Running head: NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Nursing Philosophy Adam Hyatt Dixie State University

NURSING PHILOSOPHY Nursing Philosophy A nursing philosophy is built upon a variety of factors, which are different for each person. It is formed by learning and re-learning through academics and life experiences, both inside and outside of the healthcare. For me, my interest in medicine and health started when I was young. I had various medical problems and was intrigued by the doctors and nurses that

took care of me. This developed into a wonderment and curiosity of the human body and what it could do. Human beings are amazingly complex entities that have the ability to grow, adapt, heal, and re-grow. My nursing philosophy stems from my belief that people have the ability to care for themselves, up to a certain point. When that point is crossed, and the insult is greater than what the body can counteract, nursing and medicine can step in to aid the bodys own functions until such a time that it can regain control of health and homeostasis. This philosophy was brought into focus when I had the opportunity to care for a patient in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This patient had gone into anaphylactic shock and was on a ventilator, nasogastric tube suctioning, and continuous renal replacement therapy. He had passed the point where his body could function on its own, and needed medical and nursing intervention. Throughout the day, one-on-one total care was given to him. The goal was for him to regain the ability to self-regulate and for him to be able to care for himself, but, because I was only there one day, I was not able to see his outcome. The next week, however, I was in the Medical/Oncology unit and I was randomly assigned to care for the same patient. He had been transferred from the ICU and was no longer on the invasive lines and tubes that he was on the previous week. He was not able to care for himself fully, but he had progressed enough to participate in his care.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY There are many factors that affected the health and recovery of this patient, with varying degrees of influence. Inasmuch, healthcare must be looked at as a combination of different concepts. Four of these concepts are person, environment, health and nursing. These concepts interact continuously, even though we can define them individually. A person is an entity that

has the capacity to function biologically, with or without intervention. But, due to the interaction between person and environment, that level of functioning can be affected by the conditions that exist where that person is located. When that person is fully functional and whole, they are said to have health or be healthy. When they are not able to function wholly, nursing comes in to help change physiologic or environmental conditions that are harming the health of the individual. In doing so, the nurse must be at, and maintain, a level of health such that he or she is able to affect the adverse conditions, otherwise they themselves may end up being unable to function at their highest level. In developing this philosophy of nursing, a theorist that resonated with me was Dorothea Orem. She believed that people should be self-reliant and responsible for their own care. She also states that when the condition exists of the inability of persons to provide continuously for themselves the amount and quality of required self-care because of situations of personal health (Orem, 2001, p.20), that nursing assistance is needed. Five methods she identified to help meet the self-care needs of patients are: acting for and doing for another, guiding and directing, providing physical or psychological support, providing and maintaining an environment that supports personal development, and teaching (Orem, 2001). There are many elements that interact to form a nursing philosophy, ranging from personal preference to evidence based practice. Though some concepts are empirical, it is important that we, as nurses, constantly re-evaluate our beliefs and update them as necessary.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY References Orem, D. E. (2001). Nursing: Concepts of practice (6th ed.). St. Louis: Mosby.