I have been practicing as a nurse for four months now but I have been in the healthcare field for a little over five years. From the first day I stepped foot into the healthcare field to now, it has had an impact on the way I perceive nursing. All of the interactions, experiences, and difficult situations I have been a part of in another person’s life has helped shape my personal nursing philosophy.
My personal belief about the person is that above anything else we are all human beings. It is important that as a nurse I remember that the person sitting in the hospital bed is not just another patient, number, or diagnosis (Importance of Holistic Nursing Care, 2020). It is essential to take the time to connect with each person by doing the simplest of things such as offering a warm smile, a pleasant greeting, or remembering their nickname. It helps promote a caring and healing atmosphere.
Through the practice of caring, I am able to find out about the individual’s environment and the factors that shaped them into the person that they are today. For example, I have met many individuals that are homeless, have no access to healthcare, lack access to adequate nutrition, have no coping support from their family members, etc. All of these things affect the way a person approaches their care and whether it is realistic for them to remain complaint when their resources are so limited.
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I believe that we need to focus more on treating the overall person, not just another illness. Treating an illness alone does not heal the other parts that make up an individual. A person has basic needs that guide their everyday survival but as humans we decide what needs are important to us as an individual. Not one person is the same because everyone is unique in their own way. We all come from different beliefs, values, cultures, and support systems.
I believe that the central reason for the existence of nursing is to show a caring attitude to another human being when they are at their most vulnerable. A person’s body, mind, and spirit need to be supported. So the individual is able to heal in a safe, trusting, and caring environment. The nursing theorist that most closely aligns with my own personal nursing philosophy is Jean Watson.
Jean Watson addresses the need for nurses to form ‘human-to-human relationships’ (Black, 2017, p.181). The theory focuses on forming a transpersonal relationship between nurse and patient through a caring attitude. I have to agree with Watson that using the caring approach ‘leads the nurse to respect the overall meaning of life from the perspective of the patient’ (Black, 2017, p.181). When you have an open, trusting and caring relationship with another human being it allows for more positive outcomes in their overall health.
References
- Black, B. P. (2017). Professional nursing: concepts & challenges. St. Louis (Missouri): Elsevier.
- The Importance of Holistic Nursing Care: How to Completely Care for your Patients. (2020). Retrieved February 1, 2020, from the Practical Nursing website at https://www.practicalnursing.org/importance-holistic-nursing-care-how-completely-care-patients
