Running head: NURSING PHILOSPOHY AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS STATEMENT 1

Nursing Philosophy and Professional Goals Statement

Sareece S. Guerrero

Grand Canyon University: NSG-310-BOSA19FA

December 8, 2019
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Nursing Philosophy and Professional Goals Statement

As I develop in the nursing program to become a professional nurse, I must establish my

philosophy and goals to build upon. The first part explains my personal philosophy and goals and

how my experience in level one has shaped them. The second part includes an interview that I

conducted with a nurse about their understanding of nursing profession, their personal

philosophy, and how the interview supplemented my own understanding. This document is a tool

that allows me to reflect, learn, and organize my personal expectations in how I will implement

my philosophy and practice professionalism as a nurse.

Part One:

Personal Philosophy

After reviewing the different nursing theorists, I would compare my nursing philosophy

to Jean Watson’s Philosophy and Science of Caring. I do believe that the foundation of the

nursing profession is a willing, caring attitude along with the knowledge and skill to care for

people properly. If a nurse does not have a deep-rooted care for people and their well-being, then

it is impossible for them to do their job correctly. I find the Caritas Processes of Watson’s theory

everything that I would hope to be in a nurse and hope that all other nurses would strive to be as

well. An aspect in the Caritas Processes that I find very important is the attention to the needs of

a person as a whole in mind, body, and spirit (Friberg & Creasia, 2016, p. 77). A person’s health

is intertwined and highly dependent on a person’s mind, body, and spirit so that one aspect of a

person cannot be neglected.

My definition of health and the importance of health is a big factor that influences the

way that I would want to care for people. I define health as being fully-functioning in the way

that God created us to function physically, mentally, and spiritually. I believe that God is the
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Ultimate Healer, and that a relationship with Him keeps us healthy as we strive to be holy like

Him. I understand that health is considered subjective and the people I care for will not view

health the same way that I do. Although I desire to promote health in others according to my

views, I need to consider the client’s views and care for them based off of what they want for

themselves.

Level 1 Impact

The experiences that I have had in didactic, lab, and clinical courses have helped solidify

my ideas in the importance of caring as an attitude and a science. Especially in the clinical

setting, I figured out quickly that in order to care for clients you need to have the desire to care as

well as the knowledge and skill on how to do it. The relationships that were built with clients

were satisfying because of the establishment of trust and the understanding that we truly cared

for them. I believe that each client needs to feel loved and cared for as a person by the nurse. The

client may be receiving the best physical care, but if they feel like the nurses do not truly care for

them, then that leaves the client to feel alone. In my clinical experience, it was nice to see the

clients open up the more that we had conversations and participated in activities with them.

Along with the caring attitude, I also had experienced the importance of having the

knowledge base and skill level to care for clients. A nurse needs to know how to properly assess

their clients and create care plans with goals and interventions that will most benefit them. I may

have a true desire to care for my client, but if I do not have critical thinking in identifying

abnormalities and knowing the proper treatment, then I will also be ineffective in caring for

them. There were times when I was able to identify an abnormality but did not know what to do

for the client based off what I found. I learned that you need to care for a person as a whole and
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take everything into consideration that might harm or benefit their physical, social, and spiritual

health.

Professional Goals

Being a professional and caring nurse is my overall career goal, and there are many

things that I must do to accomplish this throughout my learning and development as a student.

My experience with level one helped me gain insight to my strengths and weaknesses. One thing

that I would like to improve on is my communication skills. I am able to start professional

conversation with clients, but I need more experience specifically with therapeutic

communication in what to do and say when a client is hurting. Sometimes silence and listening is

good, but I fear that it may come off as uncaring, especially if there is a comforting word and

presence that needs to be given. Another area that needs improvement is my willingness to step

up and take leadership positions when needed. Sometimes I come across situations that I need to

take charge in order for the task to be done efficiently, but my comfortability is staying in a

follower’s position. For the sake of client safety and professionalism, I need to develop skills

taking leadership roles. This has much to do with the third goal that I have, which is improved

confidence of my abilities. I believe that if I was fully confident in what I know and what I am

able to accomplish, then I would be more apt to take leadership roles. I feel as though my lack of

confidence might be detected by the client, which would negatively impact the trust in our

relationship. It is good to be cautious and not cocky with tasks, but I need to have balance by

maintaining careful but confident practices. I know that all these goals will come with time and

practice, so I will need to keep them in mind as I progress in the nursing program.
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Part Two:

Nursing Philosophy Interview

To gain greater insight into real applications of nursing philosophies and the nursing role,

I interviewed a friend who is a nurse at Banner Del Webb in the cardiac unit. I am very open to

different fields in my nursing career, so I do not have a specific unit that I would like to work on

at the moment. My friend shares the same Christian worldview that I have, so our nursing

philosophies were very similar. The three questions I asked were: 1. Can you recall a

professional experience that helped shape your understanding of the nursing role, scope of

practice, and the profession? 2. What would you consider your nursing philosophy to be? How

did you develop this, and can you give an example of how you implement it into your care? 3.

Are there any alternate nursing philosophies that you have observed in coworkers? What are

your opinions of their effectiveness?

The nurse mentioned that every experience in her career can be related back to working

within the nurse’s scope of practice and related to having compassion for all clients. She said that

there have been times when the nurse would want something to be ordered for their client, but

the doctor would not do what she wanted, and it is not in the nurse’s power to give orders. There

needs to be collaboration with the nurse and other nurses as well as with the nurse and doctor to

figure out what is best for the client. The nurse upholds professionalism by not overstepping their

boundaries in responsibilities and by effectively collaborating with others on the health care

team.

The nurse said that being the patient’s advocate and having compassion for them is very

important. She mentioned that the doctors can have a treatment plan and want to do something

that the client does not want. She explained that she tries to talk with the doctors to discuss
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alternate treatments that would put the client’s best interest into consideration. To give client-

centered care, she said that it is necessary to take time to listen to their concerns and assess them

as a whole. She needs to remind herself to be patient and compassionate with the clients because

they can pick up on a nurse’s un-caring attitude which leaves them less satisfied with their care.

When she takes time to sit and listen to what they have to say, they tend to be more pleasant and

cooperative with her. She explained that other nurses can get easily frustrated with “needy”

clients and say that they are hard to work with, but she views nursing as a Christian duty and not

a job. She reminds herself that the clients are people that are going through a hard time and need

to be cared for. One of the main things that stuck with her was the fact that clients feel more

cared for when she makes sure to check in on them more often as opposed to other nurses that

only visit them when necessary. When she sits and chats with them and shares a bit of her

personal life, the clients feel more comfortable and open to share things about themselves. While

other nurses can rush, she likes to take her time when the schedule allows. She strives to make

her patients feel the most cared for even when it is hard.

Self-Application of Interview

The interview responses of my friend were eye-opening to my understanding of how a

nursing philosophy can be applied. I will remember to always value the interests of the client and

be advocates for them when they are not receiving the care that they would prefer. I will

remember to be considerate of the attitude I give off to make sure that my clients know that I

care for them. I highly respect my friend and the way she treats others, and I will follow her

method in how to build nurse-client relationships on trust. I want to create a sense of

comfortability and openness by taking time to sit and talk with them. The openness and

cooperativeness of the client can make a significant impact on the assessments and treatments
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that contribute to their well-being. I expect my philosophy of putting caring at the forefront of

my career to be strengthened as I proceed in my experience. I expect to maintain professionalism

and work within my scope of practice even when the care I would like to give to my client is not

being given.
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References

Friberg, E. & Creasia, J. (2016). Conceptual foundations: the bridge to professional nursing

practice. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from

https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780323299930/