Running head: NURSING PHILOSOPHY AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS STATEMENT 1

My Nursing Philosophy and Professional Goals Statement

Yessica Leon

Grand Canyon University: NSG-310HN

April 21, 2019

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My Nursing Philosophy and Professional Goals Statement

It is important to examine one’s beliefs, values, and ethics regarding nursing care before

entering the profession. This essay will examine my philosophy of nursing care incorporating

Leininger’s Cultural Care Theory, clinical and didactic experiences that have impacted the

development of my philosophy, five goals I would like to attain by the end of my nursing

program, and an interview and reflection conducted on a respected nurse.

Personal Approach to Philosophy of Nursing Care

My views revolve around the importance of providing culturally competent nursing care.

This is relevant in today’s society because more than one-third of the U.S. population consists of

ethnic and racial minority groups, but nurses from minority backgrounds only represent 19

percent of the registered nurse workforce (“A guide to culturally competent nursing care,” 2016).

I strongly believe nurses should be responsive to the changing needs of society because it has

been proven to improve access, promote positive outcomes, and reduce disparities (Marion et al.,

2016). My personal approach to the philosophy of nursing care resembles the views of the

theorist, Madeleine Leininger. Leininger believed cultural and care knowledge are required in

patient care to support compliance, healing, and wellness (Petiprin, 2016). The goal of her

Culture Care Theory is to provide culturally congruent nursing care. To make culturally

congruent care possible, Leininger believed the nurse and the client must work together to

formulate a care lifestyle that best suits the client (Petiprin, 2016). Leininger’s work has been so

revolutionary that her model has developed into a movement currently referred to as transcultural

nursing, which she defined as an area focused on comparative cultural care values, beliefs, and

practices to provide culture-specific and universal care practices in promoting health or help

people face hardships in culturally meaningful ways (Petiprin, 2016). Due to our growing diverse
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society, I resonate deeply with Madeleine Leininger’s vision of providing culturally congruent

care for all my future patients. Moreover, being that I am of Hispanic heritage, I can

communicate with Spanish speaking patients and understand Hispanic culture, values, and

family traditions. By the end of my nursing program, I hope to have learned about many more

cultures to strengthen the nurse-patient relationship and therapeutic communication.

Clinical and Didactic Experiences

Even though level one of nursing school has been a new and challenging experience, I

have learned many things in my clinical and didactic classes that have impacted the development

of my nursing philosophy. For example, for my level one clinical rotation, I was placed in an

assisted living facility where I had the opportunity to talk to many older adults. Even though this

was not a large demographic, many of the patients that I talked to had differing cultural beliefs

and practices. For example, one patient told me that she was looking forward to Good Friday

because her family would be joining her for dinner but was worried that the kitchen would serve

meat. This patient and her family abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and

all the Fridays of Lent because they are members of the Roman Catholic faith. Even though I am

a Christian who does not pertain to any denomination, I have a lot of family members who are

Catholic, so I was able to understand her tradition. To do this, I had to put aside my own beliefs

and convictions and focus solely on how to alleviate my patient’s concern. In addition, three

practices to help patient interactions include awareness, acceptance, and asking (Ferwerda,

2016).

This observation was further examined in class, when we learned about how culture

affects therapeutic communication. It is important to understand that time orientation, eye

contact, touch, decision-making, compliments, health-beliefs, health-care practices, personal

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space, modesty and non-verbal communication vary between cultures, sub-cultures, and religions

(Ferwerda, 2016). For instance, lack of eye contact may be considered disrespectful in our

culture, but some people avoid direct eye contact as a sign of respect. In conclusion, these

experiences strengthened my nursing philosophy because understanding a patient’s culture can

help nurses deliver personalized, optimal care.

Professional Nursing and Skills Development Goals

I have many goals for professional nursing and skills development I would like to attain by

the end of my nursing program. My first goal is to develop cultural competence by following

Campinha-Bacote and Munoz’s five-component model which includes cultural awareness,

cultural knowledge, cultural skill, cultural encounter, and cultural desire (“A guide to culturally

competent nursing care,” 2016). I believe I have accomplished some components of this model

like cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, and cultural desire, but I lack cultural skill and

cultural encounter due to my lack of clinical experience. My second goal is to develop and

improve interpersonal skills. In my didactic classes I have learned about therapeutic and

nontherapeutic communication, but once again, I believe that I lack enough clinical experience to

feel confident in building rapport with patients. My third goal is to learn about the different types

of nursing specialties so that I know which one I want to pursue by the time I graduate. In level

one of nursing school I had the opportunity to experience geriatric nursing and I found it

enjoyable, but I am looking forward to learning about more specialties.

