Nursing Philosophy !

Nursing Philosophy

Tracey A. Wilson

Delaware Technical and Community College

Abstract

All of us have values and beliefs. Things that we feel strongly about and carry with us through

life. Many of these beliefs we learned as a child and others we have learned through life

experiences and career choices. In this paper, I will explain how I came to be in the vast field of

nursing and what I feel is my personal nursing philosophy, how I feel a nurse should act. This

will be supported by online sources, material from class and personal opinion. I believe a nurse

needs to show compassion, caring and respect to all individuals. Keep your mind open to new

ideas and concepts, continue learning as there are many roles to perform and always strive to do

your very best.

What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we hear quite a bit. It

starts out when were little and continues up into high school. Some people know right away

what they want to do, but for others it takes some time. We make go down one road and decide

its not the right one or we may discover our interests have changed. I am one of those

individuals whose interests had changed. I always wanted to be a teacher. As a child, I would

play teacher with my dolls as the students using my papers from school and my favorite books. I

also loved music and playing the flute. What could be better than being a music teacher? This

was my first career path. As the commercial on TV says, Life comes at you fast. In order to

care for my children, I went to school again and became a medical transcriptionist. It was then

that I discovered medicine. I was fascinated by the terminology and the procedures dictated by

the surgeons. How could I start doing some of the things these doctors were talking about?

Nursing, I have discovered, is a large field in the healthcare realm. It is not just some

woman wearing a white uniform and cap giving out medicine like you see on television as a

child. There are many specialties within nursing and so much to learn. Through my rotations at

Christiana Care during my nursing classes, I discovered my place. I wanted to work in the

Operating Room and I have been a Peri-Operative nurse now for almost 9 years. So what is my

nursing philosophy? What do I hold near and dear and where do I want to go in life?

My philosophy of nursing is to always show compassion, caring and respect. Always

search for knowledge then teach others what you have learned and know. A nurse needs to show

compassion and caring in good times and bad. Not every patient will be nice and easy. There

will come a time when you may deal with someone who is angry and scared. Know that they are

not mad at you, but at what is happening to them through no fault of their own. Their body has
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betrayed them and is no longer working the way it should. There is fear of the unknown and a

hospital can be a scary place. By listening to their concerns, explaining tests and procedures in

language they can understand, showing respect and kindness, patients will begin to trust us and

communicate what is really bothering them. Annette Budzban explained it quite nicely in an

article titled Compassion and Respect in Nursing Care:

Respect is not an emotion. It is an action we perform. It is something we do to

show others we value them. Showing respect is one way we can show

compassion in our nursing care (Budzhan, 2012).

Demonstrate kindness and fairness. It can be disturbing when doctors tell us about a

patient they are treating and then add the fact that this person is someone important. They should

receive special care. It is my belief and my practice that all patients are to be treated equally. No

one is better than the other. As nurses we follow a code of ethics, one of these ethical principles

is that of justice. Justice is the ethical principle that relates to fair, equitable, and appropriate

treatment in light of what is due or owed to persons (Burkhardt & Nathaniel, 2014, p. 81).

Provision 8 in the ANA Nursing Code of Ethics states:

The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and the public to protect

human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities. (ANA,

2015)

In promoting health diplomacy and reducing health disparities, we are showing justice by giving

care or treatment equally, appropriately and as fairly as possible to avoid issues or problems.

As a nurse and former teacher, I know that there is always something new to learn. We

live in a very fast paced society. New advances are being made in medicine, techniques and
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procedures are changing. It is our responsibility both to ourselves and to our patients to be

informed. Nursing involves life-long learning as we must keep current on advances, expand our

knowledge base and learn things about ourselves and those we care for. Hildegard Peplau in her

Theory of Interpersonal Relations states that a nurse has a variety of roles. The seven nursing

roles are: the stranger role, the resource role, the counseling role, the surrogate role, the active

leadership role, and the technical expert role (Petiprin, 2016). In order to perform all these roles,

we must be educated and knowledgable and then share what we have learned in order to help our

patients. This can be accomplished through continuing education credits for licensure, college

courses to further our degrees and clinical experiences with our patients.

In conclusion, as a Peri-Operative nurse, I work in many different settings. Sometimes I

may have the opportunity to talk with the patient as the procedures are done under local

anesthesia. It is during those times that I am able to be the teacher, the resource and the

counselor helping the patient understand what is happening and why, teaching them how to dress

the incision site and answer any questions they may have about their care. I listen to what they

have to say, talk with families and try to ease their anxiety, always showing them dignity and

respect, compassion and caring. Other times, I am more of a silent player as the procedures are

done under general anesthesia. My roles are now that of surrogate for the patient, making sure

things run smoothly and per the consent, as they cannot speak for themselves; and then technical

expert, running all the equipment in the room and making sure the surgeon and his team have

what is needed. I attend inservice meetings concerning new equipment, learn how to

troubleshoot problems and anticipate the needs of those in the Operating Room. To some it may

seem as if I am just standing there watching an operation, but really it is much more.
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References

American Nurses Association (2015), Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements,

Washington D.C.: American Nurses Publishing

Budzban, A., (2012, October 11). Compassion and Respect in Nursing Care

Retrieved from http://www.nursetogether.com/compassion-and-respect-nursing-care

Burkhardt, M.A., & Nathaniel, A.K. (2014). Ethics & Issues in Contemporary Nursing (4th ed.).

Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning

Petiprin, A., (2016). Hildegard Peplau - Nursing Theorist

Retrieved from http://nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Hildegard-Peplau.php