Core Values In Nursing

Nursing, an integral part of the health care system, encompasses many tasks and duties throughout different aspects of the profession. To complete these responsibilities, nurses must possess a set of values to ethically guide them through both professional and personal life. Through the self-exploration and reflection that has taken place in NURS 1206: Relational Practice 1, I have been able to investigate important self-values. These core values that are featured in my self-mandala include being dependable, caring, and virtuous. Not only do I consider these core values to influence my everyday life. I also consider them to be very prominent as a nursing student and an eventual Registered Nurse. In my mandala you will see the word caring which
I believe is one of the most powerful values to uphold in personal and professional life. Caring is a value that allows one to extend a helping hand and pass along grace to those who may not even know they need it.
This idea of helping others no matter the situation has always been a value I hold close because of how I was raised. When one takes the time to demonstrate they really care, they simultaneously demonstrate there are still good people in this world. As an optimist this is something I strive to show the world because I truly believe good people can still be found. According to Browder Lazenby, Morris, & Rhodes (2011) caring can also be seen through someone who is excited to provide competent care to patients. Rhodes et al. (2011) also view caring as a personal experience that evolves into a professional experience through the progression of a career. This development also includes the idea of self-care as a key aspect, which my family has also helped me establish throughout my life. This important idea of caring will influence me as a professional nurse because I know it’s importance in a nursing career. Browder Lazenby et al. (2011) provided data referring to the positive aspects of professional caring and how they are viewed by others which instilled in me the importance of caring as a nurse. I plan to carry out this value of caring as a nurse through continual self-reflection and critical thinking. I also believe keeping a separation between personal and professional issues would ideal for professional. Another very important core value to personal
and professional life is the idea of being dependable. Dependability is referred to as being trustworthy and reliable and can be relatively co-existent between personal and professional life. Being dependable in personal life includes being there for the people around you, helping out the people around you, and being a reliable resource for others. Dependability in professional life can include showing up for work, doing the jobs assigned to you, and supporting coworkers and patients. Being dependable was something my family always showed me is important in life. My mother, as a homecare nurse, was highly depended on by patients and family while I was growing up. This is when personal and professional dependability coincided as she had to be there for her patients when they needed her but also had to be there when a family member needed her. This taught me that dependability is not just something needed professionally but also something that must coexist with your personal life. Like my mother, I plan to one day use the value of being dependable in my nursing profession and how I work. I know being trusted and reliable to my coworkers and patients is very important and is something I strive to one day uphold. Drayton & Weston (n.d.) have provided research evidence that nursing students agree commitment to patient care is a very important value to possess. In the study, it was found that the nurses fundamentally agreed on how they wanted patients to receive care and being dependable is this way. I plan to be a dependable nurse by continually refining and acknowledging skills needed to be trustworthy and reliable. Another crucial value to possess as a human and nurse is to be virtuous. A saying that my grandparents used throughout my life, [“There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.” –Benjamin Franklin] has always spoken to me. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and through the way they treated me and expected me to treat others they instilled the value of being virtuous that is not only critical in personal life but also in professional. Being virtuous means having and practicing high moral standards and ethics. In personal life, this means treating others in the ways you would want to be treated; being fair, telling the truth, being kind, and other traits like these. I have always tried to uphold these values in my life. These also apply towards professional life but can further be expanded to virtuous patient care; completing tasks properly and as expected, treating patients like they are actual humans and many other important attributes like these. I hope to become a nurse that upholds the value of being virtuous in all aspects of life. I hope to practice the aspects of being kind and honest with my patients to carry this value out in work. Research found by Armstrong (2006) has proved to show that the idea of being virtuous is an important idea found in most nurses and being virtuous helps nurses in patient care when helping them deal with their illness. These core values are all extremely important when developing my skills for one day being a Registered Nurse and are also values I hold close in my personal life. The self mandala created in class was a valuable tool to explore the core values I believe as a nursing student and more importantly a nurse.
These values of being caring, dependable and virtuous are a great insight into the person I strive to be and the nurse I hope to one day become. I believe these values not only help me understand myself better but also allow me to self-reflect better and will continue to help me with self-evaluation as a nursing student making my way into the professional world. These values will not only ethically guide me through the many tasks and duties I will face one day as a nurse but will also allow personal
growth.