What is your personal philosophy of nursing

My philosophy of nursing comes directly from my desire to help people. I want to be a nurse because I enjoy being around people in their times of need and I get internal satisfaction by serving those that need help. I remember when I did some volunteer work for a hospital and that is when I realized my passion for nursing. I believe that the cure for many of the people’s ailments is not just in medicine, it is in the care that they receive as patients in hospitals and their homes. This is where I believe that I can make a great difference in people’s lives by helping them recover from their ailments.

One of the philosophies that are very close to my heart is that I believe that the health of a person is all in the mind. A person is only sick if he/she thinks they are sick. This is kind of a caring theory that I believe in, which is that there would be no patients if everyone around them would just understand what they are going through and what is needed to help them. I believe in caring for the patients in a way so as to bring about a transpersonal caring relationship between the patient and the nurse/caretaker and the caring occasion/caring moment. I believe in this philosophy since it describes the various health and caring related issues and problems in a very different light.

I believe that it is important to provide a patient with the right kind of atmosphere and environment that is conducive to his/her recovery. It is important to keep the room of the patient a place where he/she feels the soothing and healing effects from the environment. I also believe that it is important for the nurses to understand their own selves so that they are able to better treat their patients. I believe that spirituality holds a very significant role in the profession of nursing. In fact, the care of the soul is the most powerful aspect of the art of caring in nursing.

I have a very unique outlook on health. I think of “health” as being the simple absence of disease in the body. The health of the person includes the harmony and the balance between the mind, body, and soul of a person. Thus, I believe that all patients should be told good and nice things about their health and this would enable them to feel good about themselves and feel better and cured. For example, a person would feel more healthy if he/she believes him/herself to be healthy. If the person is told by the other person, say a doctor or a nurse, that he/she is unhealthy, than the person might begin to feel unhealthy as well. It is only if the patient thinks that he/she is healthy can he/she really become healthy. I believe that the ability of experiencing one’s real self would pave the way for the person to find the balance and harmony within the mind, body, and spirit/soul, and this would facilitate a higher amount of health present in the person. This is my philosophy, and one that I hope to practice when I am a professional nurse.

I think nursing not only includes taking care of patients and helping out the doctors. I believe that there is some art to nursing as well, other than all the education and science involved of course. I believe that that caring is the essence of nursing, and that it should be viewed by the nurses as their moral ideal of preserving human dignity. This is to be done by helping the patients in finding some deeper meaning to their illnesses and suffering so that they are able to understand themselves better and are able to restore and promote their personal harmony and balance between the mind, body, and soul. Thus, I believe that nurses have to be consciously engaged in caring for the patients if they are to connect and establish relationships that work to promote their health and healing

Sample 2

I chose nursing as my profession because I truly believe that the desire to help people through nursing is a calling, and I feel drawn toward helping those in need. Nursing is an honorable career, and should not be treated as just a job to earn a paycheck. My mission is to proudly provide nonjudgmental care to those in need regardless of race, spiritual beliefs, lifestyle choices, financial status, or disability.

My philosophy is that nurses have a responsibility to the public to provide safe, holistic, patient-centered care. I must remember that my patients are not room numbers or medical conditions, but individuals that require and deserve individualized attention and care. Nurses should use clinical judgment to help meet the needs of the patient. As advocates, we should empower patients by encouraging them to become active partners in their own care and engage in mutual goal-setting between ourselves and the patient. Nurses should maintain patient confidentiality except when we have a duty to report as mandated by law. We must educate patients and their families on diseases, treatments, and healthy behaviors in order to improve their outcomes. We should also strive to model positive healthy behaviors in our own lives in the belief that we will provide better care to others if we care for ourselves first.

Nurses have a commitment to keep current in knowledge and skills and seek self-enhancement through perpetual learning. By doing this, we will not remain stagnant in our beliefs, but evolve professionally through evidence-based practice and technological advances. My vision for myself as a nurse is that I will always continue learning, not only from textbooks and journals, but from interactions with other members of the healthcare team and by being involved in the experiences of the patients and their families. I want to learn each day, and apply what I’ve learned to improve my skills as a nurse.

My personal core values and beliefs as an individual are kindness, honesty, persistence, lifelong learning, security, family, and success in achieving my goals. I use these values and beliefs to make personal decisions and live my every day life. I believe that the core of nursing is caring, knowledge, and integrity. The focus of nursing is on patient needs, patient healing, patient safety, and patient empowerment. I feel that my personal and professional philosophies are congruent because my personal values overlap the driving forces behind the core of nursing. The qualities that make a good nurse cannot be turned off at the end of shift, but are part of me as a person, and I carry them with me always. To live out my philosophies daily, I must remember that even though I always try to do my best, I am human, and am not perfect. If something does not go as expected, I will examine the situation, and try to learn from it. I will continue my work with confidence that I am a better nurse than the day before, and I will be a better nurse tomorrow than I was today. I will also take time to monitor and reflect on my own actions to verify I am staying on track with what I believe are best nursing practices.

We should uphold our personal and professional ethical standards at all times. When we find conflict between our personal beliefs and those of the patient, we should endeavor to find a mentor to guide us through our conflict and find a solution that meets the needs of the patient without compromising our own personal belief system. As nurses, we must vow to take accountability for our own actions. I must remember that my fellow nurses can be great resources. They deserve respect and recognition for their hard work, reliability, and knowledge. Nurses should support and assist fellow nurses, nursing students, and other healthcare providers to provide a positive team environment Together we can collaborate to maximize the patient’s health potential on the illness-wellness continuum. As nurses, we can do our part to improve the image of the nursing profession through daily work ethics as well as involvement in the community, political, and professional nursing organizations. Through these forums, nurses can collectively improve healthcare standards both locally and globally.

I think I am still in nursing today because every day always brings new opportunities and experiences. The field of nursing doesn’t leave room for boredom. If one area of nursing should happen to no longer meet my needs or career goals, there are a variety of other specialties available to nurses. My most important contribution to nursing right now is my positive outlook on life, enthusiasm, and the ability to offer hope to patients and their families. The contribution I hope to make to nursing in the future is being a leader and mentor, and be an inspiration to others to enter into the nursing profession. I would also like to contribute to improving healthcare quality through effective pain management through my goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist.
References

American Nurses Association. (2005) Code for nurses with interpretive statements. Washington, DC: Author.

American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing’s social policy statement (3rd ed.). Washington, DC:

Nursebooks.org

Chitty, K. & Black, B. (2007). Professional Nursing: Concepts and Challenges. St. Louis, MI: Saunders,

Elsevier, Inc.