Professional Nursing Philosophy

Alyssa Varady

NUR 300
 I would interpret nursing as an important key to healthcare practice in which nurses show

care and compassion in the professional setting while maintaining safe patient care. To provide

adequate care, a nurse's duty is to continue education while in the clinical setting to gain a better

grasp on ways to interact with the healthcare team. My mission is to bridge the gap of

communication with the patient and interprofessional team while providing evidence based care

while continuing to obtain my RN to BSN.

What led me to seek RN to BSN education is improving safety outcomes for patients. As

claimed by “Registered Nurses as Professionals: Accountability for Education and Practice”,

“The seminal work of Aiken, Clarke, Cheung, Sloane, and Silber (2003) documented that each

10% increase in the proportion of BSN-prepared RNs decreases the risk of patient death and

failure to rescue by 5%” (Zittel et al., 2016). Continuing education can decrease negative patient

outcomes, by allowing nurses to explore new ways of communication to use other resources in

the healthcare system. This can include knowledge in informatics and how to use certain

templates to communicate with physicians safely about patient care without breaching

confidentiality.

The BSN program allows deeper knowledge about interprofessional collaboration and

communication among different professions in healthcare. This fits into my professional goals

because incorporating members of the healthcare team can improve patient outcomes.

Interprofessional collaboration involves understanding the social dynamics of the healthcare

team and the patient. My past college course, sociology, helped me understand the social
dynamic of illnesses. For example, patients with COPD have a contributing factor of smoking

cigarettes which could be influenced by smoking in social situations.

Another course that is influenced by values and beliefs is the mental health nursing

course. Beforehand, I did not have a solid grasp of mental illnesses and the triggers that coincide

with it. Clinical practice in this class also changed my outlook on drug addiction. Listening to

individuals struggle to leave their habit or lose a valuable part of their life helped me realize

addiction is a disease rather than a choice. This coincides with my nursing theory, as I do not

have a solid grasp of nursing as a whole.

My nursing theory is inspired by Patricia Benner’s theory, Novice to Expert. This theory

supports the belief that experience in the clinical setting is important to advance from the

beginning stage of nursing. The theory is not only focused on how to be a nurse, but how to

acquire the knowledge to succeed in the nursing profession. Dr. Benner’s components of the

theory begins with the Novice stage, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and ending with

the expert nurse. The theory can be applied to nursing practice because it relates to the true

principles of entering and maintaining the profession.

Maintaining patient safety plays a huge role in nursing, and being a Novice nurse can

impact the safety of the patient. Advancing in the clinical setting is important to succeed for the

patient. It is presented in nursing that after 3-4 years, a nurse will become competent in their

profession, still following simple guidelines but also using critical thinking to expand their

patient care. As a new graduate nurse, I have not obtained the critical thinking skills considering

it will take time to acquire. I am using patience and compassion to guide my care with

knowledge I have currently obtained in the clinical setting during 4 months of orientation.
 During the orientation process, My personal wellness was impacted. The schedule shifts

were a difficult change from night shift to day shift. As a beginner nurse, adjusting to the

schedule is a difficult shift, and requires experience to manage. Having shifts in my schedule

every 2 weeks caused lack of sleep which made critical thinking harder. After a few months, I

was able to handle monthly schedule shifts which have allowed me to have a stable sleep

schedule to be able to succeed in my job.

During this time I was struggling to manage conflict in the professional setting. There are

several different types of conflict management strategies. In the beginning of my career, I felt as

if I was avoiding conflict with other healthcare professionals. I was nervous to communicate

with physicians and would often not question orders. This strategy is impacted by being a novice

nurse and not yet knowing my role in the professional practice.

Currently, my conflict management style has been transitioning to collaboration.

Collaboration plays a major role in conflict resolution, and requires consideration from both

professionals in the healthcare team. I have been in situations where the provider is able to agree

and discuss goals to ensure patient safety is maintained. Collaboration requires critical thinking

from both parties to resolve the problem. This style can also build trust between the physician

and nurse, allowing improved communication, which can be supported by QSEN competencies.

