Table of Contents
Generally, I have a caring nature and have a strong desire to help people. It puts a smile on my face to see that I’ve helped someone in need. Since I was younger, I helped my family at home, volunteered at temples, and as I grew older that extended to the community. At the same time, I have a passion for medicine and disease process, which led me to pursue a career in nursing. In my definition, nursing is more than just giving medications and treating illnesses, rather, it is delivering high quality patient care that is individualized to the needs of the patient.
While providing care for the patient, the patient’s values, health beliefs, and cultural beliefs are honored. The purpose of this paper is to provide my philosophy of nursing. My nursing philosophy incorporates cleanliness of the environment, patient education in promoting their health and above all compassion. I find these key items to be crucial to the patient’s quality of life and is something I continually strive for.
Values Related to Nursing
‘Kindness, compassion, sympathetic, equanimity, responsibility, discipline, honesty and respect for human values, dignity, and rights, all model moral competence in nursing practice.’ (Banna, 2017). These core values are important to the nursing profession and are the fundamentals of nursing. Providing compassionate care, expressing sympathy, and acts of kindness show the patient that they are getting the best quality of care, their health is being cared for and that they are a priority in their nurse’s eye. Without compassion, the patient may become scared, unvalued or feel a lack of emotional support.
127 our experts are availableright now
To nurses and many others who work in the medical field, medical terminology or medical jargon is very familiar to them. But for many patients, this is all foreign to them. Patients newly admitted to the hospital are scared and are not sure what is going on. Some may be in critical condition and their family is scared. No matter what the reason is, they can become frustrated as well, whether it has been a long wait for test results or because they have not seen their doctor. Nurses care for many patients at the same time, and can a have heavy load, therefore having equanimity is an important core value. Anything can happen at a moment’s notice and having a sense of calm and control during a stressful situation or a crisis, allows the nurse to respond reasonably and make sound medical decisions (Stagman-Tyrer, 2014).
Nurses are responsible for their patient’s health, illness, medications, and treatments. When it comes to the administration of medications, this is where the core values of responsibility, discipline, and honesty are important. Nurses handle many medications for multiple patients and check it multiple times following the six rights of medication administration to avoid medication errors. They are also monitoring the adverse effects of these medications. They are disciplined, responsible and accountable if there is a medication error by assessing the patient, understanding how the mistake was made and filing a report. Nurses are trusted to handle the medications of their patients, make sure it’s the right medication, monitor their care and ensure the patient they are receiving the best quality of care (Smith, 2019).
Their responsibility is especially important when it comes to patient education. The time should be taken to educate their patients about their health conditions, making sure their patient understands their chronic illness, prevention of further complications and the importance of medication compliance and follow up appointments with their doctors. The patients are educated about symptoms that are red flags that indicate they should seek medical attention such as signs of a stroke. When the patient fully understands their medical condition, their limitations and can prevent further complications, it aids in their quality of life.
Respect for the patient and their values are utmost of importance. We now live in a country where patients come from different cultural backgrounds, different beliefs and should be respected. No two patients will be the same therefore the care of the patient is individualized to meets the needs of the patient. Sometimes nurses address a patient’s illness and treatment, but the patient may have other concerns such as staying warm in the hospital or their nightly bath to help the sleep. Addressing all aspects of the patient’s needs can promote healing and help the patient know they are being cared for. All of these core values tie into the nursing profession with the patient being the priority to see that they are respected as a human being, their needs are met and they are not treated as just a room number.
Principles that Will Guide My Practice
There are many principles to abide by when caring for patients. My nursing practice will focus on what is most beneficial for my patients. First, establishing a trusting and therapeutic relationship with the patient, collaborating with the health care team, promote human dignity, give support, staying positive throughout their care and give them hope. Not all patients are the same, and every patient will have different needs and different beliefs. For each patient, their care is individualized, their health beliefs and cultural beliefs will be respected and will be treated equally.
By collaborating with the interprofessional team, we can coordinate care, manage the risks for the patients and implement measures to prevent those risks such as fall risk or aspiration risk and promote a safe environment. Having a good relationship with the interprofessional team promotes open communication, allows for high-quality care and reduces errors. I will also continue to stay up to date with evidence-based practice to discover better ways of providing nursing care. Overall, I will continually strive to deliver the best quality of care to promote their well-being.
Conclusion
Incorporating my nursing philosophy in nursing practice by the expression of compassion with the patient and their family, promoting a clean and safe environment and promoting their health through patient education. I believe strongly in human dignity and collaboration with the health care team to better serve my patients. Throughout my nursing practice, my goal is to provide individualized care so that the patient can improve and return to their everyday life, to always respect their cultural beliefs and health beliefs and advocate for my patients. Using my nursing philosophy in nursing care is something I will continually strive for.
References
- Banna, D. A. A. (2017). Core Professional and Personal Values of Nurses about Nursing in Erbil City Hospitals: A Profession, Not Just Career. Nursing & Healthcare International Journal, 1(1). doi: 10.23880/nhij-16000106
- Smith, Y. (2019, February 27). Roles of a Nurse. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://www.news-medical.net/health/Roles-of-a-Nurse.aspx.
- Stagman-Tyrer, D. (2014). Resiliency and the nurse leader. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 45(6), 46–50. doi: 10.1097/01.numa.0000449763.99370.7f
