My personal philosophy for nursing revolves around making my profession a fulfilling experience for both myself and the patient through provision of quality nursing care and knowledge improvement. Making nursing a fulfilling experience to me involves the continuous search for knowledge in the practice of nursing in order to improve my profession and benefit my patients. In the practice of nursing, I believe that the patient is the main centre of attention.
This understanding is based on the fact that without the patient, inclusive of all the extraneous variables, there is no fulcrum for the practice of nursing; that is nurse-patient relationship (Kozier, 2008). The goal of nursing is therefore the optimization of the patient’s health through the whole health continuum. All efforts should be channeled towards achieving the patients well being, providing quality care, as well as managing and treating the underlying disease condition. As nurses, I believe that we should be able to perceive patients from a holistic point of view and appropriately intervene so as to positively influence their medical, physical, psychological and spiritual health (Kollad, 2006). To fully achieve this end, I have embraced a holistic view of nursing as both an art and a science. Nursing as art involves caring for the patient which plays a central role in all successful nursing experiences and that is why I embrace it.
On the other hand, nursing as a science equips one with the technical resourcefulness that improves the art of caring for a patient. I find it very important and fulfilling to embrace nursing from the two perspectives. This is because they complement each other and enable the provision of quality therapeutic care. I also believe in closely working with other nurses and healthcare providers for the benefit of the patient.
I appreciate the fact that a collaborative working experience provides an opportunity where challenges can be shared and overcome during the provision of nursing care. When nurses work together fr the common interest of a patient, they are able to exchange experiences and knowledge concerning proper and appropriate ways of dealing with problems that arise during care of the patient. They are also able to encourage each other during difficult times such as the loss of a patient who is under their care. Therefore, the nursing society and the way it handles itself plays a significant role in provision of quality therapeutic care for the patient (Kozier, 2008). I also believe that it is the role of nurses to ensure that the physical surrounding of a patient is clean and serene since it greatly contributes to the comfort of the patient.
I’m also for the creation of an enabling environment where there is a free nurse-patient interaction. As a nurse, I should be able to encourage, support and update patients about their progress besides the usual administration of drugs. Constant encouragement and support plays a big role in reducing the mental anguish patients go through as a result of stress, anxiety about their condition and depression (Kollad, 2006). This is especially true for those patients with terminal illnesses.When delivering nursing care to patients, I also believe in taking great care to consider the ethical and moral values of the profession and the patient.
Being ethical more or less means observing the moral values. Most often codes of ethics are written at work places and they guide the conduct and behavior of nurses. As a nurse, I have made it a routine to follow the ethical rules that are involved in nursing care. I remember and put into effect the ethical rules involved in nursing care through treating patients with respect, acknowledging of their feelings and emotions, respecting there treatment decisions, linguistic and cultural background, and closely paying attention to patients’ nonverbal and verbal clues (LaSala, 2009). As a nurse it is my moral and ethical duty to handle each patient with dignity and provide care for the patient accordingly.
In this respect, the primary commitment oof nurses which I adhere to is respect of a patient’s autonomy. I always respect the decision of a patient to receive or reject nursing care as his or her autonomy. By respecting patients’ opinions and decisions regarding the nursing care process, I give them an opportunity to have a strong participation in their care. It gives them the autonomy to choose what is best for them in terms of care delivery (LaSala, 2008).
It is also another way of promoting collaboration between the nurses and the patients. However, there are those circumstances in which a patient is incapacitated and is believed to be incapable of making decisions regarding his or her care. In such a situation I rely on beneficence and non maleficence in providing care for the patient. These terms more or less mean acting in good faith for the benefit of the patient and that is what I always observe in my practice of nursing care.I chose nursing because it is a selfless act of caring for others in order to support their healing.
It is more or less like a calling. Besides providing competent care that is in line with the laid down nursing guidelines, a nursing also involves the exercise of compassion and understanding towards the patients receiving the nursing care. When I started my course in nursing, I used to think that nursing only involves giving of health care. I’m now convinced that nursing is a way of giving back to the society.
There is more to healing of a person than just medicine. Interacting with a person on a spiritual level is a way of showing that person that I truly care. I have realized that this level of interaction has a therapeutic effect of developing trust between me and the patient thereby helping in the healing process of the patient. This has made the practice of nursing very enjoyable and fulfilling to me. There is no greater joy when I know that I’m helping somebody regain his health. I therefore view as priceless my ability to use my knowledge, skills and competencies in nursing in assisting patients attain quality of life, well being, health or peaceful death.
