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Personal Values Related to Nursing School and Nursing Practice

Jadyn Koestering

Department of Nursing, The University of South Florida

Nur: 3825 Intro to Nursing Professions

Dr. Herica Torres Alzate

April 17, 2022

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Personal Values Related to Nursing School and Nursing Practice

One's values and beliefs are some of the most important aspects of a person. People use their

values and beliefs to shape each day of their life. They unconsciously base their actions and

decisions on these values. My personal values assessment found that I have positive values in all

areas including accountability, balance, caring, integrity, family, personal growth, and more. It

also states that I am able to have balance in life while feeling fulfilled and happy while still

learning and growing. I learned that my abilities are one of the most important things to me.

Some of my most important values are having balance in all aspects of my life, taking

responsibility for my actions and sticking to my morals, and being self-motivated (American

Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). I will be able to apply these values in my nursing

experiences to ensure I perform at my best.

One of my top values is harmony in all aspects of your life. Balance has always had huge

importance to me. I believe that this is so important to me because there are many aspects of life

that I feel I would not be as happy without. Growing up I was always involved in sports and had

part-time jobs. This left me with little free time, so I had to adapt my life to this busy schedule to

allow me to do everything that makes me happy like spending time with friends and family,

playing sports, working, and taking time for myself. Without balance and harmony in my life, I

would miss out on things that are very important to me. Keeping balance in my life will be very

important once I start nursing school and once I become a nurse. I will be busier than I ever have

before, so it will be crucial for me to stay focused and keep a balanced life. In clinical, I will be

able to use my ability to balance my life by balancing my workload and assignments. I will be

able to prioritize my duties in order to complete them all to the best of my ability. This relates to

essential 9. This essential prioritizes the ability to manage multiple issues and patients (American
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Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). I will be able to use my value of balance to manage

my duties and care for my patients to optimize patient outcomes and care.

Another one of my values is taking ownership of my actions and sticking to my morals. I

was raised to be very honest and to have integrity in everything that I do. I always own up to my

mistakes and admit when I am wrong. This allows me to learn from my mistakes and to grow as

an individual. I believe that this is so important to me because it is a true determinant of

character. Being true to yourself and having strong morals is very important to me and it all sums

up one's character. In clinical, I will be able to use this value to hold myself accountable for my

actions and to grow. I will be learning a countless number of new things in clinical and nursing

practice, knowing that I expect that I will make mistakes along the way. When those mistakes do

happen, I need to be honest and learn from my mistakes. This value relates to essential 8. This

essential describes how important professionalism, character, and integrity are to nursing

(American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). Although I already value these aspects

greatly, the baccalaureate nursing program will emphasize the importance of professionalism,

character, and integrity even more.

My final key value is self-motivation which keeps me developing and growing

independently. My self-motivation is one of my favorite qualities about myself. I have always

been very motivated and encouraged if I felt that I would be bettering myself by doing so.

Growing up I always pushed myself in all aspects of my life. In school I wanted to be the

smartest, in sports, I wanted to be the best, and at work, I wanted to be the one to earn a raise.

This internal drive allowed me to push myself in order to reach my goals. I always studied hard,

trained intensely, and paid attention to detail in my workplace. I believe that I value

self-motivation so much because of what it allows me to achieve. I am truly able to achieve

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anything that I set my mind to because I know I have what it takes to get there. In nursing school

and nursing practice, I will be able to use my self-motivation to stay driven to learn, study, and

improve every new experience and information that I am exposed to. I expect that nursing school

and the profession will be the most challenging goal for me, but I am confident that I have the

drive to succeed. This relates to essential 2. This essential prioritizes development of nursing

strategies and systems (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). Since I greatly

prioritize my personal development, I will be able to apply this to nursing strategies and systems

to benefit myself and nursing as a whole.

My values are very important and they shape my actions and decisions. They allow me to

feel fulfilled and happy with my life. They will also help me be successful as a nursing student

and a nurse. Having balance in my life will allow me to do everything I love and still be

successful in class and my career. Being responsible and holding myself accountable for my

actions will allow me to learn and adapt to new experiences in class, and clinical. My

self-motivation will ensure that I continue to grow and develop in all aspects of my life.
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Reference

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008). The Essentials of Baccalaureate

Education for Professional Nursing Practice.

https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/Publications/BaccEssentials08.pdf