Running Head: Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Cameron Yeong

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

NUR 4142

Christine Turner PhD, RN

10/17/18

On my honor I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment, and I pledge that I am
in compliance with the BSMCON honor system.

-Cameron M. Yeong
Personal Philosophy of Nursing 1

Definition of Nursing

Now that I am nearing the end of my program as a nursing student, it comes time again to

reflect on exactly what being a nurse means to me. It has become even clearer to me that the

traits and duties of a nurse are complex and varied. A successful nurse must wear many hats as

they care for an ever-changing demographic of clients with different needs and backgrounds.

This naturally goes beyond any formal definition of nursing. First and foremost a nurse must be

resource for the patient and members of the healthcare team. That requirement requires

flexibility as needs and abilities shift based on situation.

There are a number of ways to approach a philosophy of nursing. Some of the tenants of

the official Bon Secours philosophy statement resonate with what I have come to believe. Firstly,

under the concept of nursing; I believe that holistic care is the best path to health, not only for

those I might care for, but for maintaining my own health as well. Caring for a patient's mental,

emotional, and spiritual well-being as well as physical needs is crucial for holistic care. I also

appreciate that a nurse must be accountable and ethically, legally, and morally grounded. A nurse is

the member of the healthcare team that spends a lot of time in direct contact with the patient and

responsible for health interventions. As such, they are often responsible for making quick

decisions as well as assessing and advocating for the patient’s needs. A nurse must have a

personal values and integrity to make the right decisions and take the right actions. As far as

health, I believe that the concept of nebulous, involving all aspects of a person's being, as well as

definitively subjective. Again, a holistic approach can be healing and also prevent illness before

it starts. I also acknowledge the need for self-care in healthcare providers. In order to care for the

health of others, I need to be holly fit to do so. These concepts also fit under the tenant of care

under the program philosophy. I regard to the concept of service, I remember and appreciate the
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Bon Secours values that we were taught upon entry to the program. The values of respect,

compassion, justice, integrity, quality, innovation, stewardship and growth are excellent to strive

for in everyday actions. The services I would provide as a nurse should reflect these values as

well as my own personal philosophy. The official Bon Secours philosophy statement encourages

us to advocate for patients, especially vulnerable populations within the healthcare system. This

is something I believe to be true as healthcare disparities are unjust and harm many. As nurses

we are able to care when clients are most vulnerable, some even more so than others.

In conclusion, I believe that nursing is a complex process. It is not simply a career but a

calling as well. A nurse must be flexible to fill a variety of needs including caretaker, advocate,

teacher, and support among other things. A nurse must continue to grow and learn constantly to

be effective. This process is cyclical and does not have an endpoint.

Personal Philosophy

The values of respect, compassion, justice, integrity, quality, innovation, stewardship and

growth are excellent to strive for in everyday actions. I have on occasion sought to use them as a

barometer to measure my daily actions. For example, I would reflect on my performance after a

given day and ask myself “Did I show compassion today?” or “Did I act with integrity under

pressure?” By following these concepts, I hope to serve in accordance with the spirit of Bon

Secours as well as my own values.

A nurse must show compassion and acceptance over the continuum of care. By using

empathy, a professional can begin to understand where others are coming from and anticipate the

needs of the patient. In a healthcare setting, we will often see patients that are afraid and in pain.

Patients come in with a myriad of health problems expecting not only to be treated, but to be
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understood and cared for. When a person is at their lowest, it is my understanding that they need

someone to be there for them. That may be accomplished by meeting their needs, by being a

caring presence, or by other means. Whatever the need, I believe a nurse could fill that much

needed role as the patient goes through their care, and I will strive to be that type of nurse.

Another value that I feel is integral to nursing is integrity. It is not hard to observe that

nursing in many capacities is a demanding career. From what I have seen, understaffing and

overwork runs rampant within the profession. With such strenuous work and time constraints

under which to complete each task, it would be easy to break protocol or cut corners in small

ways to save time and effort. This sort of activity can compromise your professionalism and even

become a health risk to the patients. At times like those, it is important to remember individual

values and priorities that are the spirit of one’s nursing practice in the first place. It is important

to remember that the patient is a priority and proper care is important, even when it becomes

taxing on the nurse.

