Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Alexandra Jackson

Dr. Christine Turner, PhD, RN

NUSR 4140 Synthesis of Nursing Practice

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

October 31, 2020

“I Pledge…”
 2

Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Nursing Definition

Nurses are known for their scrubs, stethoscopes, and tender care they provide. If a nurse is

spotted in public, respect and trust are generally felt unconsciously. However, nursing can mean

a variety of things depending on the person and situation. It can mean a healer, friend, supporter,

caregiver, advocate, and much more. I believe nursing is branded with an unconditional care

despite diverse backgrounds, race, social status, or situations. I also believe nursing is ordinary

people who chose to practice kindness, integrity, and empathy to serve people who are

vulnerable in their community. Lastly, providing culturally competent care with compassion is

the mission of Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing.

Nursing is a performance of two components: art and science. In other words, nursing takes

labs and skills, and blends it with the character of a person to form competent and compassionate

care. The way a nurse touches a patient gently, celebrates good news, listens therapeutically, or

becomes an advocate in dark times evolves with experience. Nursing to me is kindness combined

with education to provide knowledgeable and safe care.

Personal Philosophy

My personal philosophy has been to stand on kindness and integrity and use this as my

foundation of nursing. I believe in patient-centered care that is compassionate and direct. In the

healthcare setting, patients are typically seen in a vulnerable state due to an illness or injury.

Further, the care provided needs to be thoughtfully and individually planned to be conducive for

their health. Society teaches us to judge first, but this cannot be done with nursing. I also believe

every person has a story and the only way for nursing care to be successful is to remove
 3

judgement and employ kindness. My personal philosophy is built on foundational values and

beliefs that will keep my nursing care grounded.

As a nursing student, there are many feelings that can be felt not only by myself, but by

patients, family members, and nurses on the floor. I feel nervous or fake confident, and the

patients are either excited to have a student, or nervous that I won’t know what I am doing.

Nurses can look at students as either over or under eager to learn and in the way. However, I take

the time to speak to patients in a way that if someone I loved was in the same situation, they

would be cared for. This takes the stranger identity away and promotes the patient to a person I

care about and want what’s best for.

Another aspect of building a relationship with patients is taking the time to educate and listen

to their stories. Simple conversations can go a long way. Life spins at a million miles a minute at

times and there continually are lists of tasks to perform. However, actively listening and getting

to know someone in a time where it feels like their world may have stopped, is deeply important

to me. For instance, I had a patient that was present in the emergency room for what she thought

was a stroke. She was fearful and alone. However, she was so calm, polite, and patient. By the

time I was able to go into the room, she had been in the room for over an hour after testing, just

waiting. When I entered the room, she began to share something on her heart. She voiced she

was stressed and lonely from losing her husband a few months ago and wasn’t sure what was

happening to her now. She shared stories about all the sweet actions he did while alive, including

whispering, “I love you”, every time he walked by her in a room. I knew I had three other

patients to attend to, but she wanted someone who would listen. So, I let her, and I gave her my

full attention. My personal philosophy surrounds kindness, including treating others respectfully

and surrounding time when it is so precious is just another way to do this.

 4

Values and Beliefs

At the foundation of any philosophy lies values and beliefs. Values are what is important to

someone and guides their choices in everyday life (Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and

behaviour 2018). According to an ethics toolkit found online, values are utilized to make clear,

rationale, and responsible decisions (Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour 2018). On

the other hand, beliefs are ideas of what a person holds as true from previous experiences, culture

norms, or from other people (Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour 2018). Values and

beliefs help build my philosophy of nursing. Since the beginning of my nursing education, I have

believed that kindness is the core foundation of how I want to practice as a nurse. With all the

diversity in the patient population, it is important for me to hold onto this foundation for

guidance.

As my confidence interacting with various patients increases, I reflect on my values and

beliefs. These have not changed but grown firmer as my roots. I still believe in vaccines, blood

transfusions, the science of medicine, but also of God or other high beings for miracles. I still

believe in measures to resuscitate life, but also to let what’s already gone, go. I believe in

standing by the right and wrong, so they have someone in their corner because, again, everyone

has a story. No matter the situation, my job as a soon to be nurse is to be supportive and kind,

and this is something I ground myself with.

