Running head: PERSONAL NURSING PHILOSOPHY 1

Personal Nursing Philosophy

Amanda C. Birowski

Delaware Technical Community College

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Personal Nursing Philosophy

Introduction

During this seven-week course, I have been exposed to concepts previously touched on in

the associate degree program, but in slightly more detail. This has led me to reflect on how I

want to professionally practice nursing. I have used these concepts to help develop my own

personal nursing philosophy.

My Beliefs

Jean Watson once said, “caring is the essence of nursing”. This quote is the basis of my

personal nursing philosophy. I believe it is my duty to provide compassionate care to each and

every patient I encounter. I will get to know my patients by being an active listener in order to

better understand their needs. Be able to provide emotional support to both them and their

families when needed. Do my best to be empathetic towards them to better understand what they

are going through. I will make sure that all of their needs are met – physical, emotional, and

psychological. I want to make sure I am treating these patients the way I would want myself or

my loved ones treated.

I also believe I need to uphold the integrity of nursing with my care. This profession is

one of the most trusted professions out there. My patients and their families are putting their

trust in me, I need to make sure that I am behaving ethically. Remembering the core ethical

principles – autonomy, beneficence, fidelity, justice, nonmaleficience, and veracity – while on

the job will help me to achieve this (ATI, 2016, p. 47). Providing ethical care, in my eyes, also

means I need to rely on my knowledge and skills when caring for a patient.
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These concepts come from my personal core values of compassion, caring, and honesty.

I was brought up to believe these are important aspects to include in my everyday life. It’s

important to me that I continue to uphold these values in my professional life.

General Education and Life-Long Learning

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing stated in a 2008 study that a “higher

prevalence of baccalaureate and masters prepared RNs at the bedside positively impact patient

outcomes” (2017, p. 3). After reading this conclusion, I could not fully understand why. I’ve

always heard the famous line of “your associate degree in nursing is going to be your hardest”. In

the RN to BSN program there are several general education courses. Again, I was slightly

confused as to why some of these courses were required. Were they really going to have a huge

impact on my nursing practice? However, I now see their importance after further thought.

English classes allow us to further develop our communication skills. All day long we’re

communicating with someone – whether it be patients, their families, or other health care

providers. If we cannot articulate what needs to be said, that could potentially be a problem.

Math classes such as statistics, provide us with the knowledge of interpreting different studies.

As nurses, we come across these often. Many times, they are related to improving patient care

outcomes. Being able to read and understand these allows us to implement the practices shared

in our own nursing practice. The sociology and psychology classes allow us to gain insight on

why patients respond in certain ways – maybe their culture sees eye contact as rude or maybe

them talking a mile a minute is a symptom of mania. These general knowledge courses can only

better how nurses’ practice.

To me, life-long learning is not only about continuing education, but also about learning

from your experiences. The Institute of Medicine recognizes that nursing is a rapidly changing
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profession and emphasizes that lifelong learning is both important and essential in the field

(Ensco Health Notes, 2017, para 1). I couldn’t agree more with this statement. New treatments

and technology are constantly being developed – things we’re doing now we might not be doing

in twenty years. It’s critical that nurses continue to learn in some way. It could be through

attending classes, conferences, reading journals, or simply just by being on the floor as a nurse.

Nursing Theorist

Out of all the nursing theorists, I believe the one who most closely fits my values and

beliefs is Virginia Henderson. Her definition of nursing is “the unique function of the nurse is

to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to

health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the

necessary strength, will or knowledge” (Petiprin, para 6, 2016). Virginia used this definition

to develop the Need Theory, which is intended to help patients care for themselves in and out

of health care facilities. The needs theory emphasizes the importance of patient

independence. Virginia theorized the nurse could increase patient independence by one of

three ways: substitutive - doing something for the patient; supplementary – helping the patient

to do something; or complementary – working with the patient to do something (Petiprin, para

7, 2016). There are fourteen components based on basic human needs that Virginia used to

create nursing activities to increase patient independence. Some examples are breathing,

eating and drinking, and keeping clean (Petiprin, para 8, 2016).