On another note, constant learning and growth is important to me personally. No matter

how skilled a person is at their job, they cannot be perfect. As such there is always room for

improvement. I have been a student officially for nearly my entire life and I hope to continue

active learning even when I am a professional. I believe that there is always a new practice to

learn or a concept that can be better understood and that constant improvement prevents

stagnation and achieves better results.

Nurse Patient Encounter

A specific philosophy is of little use if it is not implemented in the real world. I have had

multiple opportunities to apply various aspects of nursing philosophy. In a more recent event, I
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got to apply multiple facets of this ideology to a patient in a difficult situation. This particular

patient was in distress physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The patient in question had

formerly been a relatively healthy and able middle aged man. After coming into the emergency

department with vague GI symptoms he underwent a battery of diagnostic tests which yielded

disheartening news. Eventually, the patient was diagnosed with multiple types to terminal

cancers as well as several other medical conditions including diabetes, neuropathy, and chronic

pain. Exasperating the patient’s unpleasant experience were symptoms of the palliative radiation

therapy the patient was receiving to help alleviate some of the symptoms of cancer. The patient

had pain and radiation burns over much of the trunk. On top of this the patient had no remaining

family as his only sibling had died earlier that year followed by his mother, whose funeral he had

missed that week due to his hospital stay. Understandably this patient was struggling to cope

under the onslaught of bad news and symptoms. This patient was in need of acute physical care

as he could not walk due to pain and could not perform his activities of daily living. He

frequently needed help with refreshments and his personal belongings, even to the point of

taking up enough time that my preceptor and I had trouble seeing to other patients. In the end, I

personally ended up spending a lot of time with this patient so that the nurses could complete

other job tasks. On this front I sought to apply good nursing care in consistently meeting his

needs. The patient was more or less on “comfort care” and was given what he wanted even if it

was not strictly therapeutic. Though the patient was diabetic, he consumed a nearly endless

supply of ice cream and snacks. The part I struggled with was providing for emotional and

spiritual needs. The patient also wanted to talk to someone and called out on a regular basis

simply to have someone in the room to share his thoughts and anxieties with. Again, it was often

me specifically that spent time with this patient, both because my preceptor had other high acuity
Personal Philosophy of Nursing 5

patients and because I felt this patient needed the presence of another person. This patient went

through a wide emotional range over the two consecutive nights that I was in contact with. It

seemed that he exhibited more than one of the Kubler Ross stages of grief. He showed signs of

depression periodically, crying and expressing fear. He also later exhibited bargaining, stating

that if he recovered, he would come back to work on the floor and help out people like himself.

On multiple occasions he spoke of his personal faith and prayer. Near the end he stated that he

heard the voice of god telling him that he would recover and be fine in the near future. I am not

sure if this was more of a denial or genuine faith.

This was certainly a first for me. Though I had helped patients experience distress and

even patients that were deceased, I had never had one so acutely and erratically emotional. His

behavior was often erratic and the patient ended up roaming the unit anxiously against the advice

of all of the staff with a wheelchair he helped himself to from a supply closet down the hall. Due

to his condition, he was largely left to do as he pleased. This was a good opportunity to learn and

apply my philosophy of nursing. This was obviously a patient that needed care and empathy.

This patient was trying for some of the staff as he needed near constant attention and took a lot

of time to care for. By using the concepts of integrity and compassion, it was necessary to meet

this patients needs though it was difficult. On another note, it was a good opportunity for

continued learning and improvement. I researched the treatments the patient was receiving as I

was unfamiliar. It was also a good experience in dealing with grieving and distressed patients.

Though I did not act as quickly or decisively in all cases as I might have, though I believe this

was an opportunity to improve. In the future I hope to take the lessons I learned in this instance

to care for patients in the future.