Nurse Patient Encounter

In my clinical immersion setting in the ER, patient acuity fluctuates drastically. The chief

complaints can vary from a vaginal bump to rectal bleed to STEMI. One evening, a patient who

was paraplegic from a previous stroke came in. He had obvious muscle atrophy and overall was
 5

dirty from his clothes to his skin. The patient was stand offish and slightly aggressive, probably

from frustration. When his caregiver called to check on his status, he replied, “Tell her I’m fine,

that’s all she needs to know”. He was unable to move much on his own and his speech was

slurred and quiet, making it difficult for him to answer or ask questions. This population pulls at

my heart because I imagine their life: one day normal, the next drastically changed. At one point,

his mask was off, and I noticed he had large dry scales on his lips mixed with cords of mucus

that would spread among his lips when he opened his mouth. He was NPO due to his chief

complaint, but I asked if he would like some sponges to wet his mouth, which he reluctantly

agreed to. When I started cleaning his lips, the expression of satisfaction filled his face. The wet

sponge was wiped gently across his lips until they were smooth. I then rubbed the sponge against

his lips until I met his gums, and then rubbed gently over the entirety of his mouth. He would try

to hold onto it at various spots in his mouth, savoring the cold water and looking into my eyes as

he slowly blinked. As the sponges exited his mouth, chunks of food came with it. When it was

time to move him to another room, I made sure to finish as he was stable, and if this was one act

that would make him feel comfortable and clean, I wanted to complete it.

Many times, patients are seen as illnesses and tasks that need to be done, especially if the

acuity is high, but performing small acts of kindness and taking the time to really appreciate a

person for being just that, a person, is imperative. The patient smiled for the first time after this.

His big brown eyes met mines and seemed to become tender as he spoke a little louder to be

compliant with questions. Overall, my patient encounters have varied greatly, but this is one

experience I remember vividly. This was such a simple task that brought me back to kindness.

Amid all the skills I want to do as a nurse, and all the complications I want to see to learn,
 6

treating a person with dignity by doing basic care is essential. Again, every act boils down to the

foundational value of being kind.

Practicum Experience

In the senior two practicum setting, I was excited and nervous. These were valid emotions to

feel as it was a new experience. Although having my LPN license I have experienced many

patient care situations, this setting was me acting as a registered nurse and becoming comfortable

with this role. I feel like overall a change has happened. However, it is hard to see when I am so

engulfed in assignments and balancing clinical hours with sleep, work, and everyday life. I have

been able to practice prioritizing patients, give medications intravenously, and perform skills

such as NG and IV placement, foley catheter insertion, and giving blood. I am by no means an

advanced nurse in any of these categories but understanding the steps and reasons has helped to

advance my knowledge beyond complete novice. I have practiced communicating with providers

and utilizing my team members for support. I have learned to rely on resources that are available

such as forensic nursing and pharmacy for questions or situations I am unsure about. I believe

with added confidence that I can properly take care of multiple patients in a safe manner. The

practicum experience promotes me to advanced beginner. With this, I have room to grow.

Truth be told; however, this clinical experience has been trenching. I have felt exhaustion,

embarrassment, frustration, and extreme stress. Most days I realize I need more support and

acknowledge that I am in a season of hardship. I feel as though I am in the middle of a struggle

storm, and most days my self-criticism wins. Furthermore, there is a never-ending list of

assignments, and with night shift clinicals but a day job, it’s been a strain. In addition, the

COVID-19 pandemic limits the option to see people that I care about and are my support system.
 7

I have felt alone. The only positive keeping me going is the awareness that this will make me

stronger not only in my career as a nurse, but as a person. Selena Gomez said, “If you are

broken, you do not have to stay broken”, and I think about this quote often (Emery, 2017). The

light at the end of the tunnel has been finishing this clinical experience, focusing on self-care,

and allowing the learning experience to be just that: a learning experience.

