering information on a continual basis in order to develop sound and effective nursing practices. Morality plays a central role in how this is achieved, and it is based on many things — chief among them experience, society, and self. Certain ethical theories help in making moral choices: deontology enforces strict adherence and a strong moral code, while utilitarianism weighs costs against benefits. Together, these frameworks and values form the foundation of a coherent and compassionate nursing philosophy.
References
Meehan, T. C. (2012). Spirituality and spiritual care from a Careful Nursing perspective. Journal of Nursing Management, 20, 992.
Meehan, T. C. (2012). The Careful Nursing philosophy and professional practice model. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 2905–2907.
Nyatanga, B. (2010). Managing competing philosophies with palliative care. British Journal of Community Nursing, 18(8), 413.
Rudge, T. (2011). The 'well-run' system and its antinomies. Nursing Philosophy, 12, 167–176.
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