Values & Beliefs

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I feel that the core of my values and beliefs are not greatly changed from the beginning of

the program. I still have many of the same beliefs, like the value of continued learning

throughout life, especially in a professional capacity. On that note, it is important to keep on top

of the newest information in an ever-changing and advancing medical field. It is also important

to continue to learn about people and learn about your own changing abilities and beliefs. My

belief in this has been enforced by my experiences in nursing school. As much as I have seen and

learned, I also know that there are a vast number of field specific things that I am not familiar

with. There is enough to learn that I could spend my whole career learning all I can and never

run out of new and interesting experiences. I have also come out of this program with a renewed

appreciation for patient care and the value in the difference that one individual can make in the

overall patient experience. In a stressful situation, a small act of kindness or one person knowing

the right way to act can make all the difference in outcome.

Benner’s Theory

The theory we are learning about for a large part of this course deals with the acquisition

of skills and knowledge. In the theory proposed by Patricia Benner suggests distinct and

enumerated stages that one must go through to be a master in any field. The stages each have

their own defining characteristics as well as struggles that can hinder the learner. The stages

suggested include novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. A novice is an

entry level learner that behaves mostly as an observer. These types behave strictly by rules, be

they official or assumed. Without getting too deep into what each category means, the learner

gains competence through hands on experience as well as instruction by those higher than them

on the scale. Finally the learner becomes an expert. Experts rely less on rules and explanations at

models for their actions in favor of using their own experiences. These stages of skill acquisition
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are useful for classifying students and professionals as they attempt to master their skills. As they

progress they move away from being passive and observing toward active participation and

decision making.

Skill Acquisition Stage

When learning about the theory mentioned above, I see parallels in my own journey

toward being a nurse. As just about every student does, I started as a complete novice. Aside

from general knowledge of healthcare from prior experiences, I had no real knowledge on how to

be a nurse or even a nursing student. I slowly acquired formal knowledge through studies yet

lacked real understanding gained through experience. I spent some time in the advanced beginner

stage where I was more familiar with the setting, but important actions or information that I

should see had to be pointed out to me by teachers and preceptors. I feel that this is primarily

where I reside as a student nurse, though I might exhibit some aspects of the competency phase.

For example, I can sometimes think in terms of long term goals in considering plans of care for

patients. I still lack the flexibility to act quickly in some situations that may arise in the nursing

profession. I expect that upon graduation, I will move back towards the advanced beginner or

even novice phase as a nurse, rather than a student nurse. I do however feel that this program has

given me a leg up and I will be starting far ahead of where I would have otherwise.

Moving Forward

From this point forward, I intend to continue to learn and move on to higher stages of

knowledge acquisition. I plan to actively pursue advancement in a few ways. First I plan to

continue learning the same way I have up to this point in clinical. I want to spend more time in
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the clinical setting gaining experience and confidence in performing the duties of a nurse. By

building a larger base of experiences and presoak knowledge, I can rely on my own memory and

intuition rather than examples and concepts learned second hand. As Benner stipulates, gaining

experience is more than simply being present for a specific amount of time. I will seek to be

actively engaged and make intelligent connections between new experiences and prior

knowledge. In addition to that, I hope to actively seek the help of and learn from professionals

with more experience than myself. Various forms of mentorship are a great way to learn. While

gaining expertise from your own experience is the most useful way, guidance from others is a

great benefit. Whether it be a more established nurse in my area of expertise or another type of

healthcare professional, there is something to learn from just about anyone when attempting to

see the whole picture of healthcare. Lastly, I hope to continue independent studies and continued

learning. I want to go beyond the required continuing education for my job and stay abreast of

the newest best practices and procedures. Weather it is functional information that could help

with daily processes or something with more of a direct effect of patient care, change might be

implemented by making suggestions to the powers that be.

In the future, I hope to continue to broaden my horizons with each new experience. I

want to continue to apply my personal beliefs alongside the rules and mission of the system to

everyday work. My personal philosophies and beliefs may change and adapt to some extent as I

absorb new experiences, but I hope to stick by my values as I move into the world of

professional Nursing.