I feel that being compassionate and caring to my patients is helping them to regain as

much of their independence as I can. At some point, they are going to leave my care. It is my

job and duty to make sure they can provide for themselves to the best of their ability. If I

were to do everything for them, never educating them on their health and the care they need,
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that would not be beneficial to them in any way. This also goes with practicing ethically

because I am advocating for autonomy – their independence – and beneficence – doing good

for my patient.

Personal Wellness

This concept can be defined as “a philosophy of life and personal hygiene that views

health as not merely the absence of illness but the full realization of one’s physical and mental

potential, as achieved through positive attitudes, fitness training, a diet low in fat and high in

fiber, and the avoidance of unhealthful practices” (The Medical Dictionary, n/a, para 1). There

are typically five components to personal wellness – physical, spiritual, social, emotional, and

intellectual. In order to take care of others, I first have to take care of myself. Virginia

Henderson’s theory emphasizes independence in meeting basic human needs. How am I

expected to help others do this if I cannot meet my own needs? An extreme example of how

my personal wellness would not be met would be the common phenomenon that occurs in

nursing – nursing burnout. This is “a physical, mental, and emotional state caused by chronic

overwork and a sustained lack of job fulfillment and support” (Nursing, 2017, para 4). Taking

care of yourself is the number one way to avoid this. Ways to do this are – develop a hobby,

make time for exercise, seek emotional support if needed.

Conflict Management

The conflict management style I closely relate to is the compromising style. This

strategy to deal with conflict aims to make both parties happy. Those involved in the conflict

develop a mutually agreed upon solution, partially making each other satisfied (Walden

University, 2017, para 9). I feel that my personal values played a role in me dealing with
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conflict in this way. I want to care for others, and to me that means trying to make them happy.

Professionally, I don’t want any problems with any of my coworkers. I will do my best to

comprise when I can. However, if comprising means putting my patient in jeopardy, I cannot do

that. Being honest and ethical is also a part of my personal nursing philosophy. I don’t ever

want to put a patient at risk. This being said, I’m not afraid to take more action if needed.

Safe Care

Patient safety is a very important concept dealt with in practice. The United States has

placed emphasis on providing quality and safe care in the health care field. In order to improve,

the QSEN – quality and safety education for nurses – competencies were created. These six

competencies – patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice,

quality improvement, safety, and informatics – are often included in nursing program’s education

in an effort to improve care (ATI, 2016, P. 53). I know that my personal philosophy also

emphasizes patient safety. I practice with integrity and think of the core nursing ethical

principles often. The two most important principles to me are beneficence – do good for the

patient – and nonmalefecience – do no harm to the patient – really stick with me in my practice.

I never want to do something that will make my patient worse than how I received them. Part of

that is realizing that safety is important.

Leadership

Being able to lead is another important aspect of nursing. At some point, you’re most

likely going to be a charge nurse – responsible for overseeing all the care of patients in your

facility or unit. I feel that I possess several leadership qualities. I’m respectful to others, have a

positive attitude, and am willing to find new solutions to problems. I really believe that these

qualities help me to provide compassionate care to my patients. They show that I’m passionate
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and really care about what I’m doing. Being a nurse isn’t just a job to me – it’s part of who I am.

I love being able to help others in any way that I can.

Conclusion

My personal nursing philosophy is to provide my patients with compassionate, ethical

care. This course has helped me to reflect on how I want to practice as a nurse.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2017, August). The Impact of Education on

Nursing Practice.

ATI. (2016). Nursing Leadership and Management (7.0th ed.).

Ensco Health Notes. (2017, June 26). The Increasing Importance of Lifelong Learning in

Healthcare, and Especially Nursing. Retrieved from

https://health.ebsco.com/blog/article/the-increasing-importance-of-lifelong-learning-in-

healthcare-and-especially

Nursing. (2017). Nurse Burnout. Retrieved from https://www.nursing.org/resources/nurse-

burnout/

Petiprin, A. (2016). Virginia Henderson - Nursing Theorist. Retrieved from

http://www.nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Virginia-Henderson.php

The Medical Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://medical-

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/wellness

Walden University. (2017, May 30). What's Your Conflict Management Style? Retrieved from

https://www.waldenu.edu/connect/newsroom/walden-news/2017/0530-whats-your-

conflict-management-style
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