Nursing Philosophy

Jack Hauser

College of Nursing, University of Arizona

NURS 478: Nursing Leadership and Management Health Systems

Sarah Hoogasian and Mary O’Connell

November 15, 2022

Introduction

Nursing, being a nurse, and nursing practice each have their own individually defined

roles within the lives of everyone who has the letters RN behind their name. I hope to explore

these definitions and the traits shared between them both now and throughout my career as my

nursing philosophy grows. Nursing can be defined by the patients, as in, nurses are people who

take care of humans. It can also be defined by the practice, as in, someone who provides

evidence-based interventions to treat illnesses. These are both acceptable definitions but to me,

nursing is best defined by the influence. What this means is that to me, a nurse is someone who

gives a patient with a poor prognosis hope or someone who hasn’t had a good day in a week

smiles because their nurse spent extra time talking to them about their wellbeing. As I look to

begin my nursing career soon, my mission is to not only become an example of competent and

safe nursing care but to also change the nursing profession to provide better protection and

working conditions for nurses who are unable to enact the principles of my nursing definition

due to unsafe patient ratios and staffing.

Defining my Nursing Practice

Nursing practice is unique because it doesn’t relate to your identity as a nurse, it simply

focuses on the patient-caregiver relationship. My beliefs and values as they relate to nursing

practice have been molded by the clinical experiences I’ve had while studying at the many

clinical facilities in Tucson, Arizona. I believe that every patient has the right to not only the

highest quality of care but to timely care as well. Too often in hospitals are interventions that

would either immediately or rapidly improve a patient’s condition pushed back due to the

busyness of hospital employees. I also believe that each patient should be viewed as unbiased as
possible with the least amount of judgment given to their condition and/or behaviors. As nurses,

we see a plethora of problems both real and exaggerated from patients but one thing that my

educational experiences have taught me is that no two situations are the same and each patient is

uniquely affected by the social determinants of health, genetics, and personal relationships

making truly understanding someone’s situation impossible. My values as a nurse mimic these

beliefs. I believe all four core nursing values, autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and

justice should be central in every action performed as a nurse. If at any time these nursing values

are violated there is a high likelihood that patient safety was jeopardized, policies were broken,

or incompetent nursing practice occurred. These values ensure that each patient is treated fairly

with respect to their human rights and guide my nursing practice tremendously. Outside of these

four values, one value stands above the rest for me and that is fidelity. Fidelity is a nursing value

that helps build trust between patients and caregivers and if broken it decreases the quality of the

organization and the trust that the stakeholders, or patients, have in your ability to provide care.

For example, in clinical I once told a patient I would be back in thirty minutes to check on their

pain. When I returned within the time frame that I designated not only did the patient see that I

remain true to my word by providing timely care, but they can see that nurses here operate with

honesty. This made him less hesitant to comply with treatment plans and medications because

they trust that we are telling the truth when providing an intervention. This kind of behavior is

one of the skills I am most proud of in my practice, as I have a knack for developing real and

trustworthy relationships with my patients through thorough explanations of disease processes

and treatments that many other caregivers omit simply due to time constraints. Other skills that I

am proud to possess include providing culturally sensitive care, showing humility, and seeking

knowledge on topics I lack education on.

Integrative Nursing Principles

The values, skills, and beliefs I have gathered along the way of my nursing journey can

be analyzed through another lens known as the principles of integrative nursing. Because I have

a strong emphasis on personalization in care and acceptance of all people has made it easy to

adapt integrative nursing principles to my philosophy as these principles focus on the whole

health perspective of an individual. One example of this comes from the first nursing principle,

“Human beings are whole systems inseparable from and influenced by environments,”

(University of Minnesota, 2022). This principle is easily related to my belief that each person’s

situation cannot be truly understood because we do not know the environment in which they

came from. It is easy to tell how someone’s problems are presenting in a hospital but to uncover

the root causes one must take a long look at the determinants of health and the environment that

they live in. Another principle that I can relate to is the third principle, “integrative nursing is

person-centered and relationship-based,” (University of Minnesota, 2022). This can be related to

my high regard for fidelity, as a relationship-based form of nursing involves building trust to

allow us to best serve the patient’s best interests and this is done by being honest and faithful to

your word. Finally, a third nursing principle that can be related to my belief system is the sixth

principle, “integrative nursing focuses on the health and well-being of caregivers as well as those

they serve,” (University of Minnesota, 2022). This aligns with my belief that it may be important

for a nurse to remain faithful to their word but often due to workload and time constraints they

are unable to return within a stated timeframe. This is because they must maintain their health

and well-being and to do that, sometimes they must shorten the amount of quality care they give

to a patient. This conflicts with my other belief that fidelity should be held in the highest regard

as a nurse which is why this conflict of interest has become central to my mission in nursing.
My Impact on the Profession

If and when I become a registered nurse, I am excited to use my credentials to get a foot

in the door of the world of healthcare and have the opportunity to work with the people behind

the scenes that are making decisions about patient care, especially when it comes to advocating

for nurses. I hope to use my knowledge and skills to effectively improve the lives of not only

patients but nurses through the improvement of management and leadership systems. The values

and beliefs I have outlined give me a solid foundation for providing care for a diverse spectrum

of human beings, ensuring everyone is treated for their problems in a way that is culturally

sensitive and beneficial to them. I believe this because the way I fundamentally view each patient

is individualized and therefore health equity is provided to the best of my ability as a caretaker. I

can also take this a step further and advocate for my patient’s personal beliefs to their provider if

I can develop a relationship in the way previously discussed.

Conclusion

Nursing may seem like it can be easily defined, but it is a diverse field in that each nurse

can have their own perspective, beliefs, and values that they center their profession around. From

my clinical experiences, I have developed a passion for developing real relationships with

patients in ways that improve their outcomes socially or physically. I do this by ensuring I view

each patient as a human being with a background and history that I can barely begin to

understand during my limited time with them. Sometimes providing this high-quality care can be

time-consuming and mean sacrificing your well-being or the well-being of other patients but this

is not the fault of the nurse and the institutions should be held liable. The American healthcare

system has a lot of areas it could be improved and one of the ways I want to use my credentials
and license is by combining it with a law degree or higher education degree so I can work with

nursing administration and ensure that no nurse must choose between sacrificing their wellbeing

and the greater good of the patients. This is a decision that has become far too common in acute

care nursing as cutting corners seems to become commonplace in the face of gruesome patient

care ratios and staffing issues. I hope to make a difference by improving this aspect of nursing

practice to provide a better reality for patients and caretakers alike.

 References

University of Minnesota. (2022). Principles of Integrative Nursing. Bakken Center for

Spirituality & Healing. Retrieved November 15, 2022, from

https://csh.umn.edu/academics/focus-areas/integrative-nursing/principles-integrative-

nursing