Assignment 1: My Personal Philosophy Of Nursing
My Philosophy of Nursing
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to ensure that everyone around me was "ok" and were being "helped and taken care of," including family members, friends and acquaintances. I feel like I have always had a natural "caring" gene which I probably inherited from my mother. I 'm so happy I chose my career in nursing. I truly love what I do and I feel like I always get a sense of reward, in one way or another, every shift that I work, which gives me the drive and the encouragement to do what I do best, nursing!
Nursing includes such things as being professional, appropriate, promote patient safety, hand hygiene, passing medications on time, the five rights of medicating a patient and the list goes on. But …show more content…
there is another side of nursing, beyond completing the "tasks" of patient care. My philosophy of nursing includes care and compassion towards the patient, being a dedicated patient advocate, show respect towards the patient and patient privacy.
I believe that a huge part of nursing is whole-heartedly caring for the patient and showing compassion. "Caring" for the patient to me means caring about their emotional status, their disease process, their physical condition, and the pain they might be feeling. Caring is nurturing, which, I believe, leads to encouragement and strength which is the pathway that leads to comfort and healing. Compassion is the desire to want to make the patient feel cared for and comforted by this desire. This care and compassion should also be directed to the patient 's family, as they are an extension of the patient.
I feel my duty is also to advocate for my patient. If not, who else will? I ensure that my patient understands their plan of care first off, the doctor’s orders, has all their questions answered and that they understand all of their "patient education.” I always offer the opportunity for the patient to ask questions and make it a point that the patient feels comfortable doing so. I ensure that the patient’s admitting diagnosis and disease process are parallel with the plan of care and orders written by the doctor. If there is a question or if something (orders/medication orders) does not make sense, I have no problem clarifying with the doctor to make sure that the patient is receiving the care/treatment appropriate with the diagnosis.
Showing respect (cultural and spiritual respect also included) to the patient is another big part of my philosophy of nursing. A hospitalized patient is in a vulnerable state and already feels they have lost control. I always try to make the patient feel like they are a “person” and not a task. I always knock before entering the room, I try to make them feel like, at that moment, that they have my undivided attention and that I am focused on them. I try my best not to look distracted and always enter the room with a smile. I involved them in their care and give them choices (whenever possible) so that they can feel like they have a say or an opinion and to preserve their dignity.
Nursing theorist Dorothea Orem defines nursing as an art and her theory is known as the "Self-Care Theory" (www.rncentral.com, 2014). I too believe that nursing is somewhat of an art... It takes a certain talent to orchestrate all the different pieces and to have them fall in to place, sometimes unpredictably so, sometimes not.
That talent comes natural for some, others have to learn and work at the "art." This leads me to another theorist, Patricia Benner, whose theory is called "Novice to Expert," where she describes the five levels of experience in nursing as novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. Just as the title of her theory suggests, Benner believes that each step builds on the previous one (www.rncentral.com, 2014). Every nurse starts out "fresh" as a "novice nurse." This is where nursing will "make or break you." After approximately six months to a year then next level is "advanced beginner." Here you are still new but a little more confident and you can stand on your own two feet, so to speak. After approximately two years or so the "competent" level follows. Here you are learning to be more confident, independent and can definitely stand on your own. The "proficient" level is the next step and here you have learned and grown a lot and you can be referred to as a "seasoned" nurse. At this level you can serve as a resource nurse due to the level of experience. The fifth step in the nursing experience, according to Benner, is the "expert" step. Here, the nurse has mastered certain tasks and roles and can be a resource nurse in many more areas. However, even though the nursing experience, so to speak, stops at the "expert" level, learning/educating is ongoing and can simultaneously be taking place during each level of the nursing experience. Advancing education is highly recommended and I believe is an important piece in the life of a nurse. It teaches you to look at things from different angle and stimulates the thought process for a bedside nurse. If offers advancement to a higher level of nursing which promotes growth
opportunities.
My philosophy not only revolves around how I care for my patients or my attitude towards nursing in general, (the nurse to patient relationship) but it also involves the nurse to nurse relationship. I believe that nurses should be able to communicate with each other and work as a team at all times. It is very important for nurses to anticipate the needs of each other to promote the flow of the unit. The environment needs to be professional and appropriate also within the nurse to nurse relationship and a positive atmosphere needs to be maintained. Conflict is a natural process that can occur at any time and is actually considered a healthy because it allows different views of seeing things and can offer value to patient care. How it 's handled or the resolution is the key to make it a positive outcome (Kelly, 2012, p. 311-312).
I am passionate about nursing and what it consists of. I am always open to suggestions, I try to adjust accordingly with change and I look at things with a positive eye at all times. This has helped me to move forward with new ideas and I am grateful to be in this position, in this career where I can give back to the community and be a part of the "healing" process.
References
Kelly, P. (2012). Nursing leadership & management. (3rd ed.). Clifton, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.
