MY NURSING PHILOSOPHY

My Nursing Philosophy

Lauren Moses

DTCC – NUR300 RN to BSN

Dr. Rosati

November 23, 2022

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My personal nursing philosophy is centered around patient care and advocating for my

patients. I use my personal beliefs, values, and morals I have learned along the way to shape

myself into the nurse I am destined to be. Reading through articles and theorists’ beliefs and

ideas has allow me to self-evaluate who I am as a registered nurse and how I can make a

difference. My passion includes dedication, compassion, empathy, honesty, communication, and

loyalty with confidence sprinkled on top. While I remain humble, I have the confidence that I am

giving my patients the best health care also while keeping their safety my top priority. I’m using

this entry to reflect on what my philosophy is and what it means to me.

My Personal Nursing Philosophy

Growing up I never imagined that I would become a nurse. Nursing was not my first career

choice when I began thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up. When taking those

quizzes that match personalities with tests, I always scored high as a criminal justice major or a

business analyst. I always knew that I wanted to help people, but I was not sure in which way. I

first began school at Wilmington University and went in as a Business Administration major. As

I went through the general classes and started to grow into the person I was becoming, I realized

that course of study was not the right path for me. I then switched over to Human Services

because I thought that would be a better fit for me. I know as a social worker that I could work

more closely with helping those in need on a more personable level.

My roommate at the time was a nursing major, so I began asking her questions about what

nursing entailed. As she was talking to me and giving me information on it, I began to think that

nursing seemed to fit my personality more, even though the personality/job tests never matched

me with that major. I began doing prerequisite nursing classes and realized that I enjoyed it but

became scared because of the challenge it presented to me. My time was heavily tied up with my

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personal life and responsibilities and I felt that it would never be my time. After a couple years I

decided to take the big leap and completely dive into nursing school.

I switched over to Delaware Technical Community College and began getting more in

depth with the nursing classes. The CNA HLH130 class was really an eye opener for me. I will

never forget that our instructor told us that if we truly wanted to continue to pursue our careers in

nursing that we should work as a CNA first. Honestly, that was the best advice anyone ever gave

me. Being a CNA can be very challenging and also very rewarding. It was the first time that I

was able to work and care passionately about people and a job. I worked as a CNA during my

time in my first nursing program to become an LPN. The biggest issue that I had, though, was

that I wanted to advocate for patients as soon as I could and be heard I also wanted to be more

hands on. I believe that CNAs can and will advocate for patients, but not in the same aspect that

a nurse can be heard and make a change. Overall, I became an LPN in May 2019, went to RN

school in January 2020, and proudly I am now a Registered Nurse.

In my opinion, lifelong learning means that we are continuously building onto our

knowledge and understanding daily in the field that we continue to practice in. Learning does not

always mean that it must be under a curriculum to achieve a certain degree level. A person can

learn new things on the job whether that knew knowledge is obtained from a manager, peer, or

someone on a subordinate level. The general education courses helped to shape my values and

beliefs in nursing practice by allowing me to think ahead and holistically. For example,

sociology and psychology both taught me how to engage in conversation with different people

better. Before those classes, I didn’t think that nonverbal communication caused such a big

impact on a conversation, but it does make a major difference. Psychology taught me how to

engage in conversation with certain groups of people. It also made me aware of the various types

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of mental illnesses that people face every day. Knowing if a person has a mental illness, whether

they are aware of it or not, helped me to become more empathetic and not judge or label

someone based on face value. Learning to actively listen taught me how to explore different

avenues of caring that I never knew existed before school. Small day to day things that I see and

used to judge on the outside and say that it was “stupid” or “crazy” makes more sense now and

has taught me to become more understanding. Throughout all the classes I have taken during my

time in nursing school it has help me understand what my personal nursing philosophy is. It’s to

give the very best care possible to each of my patients. I also have incorporated my patient’s

families since they are a part of their care as well. It has proven be beneficial regardless of the

specialty I decide to work in.

When reviewing different theorists and their beliefs I picked Sister Callista Roy as the

theorist I believe and follow the most. This is because I also believe that nurses must

constantly change and adapt to new environments to give the best care in the given situation.

No two patients or situations are the same. The major key concepts to her theory are person,

health, environment, and nursing. I’m this theory a person is a bio-psycho-social being and is

consistently in interaction with a changing environment. The Adaptation Model states that

health is an inevitable dimension of a person’s life and is represented by a health-illness

continuum. Health is also described as a state and process of being and becoming integrated

and whole. This theory is used by essentially all nurses because healthcare practices change

regularly, and new illnesses rise, and we must adapt to the change to still provide quality care

for our patients. Her theory will help me behold my personal nursing philosophy because it’s

a constant reminder to always to put the patient first and to stay educated to be able to provide

the best quality care to my patients.

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Although it may seem hard on a day-to-day basis, but self-care is really the most

important thing anyone can do for not only themselves, but for those around them. Happy and

well taken care of people tend to have more balance and it shows not only through their attitude,

but also through how they handle situations that typically would frustrate them. I struggle with

doing this myself but with this activity I can start to take baby step to a better me. As I continue

to work as a registered nurse, I do sometimes notice that I put my patients first so much that I

forget to pour into myself. I had to learn to understand that taking care of myself personally is

also taking care of my patient because the better I feel the better I’m able to care for my patients.

During one of my assignments, I learned that my personality type identified as a

protagonist. The article said that protagonists feel called to serve a greater purpose in life. We

like to do what’s right and speak up for those that can’t. Our secret weapon is the purity in our

intent when dealing with people and situations. Our strengths are being receptive, reliable,

passionate, altruistic, and charismatic. On the other hand, our weakness is being unrealistic in

what we want to do, overly idealistic, condescending, intense, and overly empathetic. This

assignment allowed me to realize that my personality type falls right in line with my nursing

philosophy. I always want to do what is right for my patients and often I may speak for them

when they cannot. I am a people person and do not have much conflict in the workplace. For the

times that I do, a peaceful conversation that is led with effective communication and compromise

always resolves issues.

Issues arise all the time at various moment in the healthcare practice. Many healthcare

professionals come across conflicting issues with coworkers, whether it is patient related or job

related. In this case study I read, there were many issues faced with Mr. Orange regarding his

care during hemodialysis in the clinic and furthermore when he was admitted in the hospital. The

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issues faced in this case study happen to many nurses and patients in all specialties and settings

of healthcare. In the case study, the competencies of patient centered care, teamwork and

collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and safety and informatics were

brought forth. When seeing things on paper it is easy to point out the wrong doings of a situation,

however, when you are in the field you must have a heightened sense of awareness to catch

wrongdoings and must be more self-conscious to make sure as a nurse you are using the QSEN

competencies in your patient care. Safety is always top priority in patient care. I believe that you

cannot say that you are caring properly for your patients if you are not keeping them safe.

I decided to seek a BSN education because having a BSN education will allow me to

explore other avenues of nursing outside of bedside. I want to possibly go into nursing

management so that I can have that knowledge added onto what I already know, so that I can

become a better nurse. Having bedside experience is great, but ultimately, I would like to be a

clinical manager and I know that I can’t do that with an ASN education. I want to be able to

guide nurses on how to holistically care for patients, so that while the field, they understand why

the small things and tasks that are created are just as important as the big things.

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References

Petiprin, A. Sister Callista Roy. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from

https://nursing-theory.org/nursing-theorists/Sister-Callista-Roy.php

QSEN  Institutional Affiliation. (2020). QSEN competencies. Retrieved November 19, 2022,

from

https://qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/