Abstract

This paper is about my philosophy. Having not established my philosophy I chose nursing as a career because I have always wanted to help people. It has been my dream to take care of those who can’t help themselves. I can manage to help them with care and knowledge on how to live healthy lives. I would also be able to encourage them to love and live their lives. I don’t only want to be a nurse, but I want to be a nurse who would make a difference in other people’s lives by executing my duties with my expertise and knowledge.

Introduction

My description of nursing would be passionately taking care of patients without discrimination, showing them love, respect and being true to their needs. I would put into consideration the feelings of the patient and also their families. I would ensure that I create a good environment both physically and spiritually and give them hope through the recovery process (Clement, 2011). Given the different theories surrounding nursing, I would associate myself with Madeleine Leininger. She believed that nursing is a humanistic and scientific mode of helping patients through specific cultural caring processes to improve health condition.

My assumption about nursing is that nursing takes a lot of courage and a strong wheel. Some cases are at times heartbreaking, and only a strong person can successfully undergo such hard times without being carried away by emotions. To patients, I believe no one wishes to be ill, it’s their right to be treated with respect regardless of their situation, and to their family members, it is always right to respect their wishes when it comes to health decisions. However, it’s paramount to teach them about the possible outcomes of their choices. In cases where a nurse is not sure about the right diagnosis, I believe it’s only right to consult with the other healthcare providers.

Using this theory and I being a firm believer that nursing is a calling and it focused on human care activities which entail assisting and supporting patient so that they can regain their health in meaningful and beneficial ways. It also involves helping people face heartbreaking news such as terminal illness or even death.  I would use the transcultural nursing whereby I would study comparatively about the cultures in the interest of the patients well being. Having a thorough check on patient cultural beliefs and values would ensure that proper diagnosis is given to the patient and thus maintaining essential and efficient nursing care in reference to their beliefs. Nursing care, therefore, goes beyond administering of therapeutic solutions but extends to dispensing holistic care that takes of the patient physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing.

Core Principles of Nursing

For any practicing nurse, there are the core principles that one sets to enable them to achieve their best in attending to patients. Some of the core principles that I perceive as a nurse include;

Good Communication: Communication is the exchange of thoughts, message or information. This is a very vital tool for any nurse. It is the primary tool that we use to pass and receive information with the patients. Body language while examining a patient is equally important in planning and implementing nursing care. Every nurse should have competent oral and written communication skills.

Empathy and caring: Showing compassionate care and togetherness in nursing care is critical. As a nurse, I believe that I should be sensitive when handling a patient or their family. It’s also important to show respect and willingness to focus on the methods used in nursing care.

Professionalism: Using professionalism is the key characteristics that reflect every nurse’s status. It involves how one’s behavior is and listening ability towards the patient. How you handle a patient from diagnosis to nursing care administered significantly determines the kind of attitude the patient will have towards you. It’s therefore important to show professionalism when executing nursing duties.

Ethical and legal considerations: There are legal and set standards for nursing professionalism. I believe that every nurse should adhere to the code of ethics provided in the ideal framework of nursing.

Psychomotor skills: To facilitate nursing care, there must be assessments done to the patient. Specific skills are used to monitor the patient, and it is, therefore, essential to provide comfort while performing these practices.

Several factors affect the nursing profession. Politically, opinionated involvement in the nursing field leads to public policy formation (Sam, 2007). The political influence can be experienced in the workplace by affecting the development of these institutions, the community through the activities on local boards or government through campaigns. In all these activities, nurses can be actively involved so that they can protect people’s culture and ensure that the community’s culture is put into consideration when initiating these government-related projects.

Other factors influencing the nursing profession are ethical issues. Concerning culture, you find that many decisions regarding the patients are not made by individuals but by a community, family or a group (Clement, 2011). Lack of effective communication or miscommunication is more likely to occur in cases where nurses take care of international and culturally diverse people. These misunderstandings can cause lack of respect among those whose culture differ and may put a potential risk and harm to those people either physically or psychologically. Such situations can be resolved or improved by recognizing that values and beliefs not only differ among different communities but also within, realizing owns cultural values and biases to decrease ethnocentrism and analyzing bicultural differences noticed from the physical exam. It is also essential to learn the body language of the patient. Other ethical issues that may occur, is when a nurse is expected to stay longer after a long shift to take care of the patient but at the same time they feel exhausted and might not be able to take good care of the patient. In such cases, it’s always good to ask for assistance so that one can take a little rest before continuing with nursing the patient. That way, both the nurse and the patient will have a win-win situation.

Professional Practice Standards in Nursing

Professional practice can be described as the competence level of nursing care in the entire nursing care delivery process. The main reason for its existence is to guide and maintain safety as well as ensuring that competent nursing care is practiced. They are a reflection of the desired and achievable performance levels against the actual performance of a nurse (Kramer et al., 2017). These guides are essential since they ensure that they guide and promote overall clinical performance. They are efficient tools for benchmarking one’s performance with the set standards.

Professional Practice Standards are critical evaluation mechanism applied by management to gauge the performance of the employees. For instance in nursing practice, they assist the head of departments to determine and take action against nurses who are engaging in ill malpractices or they are having poor working habits which are contrary to the set guidelines by the healthcare institution, regulatory agencies, state or the federal law.

Professional standards also promote accountability in the nursing profession since it ensures that the individual performance of a nurse is gauged and that everyone is accountable for his/ her decision. These standards are set in the interest of the patient and minimize the risk of causing any harm. The guidelines encourage continuous growth in terms of nursing care through experience and latest guidelines (Kramer, at al., 2017). The set professional criteria must be utilized to establish our weaknesses in clinical practices and work surroundings. They also assist in ensuring that workplace safety is enhanced. We must, therefore, ensure that we exceed the expectations of the set standards and those of the community. The rules should not be seen as punitive but a system through which the practicing nurses are subjected to regulations that make their practice noble, free of errors and eminence.  The set code of practice motivates nurses to advance their career through continues education or gaining multi-discipline skills while they are in employment as they meaningful relate or interact with other health workers.

Conclusion

My philosophy is based on the core values that I believe in which are; communication, empathy and respect, love and also professionalism. The main focus that any practicing nurse must always observe should be enhancing the welfare of the patients under their care. Showing them love and giving them encouragement on how to carry on with their lives is very important to their well being. Besides, propagating and augmenting mutual respect to colleagues, medical and non-medical staff helps to create an exceptional and conducive working environment. As a practicing nurse, I will ensure that I carry my duties professionally and to the best of my knowledge. I believe that my vision to become a nurse who will make a difference in people lives will come to pass as a result of my work.

References

Clement, I. (2011). Chapter-35 Cultural and Transcultural Nursing. Textbook of Nursing

Foundations,490-497. doi:10.5005/jp/books/11319_35

General principles of emergency nursing. (2016). Oxford Medicine Online.

doi:10.1093/med/9780199688869.003.0001

Hinshaw, A. S. (n.d.). Evolving Nursing Research Traditions: Influencing Factors. Handbook of

Clinical Nursing Research,18-30. doi:10.4135/9781412991452.n2

Kramer, M., Brewer, B. B., Halfer, D., Hnatiuk, C. N., Macphee, M., Duchscher, J. B., . . .

Schmalenberg, C. (2017). Impact of Professional Nursing Practices on Patient/Nurse   Outcomes. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration,47(5), 278-288. doi:10.1097/nna.0000000000000479

Sam, M. (2007). Chapter-03 Nursing Diagnoses with Defining Characteristics and Contributing

Factors. Human Genetics in Nursing,28-49. doi:10.5005/jp/books/10365_3