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Professional Nursing Philosophy Paper

Madison McClafferty
NUR300-5W1
Dr. Kathy Sokola
March 6, 2022
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Leadership is one of the most important qualities a nurse must have. When caring for

patients, it is vital to use not only their patient care and critical thinking skills, but also their

leadership skills to better improve patient outcomes. In nursing, leadership is not solely based on

those who are in authority potions, but any person can be one. (Morganelli, 2021). According to

Doctor Mandy T. Bell, leadership in nursing is “The ability to inspire, influence and motivate

nursing staff and other health care workers to work together to achieve their highest potential and

collective organizational goals” (Morganelli, 2021). Having leaders in nursing creates better

teamwork and overall increases patient outcomes which causes the nursing profession to practice

in a more ethically way.

Ethics plays a huge role in nursing and when caring for lives, nurse’s ethical standards

are always being challenged (Wilson, 2021). In the nursing profession, The American Nurses

Association (ANA) has a Code of Ethics that explains 4 principles that all nurses ethical

decisions apply to. The ANA ethical principles include autonomy, benevolence, nonmaleficence,

and distributive justice. Autonomy is when a patient as the ability to make their own decisions

and benevolence is where the nurse must do good and seek the best outcomes for patients.

Nonmaleficence relates to how nurses must do no harm with their actual patient care and

distributive justice is how the “greater good influences decision making” In nursing, ethical

standards are not only upheld with each nurse individually, but nurse leaders also help to assure

that there are the upmost ethics in all nurses’ care. With nurse leaders, they are responsible for

identifying ethical problems and supporting nurses in creating ethical environments by providing

any education to help better nurses ethics (Best Practices for Ethical Nursing Leadership, 2018).
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It is important for nurse leaders to not only uphold nurses’ ethical standards, but to use

their leadership to create a space where other nurses around them will want to become nurse

leaders also. Whether a new graduate nurse or seasoned nurse, all nurses face ethical dilemmas

in their career. Creating more nurse leaders assures that nursing ethical standards will be upheld,

and nurses will know what to do when they are faced with an ethical dilemma. At the end of the

day, nursing is a licensed career so that when ethical dilemmas occur it could challenge a nurse

legally also. Again, the importance of nurse leadership is shown when there is an ethical

dilemma, being a nurse leader allows the nurse to know the right decision in the dilemma.

Specifically, for me nurse leaders are not just management and those who are your

bosses. There are many nurse leaders that I work with and look up to that are very

knowledgeable in the field of nursing and nursing ethics. In my opinion, I feel as nurses who

have their bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) are very experienced nurse leaders as they have had more

education on nurse leadership, and those are the nurses who are mainly the charge nurses and the

nurses I look up to the most on the unit I work on. Although nurse leaders can be nurses with any

education, BSN educated nurses have received more education on nurse leadership, not only the

theories behind it but they receive vital skills to become nurse leaders (Prepare for Nursing

Leadership Roles, 2017).

Currently I only have my Associates Degree in Nursing and just seeing the other nurses

on my unit who have higher degrees, has pushed me even more to continue my education.

Having more nurses with a BSN education, gives more positive outcomes for patients and the

hospital itself. BSN educated nurses know more about the reasoning for a lot of what happens

with patients and the running of hospitals. It is important to continue your education as a nurse
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and me achieving my BSN would help me to become a good nurse leader which is needed in the

nursing profession.

Nursing theories are an important piece in the nursing profession and helps to guide

nurses in how to care for patients Theories are vital in nursing as they give different perspectives

on the different ways there are to care for patients. With nursing, not every patient is the same

which means that not every patient needs or will receive the same care (Wilson, 2021). Nursing

theories are designed to help guide decision making in the Nursing profession. Even in nursing

school, we are taught that there is not one way that a patient is cared for, although they may have

the same diagnosis, every patient is different, and I believe that nursing theories are important in

delivering nursing care to patients. Specifically, I have been using Dorothea E. Orem’s “Self-

Care Deficit” Nursing Theory which the nurse is responsible for overcoming patient limitations

by performing actions that meet and promote patient wellbeing and overall health (Shah, 2015).

The unit I work on emphasizes on how much patients can do on their own and promoting self-

independence and when a patient is unable to do something themselves, that is when the nurse

steps in to help. In the Orem theory example, one patient may be able to do one thing

themselves, but another patient can’t, that is when nursing theories step in as Nursing theories

are designed to help guide decision making in the Nursing profession.

Although in the Nursing profession the focus is always on the care of the patient, taking

care of yourself overall benefits how you care for tour patients. If you do not take care of

yourself and are exhausted, then your patients will not receive the best care that they should. In

the American Nurses Association, self-care is a mandated provision in the Code of Ethics.

According to the American Nurses Association, nurses have an obligation to care for themselves

or they will be unable to care for their patients and it is a duty to themselves (Linton &
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Koonmen, 2020). Many nurses, at no surprise, put their patients and their work before their own,

I am guilty of doing this also. Self-care is emphasized and may seem easier said than done, but in

the Code of Ethics, having self-care creates a “reciprocal relationship between professional and

personal growth” which is important to giving your patient the most quality care (Importance of

Self-care for Nurses, 2021).

As a nurse, conflict is something that we experience every day, whether with a patient or

their family member or with a coworker it is common. Many nurses ignore conflict which causes

tension to build up and it negatively impacts nurses and the quality of care that is given to their

patients. Conflict management is important and even relates to nursing leadership as having good

nursing leadership can lead to less conflict and more conflict management. (Conflict

Management in Nursing, 2021). Nurse leaders knowing the signs and how to address and

manage conflict makes a smoother workplace and allow for nurses to give good quality care.

Overall, nurse leadership is vital in the nursing profession. Nurse leaders are

knowledgeable in how to advance their skills and reflect on their own leadership and qualities to

create a positive quality of care that they give their patients (Morganelli, 2021). Although it may

start as advancing in your profession, conducting research, using nursing theories and so on, it is

very important for nurses to become leaders to not only impact their patients, but impact their

own careers as nurses.

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References

Best practices for ethical nursing leadership. Wolters Kluwer. (2018, October 4). Retrieved

March 6, 2022, from https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/best-practices-for-

ethical-nursing-leadership

Conflict resolution in nursing: How strong leadership can help. The Sentinel Watch. (2021,

October 26). Retrieved March 6, 2022, from

https://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/2020/07/10/conflict-resolution-in-nursing/

Importance of self-care for nurses. Purdue Global. (2021, April 28). Retrieved March 6, 2022,

from https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/nursing/self-care-for-nurses/#:~:text=It%20is

%20important%20for%20workers,improves%20the%20quality%20of%20care

Linton, M., & Koonmen, J. (2020). Self-care as an ethical obligation for nurses. Nursing Ethics,

27(8), 1694–1702. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733020940371

Morganelli, M. (2021, July 13). What is nurse leadership? Southern New Hampshire University.

Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/health/what-is-

nurse-leadership

Prepare for nursing leadership roles with a BSN at NSC. nsc. (2017, October 31). Retrieved

March 6, 2022, from https://online.nsc.edu/nursing/rn-to-bsn/prepare-for-healthcare-

leadership-roles/

Wilson, B. (2021, July 22). Why ethics is important in nursing. The Nerdy Nurse. Retrieved

March 6, 2022, from https://thenerdynurse.com/why-ethics-is-important-in-nursing/

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Wilson, B. (2021, September 27). Why is theory important in nursing? The Nerdy Nurse.

Retrieved March 6, 2022, from https://thenerdynurse.com/why-is-theory-important-in-

nursing/