Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Yasmin Y. Young
Abstract
the most general beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group. My personal belief
is that nursing, at its core, involves the commitment to give of ones self. It involves, not only
caring for those who are ill, but also those who are well. Nursing unifies medical knowledge
with compassionate care. The patient is a person to be cared for rather than just a disease to be
treated. This paper explores my personal philosophy of nursing and its relationship to society.
Personal Philosophy of Nursing 3
I chose nursing, or rather, should I say nursing chose me. I wasnt quite fully aware of
the role nurses played in society, and didnt consider it as a career until later in life. However,
the desire and need to help people was always embedded within my heart. Nursing is for those
who have a true desire to help and care for the needs of others. Nursing is a calling. You must
to be selfless. According to the American Nurses Association (n.d.), nursing is the protection,
promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation
of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response and
advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations. I simply
see nursing as being the ultimate model of service to others. Nursing care can be provided
anywhere. It is not confined within the walls of a hospital. As with new models that are arising,
we can see that more nurses will be soon be entering homes more than hospitals as things shift
The Profession
Education is important to nursing. Nursing is no longer task oriented as it was during its
earlier years. It now requires a formal education as opposed to hospital apprenticeship training.
I believe it is important for nurses to continue to expand their knowledge and seek education
because the field changes on a daily basis. Nurses must be able to keep up with the best current
evidence based practices. People are living longer with chronic illnesses and being cared for in
their own homes, therefore, its necessary that nurses are equipped with the knowledge and
Also, of importance is a need for nurses to exhibit a high level of accountability. In some
of the training that I have received within the past few years, I was taught to be 200%
Personal Philosophy of Nursing 4
accountable. That notion involves you accepting accountability for yourself and others. I
believe it is best to think of it as everyone being there to take care of the patients as a group.
Collaboration with nurses and other disciplines is important. You must be able to work with
others. Some complex medical issues require the attention of interdisciplinary team.
Collaboration is needed in planning, making decisions, solving problems, setting goals, and
From my experience, in places where I have worked that had a strong team effort, the work
environment was better and patient care fared better. I think hospitable work environments
The Patient
Patients are people first. It is my belief that you should get to know the person and not
only focus on the disease. Patients are emotional and spiritual beings. They also vary by
cultural beliefs, socioeconomic status, ethnic background, and sexual orientation. Nurses must
be able to care for others no matter what their background. You should be nonjudgmental; you
should respect them and help them maintain their dignity. Too many times, I think, we get
caught up in our routines that we forget that we are dealing with an actual person.
We have to be able to see that the patient, not only consists of the one person, but also all of the
family, friends, and any others that may be involved in their care. We must encourage each
The Environment
In 1860, Florence Nightingale suggested that a nurses role was to assist the patient into
the best condition for nature to act upon him (Alligood, 2014). She believed that care was based
on a person and their surroundings, and that proper hygiene, rest, sanitation and nutrition were
vital to health (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2016). I also believe environment factors into well-being.
I believe that there are internal and external components that influence a persons well=being.
Factors such as spiritual beliefs, cultural beliefs, finances, social support system, and quality
healthcare all affect the well-being either positively or negatively based on the presence or lack
stated that the health of the unity is the health of the community. Unless you have the health of
the unity, there is no community health (Stanhope & Lancaster, p.27, 2016). This is of
practices. Nurses play a major role in their communities. It is my duty as nurse to promote
health in the communities. It shouldnt stop once the patient leaves the hospital. Active roles
should be taken in educating regarding the importance of immunizations and health screenings.
We should encourage community health fairs and exercise classes. It is my belief that my job as
a nurse is to ensure that all of the contributing components to their environment are suitable to
The Vulnerable
populations include racial/ethnic minorities, children, elderly, poor, and underinsured. It has
been shown that members of vulnerable populations often have health conditions that are
Personal Philosophy of Nursing 6
worsened by inadequate healthcare. After researching and reading about different patient
populations, I was drawn to that of African Americans. The leading causes of deaths in the
United States are heart disease, cancer, and stroke in that order (Centers for Disease Control,
n.d.). The risks of getting those diseases are even higher for African-Americans. According to
the highest in the world. In the National Vital Statistics Report (2013) released earlier this year
by the Center for Disease Control, it showed that the average risk of death for African Americans
(860.8/100,000) was 17.8% higher than for Caucasians (731.0/100,000). Although still high, the
disparity is decreasing.
addition to this population. First, I would have to be aware of cultural beliefs the patients level
of health care literacy so that proper education may be provided. I would adjust terminology
used accordingly. My primary education would be regarding health screening and health
promotion. I would educate regarding healthier nutrition options and exercise. I would see if
there are options to host health screenings at local churches. The National Institute of Health
conducted a study that showed how spiritual framing increased African- American womens
adherence to screening for breast cancer (National Institute of Health, 2016). This approach may
Conclusion
Nursing extends far beyond the health facilities. It is an integral part of our communities.
It resonates in every aspect of life in some form. I want to continue to value each person as an
individual and make sure they have the proper environment to maintain their healthy state. I
plan to always serve the community in ways that promote health and prevention that way we can