Philosophy of Nursing | aryahoduportfolio

Nursing 401 – Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper

Purpose of Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to help students discover their personal philosophies regarding the nursing career field. Students are asked what nursing means to them and to then choose values and standards of nursing which mean the most to their personal morals. Students will write down their nursing philosophies and use these philosophies to guide them through the BSN program and through their nursing careers.

Approach to Assignment

When approaching this assignment, I began by reading several different philosophies of nursing and comparing them to my own moral standards. I also reviewed my hospital’s philosophy of nursing. Additionally, I read the nursing philosophies of transformational leaders in the nursing field. Finally, I used my one year of experience in the nursing profession as well as my two years of experience in nursing school as a reference. I combined the use of these sources to develop and discuss my own personal philosophy of nursing.

Reason for Inclusion

I included this paper in my portfolio because it reflects who I am as a person as well as a professional nurse. It explains my moral beliefs and values and gives readers an insight into my feelings towards the nursing profession. Also, this paper serves as a baseline for where I was emotionally at the beginning of this BSN program. It allows me to look back and reflect on how much I have grown during these two years of expanding my education. This paper gives my peers and employers a glimpse of who I am at the core of my being and why nursing means so much to me.

Curricular Outcomes

Critical thinking

Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional practice.

In this paper I reference the nursing theories of Florence Nightingale and Riverside’s nursing model to shape my personal and professional philosophy of nursing. I discuss Nightingale’s holistic theory and model of nursing and how it has influences my own professional practice. In the paper I state that it was Nightingale who stated that nursing was a calling from God to provide the sick with civilized, holistic care. I then used this same statement as the first philosophy of my own professional nursing statement.

Uses decision-making skills in making clinical decisions or professional judgments.

In this paper I go into great detail about a real clinical situation involving a bleeding dialysis catheter and explain what I decided to do about it and why. I discuss that I made the clinical decision to hold pressure and also to use my professional and moral judgments to be honest when told by my superior that I had made the wrong decision. In an emergent situation, I used my decision-making skills to make the best decision that I could for my patient.

Engages in creative problem solving.

While discussing the emergent situation involving my patient with the bleeding dialysis catheter, I explore how I use my creative problem solving to address this problem. While I did not have experience with dialysis patients, I did have experience with cardiac catheterization patients. Therefore, I used these experiences to make a clinical decision to hold pressure and solve my patient’s bleeding dialysis catheter problem.

Nursing Practice

Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice.

In this paper I used my clinical knowledge of the effects of a bleeding dialysis catheter on a patient’s clinical condition to guide my nursing practice. I also use my health knowledge of the major health problem of myocardial infarctions to further explain my personal nursing philosophy of holistic care.

Performs direct and indirect therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques based upon assessment findings.

In the clinical situation discussed in the paper, I assess my patient to find her dialysis catheter to be bleeding and use a direct therapeutic intervention by applying pressure, alerting my charge nurse and calling the IV nurse to ensure quality management of the situation and to keep my patient safe.

Implements traditional nursing care practices as appropriate to provide holistic health care to diverse populations across the lifespan.

Throughout this paper I discuss how my personal philosophy of nursing is strongly influenced by my desire to provide holistic healthcare to all of my patients. I explain how I implement the traditional nursing practices of establishing rapport with my patients, always being honest with my patients and co-workers, treating all patient with equal respect and always remaining self-less in my day to day care.

Communication

Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of media in a variety of contexts.

In the clinical situation described in this paper I use my therapeutic communication techniques to communicate with my charge nurse verbally about the situation, to communicate with the IV nurse over the telephone about the patient, to communicate with the physician over the phone about what had happened and then to my ODU professors via this essay.

Produces clear, accurate and relevant writing using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

I received a 100% on this paper in Nursing 401. I received full credit for the grammar, spelling and punctuation portion of the rubric and was able to effectively communicate my thoughts through my writing to my ODU professor.

Leadership

Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as a member of the interdisciplinary health care team.

This paper is filled with the reasons I am passionate about nursing and why I view myself as a vital part of the health care team. I explain how being a part of the nursing profession is a privilege and a moral responsibility to the public.

Professionalism

Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice.

When I learned that I was receiving a patient with a dialysis catheter in her femoral artery I was immediately honest in telling the off-going nurse that I had never cared for a patient like this before. Then, when I was told by my charge nurse that a femoral dialysis catheter dressing is sterile and was not to be touched and I knew that I had already touched it, I was immediately honest about what I had done. I provided a specific example of a clinical situation in which I took full responsibility for my own professional practice.

Applies an ethical decision-making framework and legal guidelines to clinical situations that incorporate moral concepts, professional ethics and advocacy for a patient’s well-being and preferences.

I use my ethical decision making to create my own philosophy of nursing which includes providing holistic care, being self-less in all that I do and treating all patient’s equally. I use this same decision-making framework and legal guidelines to decide how to respond to the bleeding dialysis catheter.

Advocates for professional standards of practice using organizational and political processes.

I advocate for my organization’s standards of practice. I explain that Riverside’s gold standard of care is to “care for others as we would care for those we love” and how I support this model of nursing in my everyday practice and do my best to pass it on to my students and orientees

How my philosophy of nursing has changed:

I learned a lot about myself from this assignment. I had never sat down and truly thought about my own philosophy of nursing. When I started this program, my philosophy involved remaining very honest, holistic, moral, fair and honest in all clinical and professional situations. Now that I am facing the completion of by BSN, I still feel that these standards and values make up the core of my nursing philosophy. I have grown over the past two years and, while the core of my philosophy has not greatly changed, I do feel that I have developed a greater understanding and respect for what it means to be a nurse.

Philosophy of Nursing Paper