Running head:PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY 1

Personal Nursing Philosophy

Cherie Boyer

Delaware Technical Community College

RN to BSN

Dr. Maloney

October 4th, 2021

Abstract
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My nursing philosophy is to provide the best care to my patients. Using my personal beliefs and

the values I have learned to mold myself into the nurse I am and meant to be. Reading

theorists and taking the time to self evaluate who Cherie Boyer, RN is and how she can make a

difference in this world. My passion includes my honesty, confidence, communication,

confidence and factual attitude,dedication, and loyalty. While being humble, having the

confidence to know I am giving the best care to my patients and putting their safety as my

number one priority. Reflecting on leadership and the core competencies to being a Registered

Nurse.

Personal Nursing Philosophy

When I think about the day I decided to become a nurse, I did not realize in the very

beginning that I would be learning for the rest of my life. You think you just go through school

and that’s it you learned, you passed and you're a nurse. In nursing there is so much to learn

about so many diseases, medications, and diagnosis on top of diagnosis. There are new viruses

and research is done daily in healthcare. It is a never ending curveball in this field. Nurses spend

the most time with their patients and are usually the first and last person patients see during

their care or treatment. Anyone can read orders and follow them but when you are taking care

of a patient, educating them is a huge role in their care and if you do not know what's going on

how will you be able to help them? My values and beliefs, personal wellness, my aim at conflict

management, leadership, and other nursing practices are reflected in this paper as I continue

my journey as a nurse.

Many people enter the healthcare field because they want to work with people. For

these nurses, it is the nurse-patient relationship that is one of the most important things
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(Petiprin, 2020). Hildegard Peplau “the mother of psychiatric nursing. She believed that by

understanding how important the nurse-patient relationship theory is, nurses can be better

equipped to work with their patients and provide the best care to their patients. When

providing care to our patients, we as nurses must build trust. We build this trust by providing

information about their disease and what medications they are on, we give them a sense of

security in knowing that we know what we are doing by the knowledge we are able to provide

them to take care of them with. Advocating for our patients when they are not getting the

resources or proper and safe care they have the right to. When I was in my nursing classes I

would fail and fail and fail and fail. At times I doubted myself on if I could be a nurse. After

reading Hildegard philosophy I realize having the knowledge to take care of my patients is only

a piece of giving them the care they need. Building a relationship and building a rapport with

them is just as important as learning the information to take care of them. You don’t have to be

book smart to be an amazing nurse.

As a nurse we are there to teach our patients about health and making healthy choices.

Although we teach to eat healthy and workout, personal wellness is more than just working out

and eating right physically. It is spiritually being intune with yourself and vibrations from the

universe. Socially being around people and being comfortable with yourself enough to know

that you do not let their energy reflect you. When you have a negative attitude you project that

to others and when you are taking care of someone that is already in a negative space you

bringing more negativity is not helping this patient get better. In order for me to take care of my

patients I have to personally take care of myself, physically, spiritually, emotionally and socially.

When I think about my philosophy and theorist, I can understand why I relate to Hildegard
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theory. How can I build a relationship with my patient when I don’t do right by myself first?

There is this saying “Practice what you preach” me telling my patient to do all these healthy

things to contribute to their health and then I go home and do the opposite isn't building a

rapport or being authentic for my patient it’s me getting a dollar and going about my business. I

believe in treating the whole patient and taking time to care for oneself. Complete wellness is

vital in nursing and can play arole in how conflict is managed in the workplace.

Conflict is often unavoidable and can be found in one’s workplace, at home,

and in any setting. In nursing, conflict tends to arise due to disagreements in care and

treatment.

A person’s conflict management style will impact how one will react if a situation was to occur. I

would consider myself to have a compromising conflict management style. When taking the

personality test it showed I was a defender. A Defender is reserved but still has a unique ability

of people skills and robust social relationships. We are open to new ideas and accepting of

change. Altruists is a word to describe a defender, the selfless concern of the well being of

others. Meeting kindness with kindness and enthusiasm about the work and people they

believe in. Defenders are very meticulous and strive for perfection. A defender defines me, I try

to strive for perfection and I love to give before I receive anything. My personal values and

beliefs are true to what a defender's personality is. My values of treating people how they want

to be treated and being kind even when some people may not be kind but also having a

boundary of respect to not let them walk over me. I believe change is good and projecting these

positive thoughts to patients and people that have a hard time being positive and always

thinking the worst can be beneficial.

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Safety in this field is the number one important factor in caring for a patient. As a nurse

the unknown of what may happen becomes a reality each day we walk into our jobs. QSEN is a

group of competencies that come together to teach us nurses how to minimize the risk of harm

to patients. “The overall goal of the QSEN initiative is to address the challenge of preparing

future nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to continuously

improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems in which they work. (AORN, 2021) The

focus is on patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration, quality improvement safety, and

informatics are standards I believe make the medical field safe. Using evidence-based practices

to provide not what we think is beneficial but what is scientifically known to help in similar

medical situations. Having good communication and identifying my strengths and also knowing

my limitations help guide me to giving the best quality in care which results in safe care for my

patients. Effective communication between all parties involved in a patient's care including the

patient allows personal needs and preferences to be met.

In a society where everyone sees all the trends on social media and tends to be alike,

standing out shows an effective leader. I like to think of myself as a leader with the qualities I

display: my honesty, confidence, communication, confidence and factual attitude,dedication,

and loyalty. These are the qualities that make me proud to call myself a nurse. Nursing is not

just a job to me; it is my career. A career I chose and choose to be great at and go above and

beyond what others expect from me as a nurse. I am confident yet humble. My journey does

not stop, my passion continues to mold me for the next chapter in this field. I used to say I’m

going to get a Bachelor's degree and that's it until one day I saw how much of a disservice I

would be doing if I limited myself the opportunity to do more for people. Leadership shows
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growth and the understanding not everyone is perfect and everyone has a story. Although it

may not be the values and beliefs I follow, as a leader you respect their story and do all you can

to help them even though from the outside it doesn't look like they deserve it.

Working in the pediatric world these precious babies come into this world and as some

would say “are dealt a bad hand”. Watching them endure surgeries, being poked and scared of

the next person walking through the door because they don’t know if they are going to hurt

them. Being able to make them smile and for one second forget the pain. To be a part of their

journey and make a difference in their lives by using all the values and beliefs I have learned

and live by each day. Projecting love and opening my heart to them and giving them everything

I got even when I feel defeated is what my passion, and my career brings me each day. It

guides me and reminds me why I wake up and hold the title of a Registered Nurse.

References

Petiprin, A. (2020). Hildegard Peplau. Retrieved from Nursing Theory: https://nursing-

theory.org/nursing-theorists/Hildegard-Peplau.php

AORN. (2021). Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN). Retrieved from Association of

perOperative Registered Nurses: https://www.aorn.org/education/facility-solutions/periop-

101/qsen
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