QSEN competencies have helped guide my practice, because the purpose of QSEN is to

challenge future nurses to to improve the quality and safety of care in healthcare. Patient safety

is a priority in healthcare, and helps shape the care we give as professionals. Patient centered

care is the first component of QSEN, this is care based around the patient's own personal values

and needs of the patient. For example, using the interpreter based on the patient's first language
needs can be essential in providing safe care. I have seen many healthcare professionals not use

the interpreter and assume the patient understands their care, which can create confusion and

anxiety for the patient. Identifying what that patient personally needs is priority in patient

centered care.

Teamwork and collaboration is the second component to QSEN competencies. This

assists healthcare professionals with open communication styles and creating a network of shared

decision making for the patients quality of care . As discussed earlier conflict management is

essential to providing open communication between everyone in the healthcare team. The third

competency is evidence based practice, which assists in using current evidence with current

clinical expertise to enhance patient care. This coincides with the safety principle of patient care,

using the best research to support the patient with their own needs.

Although I have been developing leadership skills with the QSEN competencies, I have

not yet been able to put all the skills to use. I have been following a few principles of leadership

so far. The first principle I have been practicing is committing to excellence, persevering through

my own struggles to help others. Sometimes it is difficult to get out of bed for the third 12 hour

shift in a row, however I have had many nights where I have helped patients when I haven’t felt

my most competent. An example I have is when a young woman was having a diagnostic MRI to

assess her liver function. She was anxious to go to the MRI, so I accompanied her. The next day I

received a letter thanking me for my dedication to relieving her anxiety, which helped me realize

that even when I'm not at my best I can make others feel their best.

Aligning behaviors with goals and values is another principle I have been able to achieve

during my career so far. Setting behavioral standards for employees is important, including as an
employee yourself. According to Teamwork in Healthcare;“Leadership is a critical element in

creating and sustaining the culture change necessary for adoption of team improvement tools and

strategies. Implementation of surgical briefings and debriefings illustrates this clearly. Briefings

allow for teams to ensure that all members understand goals, understand everyone’s roles and

responsibilities, and have a chance to voice concerns. Debriefing affords a valuable learning

opportunity for teams to discuss their performance with the expectation to improve during the

next performance period” (Rosen et al., 2018). This is an example that setting leadership

standards can assist others in knowing their role in the healthcare setting. This can enhance

patient satisfaction and safety.

In conclusion, I am determined to move forward with the BSN program. It will give me a

chance to enhance my capabilities as a novice nurse, and to move forward with the career path. It

will take time for me to gain the skills I need to succeed mentally and physically. I will continue

to enhance my conflict management skills, while enhancing my perspective from a novice nurse

and focusing on the QSEN competencies to not only perform safe patient care, but develop into

the nursing leader that is needed in healthcare.

 References

Benner , P. (1982, March). From Novice To Beginner . The American Journal Of Nursing .
https://www.yourhomeworksolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/edd/2020/09/Benners-theo
r y-Novice-to-Expert.pdf.

Petiprin, A. (2020, October 17). Benner's From Novice to Expert. Nursing Theory.
https://nursing-theory.org/theories-and-models/from-novice-to-expert.php. Institute , Q.
S. E. N. (2020). QSEN competencies
https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/#informatics

Rosen, M. A., DiazGranados, D., Dietz, A. S., Benishek, L. E., Thompson, D., Pronovost, P. J.,
& Weaver, S. J. (2018). Teamwork in HEALTHCARE: Key discoveries ENABLING safer,
high-quality care. The American psychologist.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6361117/.

Walden University. (2021, March 25). What's Your Conflict Management Style? Walden
University.https://www.waldenu.edu/news-and-events/walden-news/2017/0530-whats-yo
ur-conflictmanagement-style.

Zittel, B., Moss, E., O'sullivan , A., & Siek, T. (2016, November 3). Registered Nurses as
Professionals: Accountability for Education and Practice.
http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodic
als/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-21-2016/No3-Sept-2016/Registered-Nurses-as-Profe
ssionals.html.