Running head: PERSONAL PHLOSOPHY OF NURSING 1

Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Maxine Audet

NUR 4142: Synthesis for Nursing Practice

October 18, 2018

Dr. Christine Turner

“I pledge…”
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Definition of Nursing

It is difficult to define nursing in simple terms, as it encompasses so much and covers so

many different areas, beyond a patient’s medical diagnosis. In my opinion, nursing can be

defined as caring and tending to a patient and their family and the physical, medical, social, and

spiritual needs of said patient. Throughout my nursing education, these aspects of nursing care

have truly been driven home. The Bon Secours nursing program outlines five tenets of nursing

education. These tenets include nursing, nursing education, caring, health, and service. The

mission statement goes on to explain its philosophy on each of these tenets in much greater

detail. While all of the tenets fit into my personal definition of nursing, three of tenets truly seem

to highlight what I believe nursing is.

The Bon Secours tenet of nursing touches on nurses as part of the interdisciplinary health

care team, treating the patient holistically, and both the art and science of nursing care. I believe

that nursing is truly about treating the patient as a whole, not just a diagnosis and that you have

to help everything to heal in order to completely care for person. Nurses are truly the eyes and

ears for the doctors and most of the health care team, it is our job to make sure we advocate for

our patients and play a truly active role in order to provide the best care possible. Additionally, I

truly do believe that nursing is both an art and a science. Yes, we are taught anatomy,

pathophysiology, pharmacology, etc., but none of the science can really prepare you for taking

care of another human being, that requires a completely different set of skills. Each patient is

different, and nurses must use all of their skills to create different plans of care which are tailored

to each individual patient and that is where the art of nursing lies.

The second tenet that encompasses my definition of nursing is caring. Caring

encompasses not only ways that nurses can express care in through their practice, but also ways
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that nurses must care for themselves. Caring plays a huge part in the nursing role and should

again, include caring for all aspects of the person. In order to express caring I think the nurse has

to tailor the care to each individual patient and if things arise use the ability to think critically and

quickly to alleviate the situation. We’ve been told all throughout our education that nurses must

adapt and I think that goes hand in hand with caring. The tenet also touches on the idea of self

care. Self-care is something that is so often forgotten, especially within the nursing profession.

Nurses so often put others before themselves and are stressed, overworked, and overtired. It is

critical to take the time to care for oneself in order to provide the best possible care for others.

The tenet of health touches on how health is a dynamic state of being and goes beyond

the physical. As I’ve stated before I believe that nursing deals with all aspects of a person beyond

their diagnosis. I agree that health is dynamic and ever evolving, it is never too late to become

well again and as nurses we have the means to facilitate that, through the traditional medicinal

means, but also through education and alternative therapies. As nurses, we also need to

understand that everyone has a different definition of health throughout different times in their

lives and even though we may not always personally agree with that definition, as nurses we

have to respect our patient’s choices.

Personal Philosophy

I try to portray my personal philosophy of nursing every time I am given the opportunity

to practice nursing. I always try to learn more about my patients then simply what brought them

to the hospital. In more cases than not, there is something important that I need to know about

that will affect how I care for the patient that they might not have shared with me otherwise.

Currently, I am doing my immersion on the labor and delivery unit and there are many other

factors that come into play when providing care for patients besides helping them through the
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labor process. We need to know about family dynamics, living situations, economic status, as

well as cultural needs. Sometimes we have to come straight out and ask client questions, but

often these things are revealed when we take the time to get to know the patient, their partner and

other support systems, and hear about their lives. I think all of this helps to provide the best

possible care for patients and this simple act can be transferred beyond labor nursing to all areas

of nursing.

As a student, advocating for your patient to a physician can be intimidating, to say the

least. However, soon we will be nurses out on our own and advocating is a huge part of the

nursing role. When appropriate, I have had the opportunity to speak with physicians regarding

the patient and tried to make note of something I thought was important or emphasized

something that I thought might be helpful for them. Also, as students we have the unique ability

to advocate for our patients to their primary nurses. We can discuss with the primary nurse ways

in which nursing care can be improved and we can provide a more holistic approach.

When working a 12-hour shift where you are responsible for caring for multiple patients

and their needs at a time, it can be difficult to take a minute for yourself. Although I think that is

truly important in order to be the best nurse that you can possible be. Taking time for yourself is

an act of self-care that is so important when caring for others. This does not have to be any huge

gesture, it could be taking a few moments to center yourself before walking into a patient’s room

or actually taking that 30-minute lunch break that you are allotted. I think even those small

moments give you an opportunity to recharge and be a better nurse. In the hospital now, I usually

always take a few moments to myself, usually prior to the start of shift just to take a few deep

breaths and prepare myself for the shift ahead.

