Personal Definitions of Nursing: Values, Beliefs, and Vision

Personal Definition of Nursing: Roles, Beliefs, and Values in Practice

Nursing philosophies are essential elements that help healthcare nurses lay a solid foundation that can enable them to nurture their profession and provide adequate and quality care. It is important to realize that a personal philosophy of nursing entails the roles, beliefs, responsibilities, and the ways in which a nurse should communicate and interact with a patient and their families. A personal nursing philosophy enables healthcare providers to reflect on the ways in which their values can positively influence their professional practices and the well-being of patients.

Therefore, the relevance of nursing philosophy is to enable a nurse to think critically and be disciplined towards delegating nursing duties. In this paper, I will highlight my future professional vision, the essence of nursing, and my personal values and beliefs.

Choice of Nursing

As I have been growing, I have always seen people work together in communities to help each other in various activities. I love the way in which nurses in various healthcare facilities provide care and treatment to patients. I love listening to people’s stories. Therefore, this curiosity drives me to know the diversity of human life and conditions and the complexities in life. Most of my family members are nurses, including my mother and two other siblings. Therefore, since I was young, nursing has been my first choice. I have been aspiring to become one by appreciating its professional practices and commitments.

I was encouraged to apply for the nursing program, and I was given a chance. Apart from learning, I also participated in volunteer work as a medical assistant. This task made me have more passion for nursing. It may not have been a career path I had envisioned I would pursue, but my experience has driven me to actually love what I do. It is a career that presents many opportunities to have different experiences. It allows me to interact with different types of patients, and my relations with them are something I truly value. This wide range of experiences can either have positive or negative results. Rather than focus on the negative, I have learned to embrace both throughout my career. Given my positive experience, I find it rather satisfactory to instruct other nurses new to the practice.

Essence of Nursing

I hold several convictions on what a nurse should be. Key among these is the ability of a nurse to understand what it is the patient is going through. A nurse should also be decent to the patients and treat a patient as a person rather than as a statistic. As a nurse, I strive to represent patient needs. A nurse must also be prepared to face various changes within the workplace. Inconsistency is one of the challenges that a nurse should be prepared to face. The number of different experiences ranges from the medical cases that they handle to the patients they handle, as well as the doctors that they assist. There is also a difference in the methods of endurance. “We must keep in mind that values vary from person to person” (Masters, 2017, p. 109).

Given the inconsistency in patient assignment, nurses should be able to diversify their service delivery. This should be done in such a manner as to cater to the various preferences held by the patients. One such example of diversification would be to lighten up the mood. The general mood in hospitals is generally very somber, but by cheering patients up, they no longer have a sense of despondency. This is an important factor in the healing process.

Beliefs and Values

The primary reason why patients seek medical attention is so that they can be treated for their illnesses. As caregivers, the chief responsibility is to provide these patients with the required mechanisms to deal with their illnesses, taking into account that all these patients have different preferences in terms of the care services that they receive in hospitals. Keeping the patients calm is also key in caregiving. The hospital is unfamiliar territory, and people often act out when they are in places that they are not used to. This happens with the fact that they have to rely on people they only just met. Nurses should, therefore, make the facility feel like a home away from home to provide patients the chance to focus on getting better. This can be done by increasing their knowledge of what is taking place in their treatment. This can be done through comprehensively explaining to them the procedures to be taken and the equipment that may be used. This stance is put in place by Hassmiller (2017). Consumers have positive patient experiences when they believe the health system is easy to access and navigate, their needs are being met, and, importantly, they are being listened to and respected, and they can contribute to decisions related to their own care. (Hassmiller, 2017)

Inclusivity of those close to the patient helps in putting the patient at ease. It also helps to make the patients feel like they are in control of their treatment. This also helps them have a support system. With them playing such a vital role in patients’ lives, hospitals should make a number of policies more flexible. The visitation policies should be reviewed. Aftercare instruction should be provided for them in preparation for their discharge. When patients are discharged, there may be a number of procedures that may be required to be carried out on the patients. This instruction will, therefore, help them take on such roles that would have required nurses. “…the loved ones of a patient may not have a medical license or a healthcare background, but their voice and presence matter in the hospital room” (Boyle, 2015).

My colleagues at work are often putting their expertise on show when they work together to revive patients. I work as a Registered Nurse on a Med-Surg floor that accommodates a large number of patients. This gives me an opportunity to have a front-row seat in witnessing them carry out their responsibilities. A nurse wears different hats in service delivery. The requirement for the job is the ability to carry out responsibilities that vary greatly and require different skills. This aspect makes this profession especially taxing as compared to others. This in itself brings with it the need to undertake it diligently.

It goes without saying that healthcare providers are supposed to be healthy when carrying out their duties. Given the many duties that are supposed to be undertaken by nurses, their health on all spectrums is particularly important. The state of their health reflects upon their patients’ journey to recovery. This is something that I take quite seriously, and as such, I try to ensure I am as healthy as I can be.

Vision for the Future

My two-year plan is inclusive of my completion of the BSN program at the University of Texas at Arlington. I also intend to obtain my Masters. The attainment of these goals makes me anxious, but it is also something that I should do. So, it is about time I did it.

The demography is seeing an increase in the population of the elderly. This is a particular group that requires home care. This leads up to my plan of being a family nurse practitioner in five years.

Ten years from now, I intend to get into an educational institution. I intend to teach and, therefore, bring up a generation of nurses. I derive pleasure in building up something from scratch. As such, I intend to pass on my knowledge to younger generation nurses and build them up from novices to professionals. Apart from knowledge, I would also like to encourage them to care about their career.

Summary

As an individual, I am goal-oriented and have an urge to be successful. I overcome any obstacles and use them as an opportunity to gain knowledge. I pay special attention to the important details and use a system of order to achieve my objectives. My family is a vital part of my career, and they provide a support system. This is especially true for my future husband, who will stand by me in all pursuits that I choose in life.

Achieving goals comes with its challenges. Among them is the possibility of me having the chance to take part in activities that I love. By pursuing success in both education and my career, I may have a fully packed schedule and no free time. This will, however, not interfere with my goals as I believe I will be able to rise to the occasion.

References

1. Boyle, B. (2015). The critical role of the family in patient experience. Patient Experience Journal,
2. 2(2), Article 2. Retrieved from http://pxjournal.org/journal/vol2/iss2/2
3. Hassmiller, S. (2017) The essence of nursing care. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 117(5),
4. 5-7. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000516250.61687.63
5. Masters, K. (2017). Role development in professional nursing practice (4th ed.).
6. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

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