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Personal Nursing Teaching Philosophy

My nursing teaching philosophy is to teach students to learn how to care for a

patient like one's own Mother. This is the strongest quality that I know that has
groomed me into the nurse that I am. I imagine each patient that I care for as my
Mother. I have found that when I do this, I go the extra mile to meet my patients'
needs. I triple-check doctor orders before I carry them out. I promptly respond to
my patient when they are in pain. I am not timid when it comes to questioning a
medication order. I work a twelve-hour shift and become exhausted, but the caring
part gives me that extra energy and the alertness that helps me complete each
intervention. At the end of the day, in my heart, I feel satisfied and rewarded.
My Mother was a role model when she cared for my Father, siblings and me
when we were sick. She did it with such care and love that it promoted faster
healing. I have integrated what I have learned from her into my nursing. According
to Benner (1984), "the nurse establish healing relationship and create healing
climate by: (1) mobilizing hope in themselves, the staff, and the patient; (2) finding
an interpretation or understanding of the situation (e.g., illness, pain, fear, or other
stressful emotion) that is acceptable and clarifying to the patient; and (3) assisting
the patient to use social, emotional, and spiritual support" p. 49). I find my belief in
caring is similar to Jean Watson's Theory on Human Caring. The two strongest core
principle that depicts form her writings (Watson, 2008), "practice of loving-kindness
and equanimity, and "being" the caring-healing environment" (p. 34).

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The second part to my teaching philosophy is having good interpersonal
relationship with effective communication. I had an interpersonal relationship when
my Mother cared for me. I believe that establishing rapport and trust in a nursepatient relationship are important. A patient who feels comfortable with the nurse
will verbalize their needs. The nurse understands and meet those needs. Hildegard
Peplau's Model of Nursing focus on the nurse-patient relationship. I identify with
Peplau based on my personal nursing experience. I am able to understand and care
for my patient better. Peplau identified the roles of a nurse: stranger, resource
person, teacher, leader, surrogate, and counselor (Alligood, 2010). I have played
each role when caring for my patients. The interpersonal relationship between a
nurse and a patient affects the overall health of the patient that determines the
length of stay in the hospital and discharge.
As a future Nursing instructor, I will incorporate the theory of caring and
nurse-patient relationship into my teachings. The students of today are diverse
consisting of strong and weak learners. I will use Neil Fleming's VARK (visual,
auditory, read/write, kinesthetic) Learning Model. The introduction to the class will
be an assessment of each type of individual learner. For example, if I lecture about
human immune deficiency syndrome (HIV) to auditory learners, I would invite a
guest speaker diagnosed with HIV to share his or her life experience.
I plan to organize multiple styles of learning cater to each individual student.
I will create a positive environment that is conducive to learning. I will set
boundaries to emphasize objectives and expectations. Today's teaching involve
visual aids, internet technology, tactile stimulation, auditory lectures, clinical and
evidence-base nursing research to help teach nursing students. Using these tools
will help focus my teachings. Nursing and teaching are my passion.

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It is my responsibility to find out how an individual student learns and guide
them to success. The two models of nursing are applicable to students. I believe
that combining Watson, Peplau, and Flemming will give birth to a new generation of
nurses. A good teacher-student relationship helped me graduate and shaped me
into a caring nurse. My goal and action plan is to plant the seed of nursing
knowledge and clinical experience into their minds. I hope the seed will grow and
help my students make the right decision when they care for their patients.
References
Alligood, M. R. & Tomey, A.M. (2010). Nursing Theorist and Their Work (7 th edition).
Maryland Heights:
Mosby.
Benner, P. (1984). From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing
Practice.
Meno Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Flemming, N. D. (2009). Vark. A Guide to Learning Styles. Research and Statistics.
Retrieved from http://www.VARK-learn.com
Watson, J. (1979). Nursing: The philosophy and science of caring. Boston, Brown.