Benner’s Theory

The Benner theory discusses steps of the Dreyfus Model that place a nurse into levels of

competency varying from novice to expert. In this stage of my nursing education, I feel as

though I am an advanced beginner. An advanced beginner, as defined by Benner is one that, “can

demonstrate marginally acceptable performance, who have coped with enough real situations to

note overall global characteristics identified by prior experience” (Benner, 2001, p. 22). In other

words, an advanced beginner uses prior knowledge of situations and patient experiences to

determine appropriate actions. Benner also notes that advanced beginners “need support in the

clinical setting” for prioritization (Benner, 2001, p. 24). For me, I feel like I have been exposed

to many disease processes and patient populations to have an idea of what to do but am not

proficient enough to decipher care without guidance. I also will not practice alone once I receive

my RN license and will follow the guidance of a preceptor or mentor much of the first year,

which places me as an advanced beginner.

In order to advance to the next stage in the Dreyfus model of competent, I will need to not

only be in my job for several years, but be able to, “consciously and deliberately plan” with a

“feeling of mastery” in my skills (Benner, 2001, p. 27). In this third stage, I require training to

advance. I plan to work as a RN in a field that gives me knowledge about many diseases and
 8

medications so that I can be well-rounded and confident. I plan to utilize my time in the

residency program to grow my knowledge and ask questions to those nurses that are proficient or

experts. With this guidance, I suspect to become competent in no time.

Plan for Moving Forward

I have always enjoyed learning. I have a realization that I will never know it all, and someone

is always going to be smarter than me in a room, and that’s okay. People have different

perspectives and experience which help to shape skills and interpretation of information. With

nursing being less black and white, this helps to build flexibility, uniqueness, and many truthful

avenues of care. Beginning as a RN, I hope to learn and absorb information that is provided

during the residency program and my mentors. I hope to be able to lean on my preceptor

throughout the first year of practicing and understand that it’s okay to not know it all. I also hope

to use a journal for reflection that will help to build my confidence. Nursing, and healthcare in

general, is a very extensive field, but there is this notion in nursing school that we must know it

all. I hope to become proficient in my field of practice so that I am confident in my answers and

the care I provide, before moving to another field to challenge my skill set.

Selfcare

Selfcare is the act of caring for oneself. It is any activity that brings my mental health to the

forefront and makes me feel good. Selfcare is thought of relaxation, but it can also include

learning a new hobby, strengthening muscles, catching up on sleep, hanging out with loved ones,

or watching a new movie. Regardless, I understand the purpose is to take care of myself. Without

a full cup on my own, I cannot pour into others; everyone will eventually suffer. Yet, with little

time to do them, it gets thrown to the wayside. I want to get back to taking care of me. I feel as
 9

though I have been focusing on being strong mentally and emotionally, and pushing through, that

my mental health lacks. I want to exercise on a regimen with a good diet, get massages, spend

time with my family, all without the stress of either putting off assignments or missing sleep. At

one point in the Bon Secours program, I worked four jobs, was full time in classes, and still

earned A’s. However, I think I have earned not working so hard. Granted, I want to work

somewhere I like, if not love, and bask in this educational experience. I feel this is also a form of

selfcare. Lastly, I want to spend time focusing on and growing my relationships. As I graduate, I

realize the importance of this and am determined to do more for myself.

Conclusion

Throughout this paper I have discussed my highs and lows of nursing school that have

molded me into who I am as a person and a nurse. My personal philosophy of kindness will keep

my “why” strong. I started nursing to help. Becoming a nurse was more than just simply helping

others. I felt this was a calling. Nursing was my only option as I grew up. I wanted to be support

for someone who feels alone, kind to someone who’s met a harsh world, and an advocate to

understand the difficulties life can throw. Kindness today is limited, but in nursing, it forever

evolves. As I have spent the last few years of my life dedicated to my education and career,

remembering my foundation of kindness will keep me grounded in my future endeavors. I will

take the education and experiences I have had and turn them into another layer of my foundation.
 10

References

Benner, P. (2001). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice

(commemorative ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Emery, L. R. (2017, May 14). 13 Selena Gomez Quotes That Will Change How You View

Mental Health. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from

https://www.women.com/learoseemery/lists/number-selena-gomez-quotes-that-will-

change-how-you-view-mental-health

Personal beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviour. (2018, May 14). Retrieved October 29, 2020,

from https://www.iaa.govt.nz/for-advisers/adviser-tools/ethics-toolkit/personal-beliefs-

values-attitudes-and-behaviour/