My last two goals apply more to my personal life, but they can also impact my professional

nursing career. My fourth goal is to stop procrastinating by learning time management skills. I

had a rough start to the semester because I procrastinated and did not know how to balance the

workload. My last and fifth goal, is to set a routine and follow it every day. For example, nursing
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school has taught me that time is valuable, so it is important to wake up early and use every

minute of the day. Therefore, I hope that by the end of my nursing program, I have built up the

discipline to have a set routine that will allow me to get things done early and efficiently. These

last two tips will help me learn to prioritize patient care and to multitask efficiently. All in all,

my ultimate goal is to use my personal nursing philosophy to serve my future patients in

achieving their goals.

Nursing Specialty Interview and Reflection

Interview

Overview: The registered nurse interviewed, C.M., has been a travel nurse for five years. In the

following interview, Nurse C.M. discusses what motivated her to become a nurse and why she

loves her job.

Nursing Student (Me): Hello, Nurse C.M., how are you doing? I have to interview a nurse for a

nursing school assignment. Is it okay if I ask you a few questions about your specialty?

Nurse: Of course, go ahead.

Nursing Student: Why did you choose nursing as your career?

Nurse: I was the first person in my family to graduate college. Growing up, my family did not

have the resources to attend college, but they instilled in me the importance of pursuing an

education. I chose nursing as my career because it is such a caring, challenging, and dynamic

field. Being a nurse allows me to make a difference in people’s lives and do things that I never

imagined I would have the opportunity to do. Because nursing is so dynamic, it can be

challenging, but these challenges have truly made me a stronger person.

Nursing Student: Why did you choose travel nursing as your specialty?
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Nurse: I chose travel nursing because I love having the opportunity to care for others while also

traveling the world and offer my help where it is most needed.

Nursing Student: Do you enjoy your job?

Nurse: Yes. There are days where I question why I chose nursing, but there is always something

good that happens that eliminates any doubt I have. There is nothing I would rather be than a

nurse.

Nursing Student: What tips do you have for me as a nursing student that will help me in the

future?

Nurse: The biggest tip I can give you is to enjoy nursing school and make the best out of it.

Nursing school was difficult, but it prepared me to be the nurse I am today. Lastly, make nursing

school your priority, do not procrastinate, and take care of yourself.

Reflection

After interviewing Nurse C.M., I learned many valuable things about the nursing

profession that I will use every day as a future nurse. The main thing that stood out to me during

this interview is the importance of education. I resonate with nurse C.M. because I am also the

first person in my family to attend college. Nurse C.M. emphasized that learning never stops in

the nursing profession. Likewise, I plan to be committed to lifelong learning even after

graduation and passing the NCLEX. Some ways to do so include taking courses, attending

conferences, obtaining certification, reading trade journals and joining organizations like the

American Nurses Association (Reed, 2018). In addition, interviewing Nurse C.M. made me

excited about all the possibilities within the field of nursing. I am also considering doing travel

nursing for a portion of my career and knowing that Nurse C.M. enjoys her job makes me
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hopeful for the future. Overall, having had the opportunity to interview a nurse, was a

memorable experience that enlightened me on the nursing profession.

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References

A guide to culturally competent nursing care. (2016). In Alvernia University. Retrieved from

https://online.alvernia.edu/articles/culturally-competent-nursing-care/

Ferwerda, J. (2016). How to care for patients from different cultures. Retrieved from

https://nurse.org/articles/how-to-deal-with-patients-with-different-cultures/

Marion, L., Douglas, M., Lavin, M., Barr, N., Gazaway, S., Thomas, L., Bickford, C., (2016).

"Implementing the New ANA Standard 8: Culturally Congruent Practice." OJIN: The

Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 22 No. 1. Doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol22No01PPT20

Petiprin, A. (2016). Leininger's culture care theory. Retrieved from http://www.nursing-

theory.org/theories-and-models/leininger-culture-care-theory.php

Reed, A. (2018). List of personal and professional goals for a nursing student. Retrieved from

https://careertrend.com/info-8498963-list-professional-goals-nursing-student.html