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Nurse Patient Encounter

There is one patient that comes to mind as an excellent example of how my personal

philosophy was applied. I was helping to care for a postpartum patient whose infant had been

transferred to the St. Mary’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for complications related to

premature birth and placental abruption prior to delivery. As the patient had delivered at

Memorial Regional (MRMC) and was recovering at MRMC, it was very difficult for her to be

away from her infant. While she was in our care, we did the best we could to communicate with

the NICU nurses at St. Mary’s so that she could have frequent updates regarding how her child

was doing. We were able to advocate for her and went to the nurse manager to see if we would

be able to transfer her to St. Mary’s for the rest of her recovery so that she could be closer to her

baby. As this arrangement was being organized, we found out that in order for her to be

transferred to St. Mary’s she would need to be transported by rescue squad to the hospital and the

cost for this would most likely, fall on the patient. From taking the time to speak with patient and

get to know her, we knew that she was currently experiencing financial hardship and would not

be able to cover the cost of the rescue squad. We then called St. Mary’s to discuss other options

available to her. We were able to arrange for her to be discharged completely and stay at the

Ronald McDonald House room located within St. Mary’s and we helped her find pharmacies

near the hospital that would fill her prescriptions at a low cost.

From completing the very simple task of getting to know our patients a little better and

truly listening to her, we were able to provide her and her child with the best possible plan and

ease her mind in terms of the financial cost of healthcare. Without us advocating for her to stay

in the Ronald McDonald House, she may not have been able to stay and see her infant as often as

she was able to while staying in the hospital. Additionally, we presented her with all of her
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possible options so that she could retain her autonomy and feel empowered by making an

informed decision about the best discharge plan for her and her infant.

Values and Beliefs

When reexamining my original philosophy of nursing paper, I suspected that my values

and beliefs would differ greatly from what they are now. However, after rereading my paper, I

am happy to say that they are just about identical. At first, I was a little surprised to see that

pretty much everything lined up, but after taking a moment to reflect, I really shouldn’t be

surprised. I think that values and beliefs describe who you are as a person, almost down to your

core. While of course things have changed in a certain regard, at the basic level of who I am and

what I think is important in the overall scheme of life and how I can use those things to be a

better nurse, those things have not changed, and possibly never will. My beliefs include treating

everyone equally, caring, listening to patients, presence, and self-care. I have touched on all of

these beliefs through my discussion of my personal definition of nursing. My values list things

like humor, honesty, integrity, independence, knowledge, and teamwork. I still value all of these

things and believe they play an integral role in life as well in nursing care.

Benner’s Theory

Benner’s Theory of skill acquisition is based on the Dreyfus Model of skill acquisition

developed in the 1980s. Benner was able to take this model and apply it to skilled nursing

practice. Benner describes five stages of skill acquisition; novice, advanced beginner, competent,

proficient, and expert. She goes on to describe the characteristics of each of the different levels

as well as the teaching and learning needs. She states that nurses move through the different

stages as they progress from nursing student to seasoned nurse. These stages are also fluid and

fcan differ as a nurse changes clinical area.

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Benner describes the novice nurse as those who have no experience and tend to think of

things objectively and in more of a textbook format. Benner describes the student nurse as well

as nurses who are transferring clinical areas as novices. The next stage of skill acquisition is the

advanced beginner. Benner describes the advanced beginner as a nurse who has the ability to

demonstrate acceptable performance and have had enough experience to begin to critically think

through some situations. Following advanced beginner comes competent. The competent nurse

typically has been in the same sort of job setting for a period of two to three years and can see

their actions and how it effects more long-term goals. The proficient nurse is the fourth stage in

skill acquisition. The proficient nurse is able to see situations as a whole and can understand

long-term goals. The proficient nurse has learned from previous experience and typically knows

how many types of situations may play out. The fifth and final stage is the expert stage. The

expert nurse does not rely on rules or guidelines to direct their understanding, instead they guide

their actions on their extensive background in their area of nursing. (Benner, 2001).

Skill Acquisition

While my career as a nursing student is coming to a close, I feel that I am somewhere in

between novice and advanced beginner. Benner describes the novice as someone who has little

to no experience in the situations in which they are to perform. I have had experience in the

hospital, but as I begin my nursing career, I am sure that many situations will arise where I do

not feel comfortable or that I have never been in before. In these situations, I may act according

to more textbook type procedure and will look to my more experienced coworkers for guidance.

However, based on my experience in the hospital and with caring for a variety of patients that I

will be able to draw on these experiences to determine the “aspects of the situation” (Benner, p.
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22, 2001). I feel that in certain instances I could be categorized as an advanced beginner, but in

others, could be categorized as a novice.

Action Plan for Moving Forward

As I move forward in my nursing career, I hope to gain enough experience to be an

expert nurse. In an effort to move forward, I will actively seek out learning experiences in

situations I have never been involved in, in order to use critical thinking and learn the proper

course of action in this situation. I will seek out help and guidance from more advanced nurses,

so that they can possibly pass some of their knowledge down to me. Finally, many new grad

positions offer an extensive training and residency programs. I feel that these are excellent

resources and sources of support for new grads as we try to find our place within the unit and the

hospital system.
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References

Benner, P.B. (2001). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Health.