Personal Nursing Philosophy

Nursing is the protection, promotion and optimization of health and abilities, prevention

of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations (American Nursing Association 2010, pg. 66). Ones idea of a nurse is someone who is caring and compassionate and dedicates his or her life to caring for the sick and injured. To be a nurse is to have the passion to help people and to take care of people when they are at their lowest and weakest point. One values the time and dedication a nurse puts in to taking care of each patient. A nurse gives a piece of her heart to each patient through the care he or she provides. A nurse is taught in school about medicine and the effective care for patients but the love for patient care comes from the heart, it cannot be taught in a classroom. Ones own values and beliefs are that a patient should be cared for as If they were a part of your family. One was always taught to give compassion to others as a child and has carried it into adulthood. A nurse finds it in himself or herself to show the world that there will always be someone there who cares. There are four things a nurse must understand about the patient in order to be effective, one is treating a patient as a whole, the patients environment, the meaning of health and the role of the nurse. The first thing a nurse should be aware of is treating a patient as a whole, not only as a subject or a disease. A patient is someone who comes into the hospital seeking medical attention, they are not only someone a nurse is to take care of but they are a person who have a background, who have family, etc. For example in the Hispanic culture, family involvement with the patient is a norm, when a patient has to make decisions the family is present and gives their opinion on the matter. A 70-year-old Hispanic female has to make a decision whether to go ahead with a heart surgery that could potentially take her life, the nurse must understand that the patient is going to consult with her family until she makes her decision, as well as have the family constantly by her side. This shows that the nurse is aware of the patients beliefs and respecting them; a nurse will

work around the family to make the patient happy. Another thing a nurse should be aware of is the patients environment, this is important for both patient and nurse because it allows for positive outcomes. The patients environment is something that affects the patients attitude; the patients attitude helps them get better. As said by the theorist Martha E. Rogers each being is consistently in a forward momentum as he or she interacts continually with the surrounding environmental field. (Cherry & Jacob 2011, pg 97) A nurse must understand that they need to keep the patients environment as positive as possible. A patient must be happy with their environment in order to heal well. For example a patient is admitted to the hospital, the patients family comes to visit but continuously argues around the patient while the patient is trying to heal. The constant battle between the patients family makes the patient nervous and sad. This is an example of a negative environment for the client. If the client is not at the upmost comfort in a calming positive environment this will affect the healing process because it is not only a physical process but a mental process as well. If the patient is not happy then it will affect their healing. The next thing a nurse should be aware of is the meaning of health. A nurse knows that the meaning of health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being (Damico & Barbarito 2012, pg 4). For example a patient who has been in the hospital for about two weeks is ambulating, eating well, and urinating on his or her own but is constantly crying. A nurse knows that although the patient seems healthy in the physical, a psychologist should be consulted for this patient because the mental status does not match the physical status. There needs to be a balance so that the patient is at their optimum health. The last thing a nurse should be aware of is the role of a nurse. The role of a nurse is not

simply to care for the ill and injured, the role of the nurse has many parts. Nurses are educators to their clients and communities, nurses are leaders, and nurses are friends to their clients. The role of a nurse does not stop at providing care it is more than that. As the theorist Hildegard E. Peplau believes, nursing intervention focuses on reducing the related incapacitating stressors through therapeutic interpersonal interaction (Cherry & Jacob 2011, pg 96). One knows that building a relationship with someone is about trust and caring, a nurse builds that interpersonal relationship with their patient to promote healing and to promote openness between patient and nurse. For example a patient who is anxious about being admitted to the hospital will not want to talk to anyone about his or her anxieties but the nurse knows that building that interpersonal relationship with the client will help both the client and the nurse better understand each other and ease the anxiety of the patient. In conclusion a nurse is someone who is passionate about caring for people. As a nurse you should be aware of the nursing metaperadigm that involves knowing the patient, the environment, the meaning of health and the role of the nurse. When I first started nursing school all I knew was that I loved to care for people who were sick or injured, as I gain more knowledge I see that it is not only about taking care of the sick and injured but about being teachers and leaders to our patient. As a nursing student you learn in depth about the four parts of the metaparadigm and that is what makes you a professional. A nurse must understand all four in order to be the best nurse he or she could be. A nurse is a dedicated individual put on this earth to care for the sick and the injured as well as be a friend to everyone they are able to care for.

References

Amico, D., & Barbarito, C. (2012). Health Assessment . Health & physical assessment in nursing (2nd ed., pp. 2,4). Columbus: Pearson. Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2011). Theories of Nursing Practice. Contemporary nursing: issues, trends, & management (Ed. 5. ed., pp. 96,97). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier/Mosby. Nursing: scope and standards of practice. (2nd ed., p. 66). (2010). Glossary. Silver Spring, MD: American Nurses Association.