Seven Nursing Theories to Practice By. (2014). Retrieved June 12, 2014 from http://www.rncentral.com/blog/2011/7-nursing-theories-to-practice-by/
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to ensure that everyone around me was "ok" and were being "helped and taken care of," including family members, friends and acquaintances. I feel like I have always had a natural "caring" gene which I probably inherited from my mother. I 'm so happy I chose my career in nursing. I truly love what I do and I feel like I always get a sense of reward, in one way or another, every shift that I work, which gives me the drive and the encouragement to do what I do best, nursing!
Nursing includes such things as being professional, appropriate, promote patient safety, hand hygiene, passing medications on time, the five rights of medicating a patient and the list goes on. But …show more content…
there is another side of nursing, beyond completing the "tasks" of patient care. My philosophy of nursing includes care and compassion towards the patient, being a dedicated patient advocate, show respect towards the patient and patient privacy.
I believe that a huge part of nursing is whole-heartedly caring for the patient and showing compassion. "Caring" for the patient to me means caring about their emotional status, their disease process, their physical condition, and the pain they might be feeling. Caring is nurturing, which, I believe, leads to encouragement and strength which is the pathway that leads to comfort and healing. Compassion is the desire to want to make the patient feel cared for and comforted by this desire. This care and compassion should also be directed to the patient 's family, as they are an extension of the patient.
I feel my duty is also to advocate for my patient. If not, who else will? I ensure that my patient understands their plan of care first off, the doctor’s orders, has all their questions answered and that they understand all of their "patient education.” I always offer the opportunity for the patient to ask questions and make it a point that the patient feels comfortable doing so. I ensure that the patient’s admitting diagnosis and disease process are parallel with the plan of care and orders written by the doctor. If there is a question or if something (orders/medication orders) does not make sense, I have no problem clarifying with the doctor to make sure that the patient is receiving the care/treatment appropriate with the diagnosis.
Showing respect (cultural and spiritual respect also included) to the patient is another big part of my philosophy of nursing. A hospitalized patient is in a vulnerable state and already feels they have lost control. I always try to make the patient feel like they are a “person” and not a task. I always knock before entering the room, I try to make them feel like, at that moment, that they have my undivided attention and that I am focused on them. I try my best not to look distracted and always enter the room with a smile. I involved them in their care and give them choices (whenever possible) so that they can feel like they have a say or an opinion and to preserve their dignity.
Nursing theorist Dorothea Orem defines nursing as an art and her theory is known as the "Self-Care Theory" (www.rncentral.com, 2014). I too believe that nursing is somewhat of an art... It takes a certain talent to orchestrate all the different pieces and to have them fall in to place, sometimes unpredictably so, sometimes not.
That talent comes natural for some, others have to learn and work at the "art." This leads me to another theorist, Patricia Benner, whose theory is called "Novice to Expert," where she describes the five levels of experience in nursing as novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. Just as the title of her theory suggests, Benner believes that each step builds on the previous one (www.rncentral.com, 2014). Every nurse starts out "fresh" as a "novice nurse." This is where nursing will "make or break you." After approximately six months to a year then next level is "advanced beginner." Here you are still new but a little more confident and you can stand on your own two feet, so to speak. After approximately two years or so the "competent" level follows. Here you are learning to be more confident, independent and can definitely stand on your own. The "proficient" level is the next step and here you have learned and grown a lot and you can be referred to as a "seasoned" nurse. At this level you can serve as a resource nurse due to the level of experience. The fifth step in the nursing experience, according to Benner, is the "expert" step. Here, the nurse has mastered certain tasks and roles and can be a resource nurse in many more areas. However, even though the nursing experience, so to speak, stops at the "expert" level, learning/educating is ongoing and can simultaneously be taking place during each level of the nursing experience. Advancing education is highly recommended and I believe is an important piece in the life of a nurse. It teaches you to look at things from different angle and stimulates the thought process for a bedside nurse. If offers advancement to a higher level of nursing which promotes growth
opportunities.
My philosophy not only revolves around how I care for my patients or my attitude towards nursing in general, (the nurse to patient relationship) but it also involves the nurse to nurse relationship. I believe that nurses should be able to communicate with each other and work as a team at all times. It is very important for nurses to anticipate the needs of each other to promote the flow of the unit. The environment needs to be professional and appropriate also within the nurse to nurse relationship and a positive atmosphere needs to be maintained. Conflict is a natural process that can occur at any time and is actually considered a healthy because it allows different views of seeing things and can offer value to patient care. How it 's handled or the resolution is the key to make it a positive outcome (Kelly, 2012, p. 311-312).
I am passionate about nursing and what it consists of. I am always open to suggestions, I try to adjust accordingly with change and I look at things with a positive eye at all times. This has helped me to move forward with new ideas and I am grateful to be in this position, in this career where I can give back to the community and be a part of the "healing" process.
References
Kelly, P. (2012). Nursing leadership & management. (3rd ed.). Clifton, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning.
Seven Nursing Theories to Practice By. (2014). Retrieved June 12, 2014 from http://www.rncentral.com/blog/2011/7-nursing-theories-to-practice-by/