Running head: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING 1

Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Brittney Ellett

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Synthesis for Nursing Practice NUR 4142: Dr. Turner

October 16, 2017

I Pledge
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My lifelong dream has always been to be a nurse. Since being a little girl, I loved to dress

up and pretend to play doctor with all of my stuffed animals and baby dolls. It has been a long

journey to get to this point, and finally being close to my dream of being a nurse is super

exciting. Over the years, my ideas of what a nurse is have changed and I now understand that a

nurse is not just someone in a uniform, but is rather a person that can make a difference in

peoples lives on a daily basis.

To me, nursing is providing caring, compassionate and competent care to those in need. I

feel that nursing is a way of giving back to this world and helping others. One of the biggest

things nursing means to me is advocating for my patients best interests and helping them return

to a state of healing and wellbeing. Being at the forefront of nursing in the Emergency

Department, I believe that it is imperative to be an educator and take time to talk with my

patients about their conditions. My personal philosophy of nursing is to become a well-rounded

nurse and place compassionate care at the center of my practice. I have a passion for caring for

those in need, no matter how big or small the need. I also believe in giving respect to all. I

consider it a privilege to be in the field of nursing as it is an ever evolving and growing

profession.

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursings Philosophy Statement addresses many

tenants that are valuable to being a nurse. The ones that resonate with me include nursing, caring,

health and service. As a nurse, it is important to understand that this profession is ever-changing

and that we have to be creative to still meet our patients needs. Providing holistic care for each

patient is crucial to meet their needs and individualize their care. Implementation of evidence-

based practice and continuing education is also important for nursing, as it allows us to provide

the best outcomes for our patients and continue growing in the professional field. Caring is an
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important tenant to have for self and others because you cannot care for other people if you do

not first care for yourself. Providing care to others values the holistic approach and facilitates

healing for the patients by showing them that you do care about them. Health is important to

ensure that all individuals have the same access and are able to be cared for and that patients are

shown dignity and respect during their experiences no matter what the situation is. Service

requires applying the values that Bon Secours upholds and providing good help to those in need.

The values that resonate the most with me include compassion, quality, stewardship and growth.

Being someone in service is also important in advocating for patients and ensuring they are cared

for the way they should be with positive outcomes in mind.

In my nursing practice, I believe I use my personal philosophy on a daily basis. Working

in the Emergency Department, I see patients and family members often experiencing some of the

worst times in their lives. I always try to have a positive attitude, a very caring and calming

demeanor and explain to each of my patients what I am doing and what is going on during their

stay. It is so important to be transparent with patients and use good communication skills with

patients, family members and the interdisciplinary team to ensure the patient receive well-

rounded holistic care. I often find myself helping many people per shift and advocating for my

patients needs whether it is with doctors, the charge nurse, case management or other team

members. When caring for patients, I am often able to provide valuable education and resources

based upon specific needs and deliver caring, health and service through my nursing presence.

A recent time during immersion where I demonstrated my personal philosophy of nursing

was with a hard patient who ultimately did not want to be there. He was in his forties and was

brought in to be checked out after being found on the floor for three days. When we took over his

care at 7:00 p.m., he had been there for almost 15 hours. At this point he just wanted to go home;
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however, this was more a case management issue and they are not there at night. We ended up

taking care of him until three in the morning and then another nurse took over. I provided great

and compassionate nursing care to this gentleman despite him acting rude to me all night. I gave

him food and bathed him to meet his basic needs. I was able to advocate for him and he actually

ended up being admitted and worked up for sepsis. I did a reassessment since he had been there

for 20 plus hours at that point and he showed sepsis signs by having a temperature of 102.4 and

being tachycardic. He was an interesting patient and I hope he realized I was trying to provide

him the best nursing care I could in spite of his anger and frustration for being brought to the

Emergency Room.

A belief is something formed over a period of time, and for me, I began forming my

beliefs when I was a young child. There are many different forms of beliefs, which can range

from small to very large concepts. I believe in Jesus Christ and have been raised in the church

my entire life. I also believe in the power of prayer and miracles and have already had the

privilege to experience this first hand. I strongly believe that marriage is between one man and

one woman and that abortion is wrong. I know that this can and will create conflicts during my

patient care when beliefs differ from mine. To be able to help my patients as much as I can and

give them the best care they deserve, I will not let those differences impact the care I provide and

withhold my differing opinions. Teamwork and collaboration are essential not only to the

patients, but with the other nurses and doctors I work with on a daily basis. I believe you have to

be both a leader and a follower. In some situations, I take charge and am confident managing;

other times, situations require advice and help from other staff to enable me to better serve. I

believe in having a passion for what you want to do, which for me is nursing. To take care of

others and to not tire of your career and view it as just a job, there has to be a passion and
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dedication to the profession. Passion is an important component for anyone who works in the

medical field. Personally, these beliefs for me have not changed over time and I still strongly

believe in all of these things.

Many values come to mind as I think about my personal values. The main values to me

are compassionate care, trustworthiness, responsibility, family and honesty. All of these play a

critical role both in the medical field as a nurse as well as in my personal life. Compassionate

care is important because patients can be in vulnerable states and want someone to care about

their whole body and treat them well. I have always been a very trustworthy, responsible and

honest individual, and I think this will help me as a nurse because these are essential and very

important qualities to have. I value my family and have learned as I have gotten older that it is so

important to have a strong family relationship. I am very fortunate and blessed with my family. I

think valuing my family will help me to care more about the members of the patients family

since I fully understand the importance of the family unit. I will try to help them understand their

situation to the best of my ability and care for them however possible. These values are very

consistent with what I believe and all of these values hold high standards of meaning in my life.

All of these values are important to have, and I do not believe any of my personal values have

changed over the course of nursing school.

Patricia Benners Skill Acquisition in Nursing Model is a great way to advance through

nursing. This theory allows a person grow through five different levels of proficiency. These

include: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. This model helps to

describe the performance expected and identifies teaching/learning needs within each level

(Benner, 2001).
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Stage one novice, states there is no previous experience of the situation in which you are

expected to carryout, therefore there is much learning needed before you are able to complete the

given task. At this state, you must be taught and exhibit limited and fixed behaviors where you

have to be given rules to guide the expected performance (Benner, 2001).

Stage two advanced beginners are able to demonstrate acceptable performance and have

experienced enough real situations to note certain aspects of this situation and understand how to

act. This stage requires prior experience in actual situations to understand how to apply learning.

In the clinical setting, advanced beginners still need support and help to set priorities and make

sure they complete everything in the correct manner (Benner, 2001).

Stage three competent occurs when the nurse has been in the job with same or similar

situations for two to three years. Competence develops when the nurse begins to see their actions

in terms of long-range goals and plans. The competent nurse lacks the speed and flexibility of

the proficient nurse, but does have a feeling of mastery and the ability to cope. (Benner, 2001,

p. 27).

Stage four proficient allows the performer recognize situations as a whole, rather than

aspects and to perceive the meaning in long-term goals. The proficient nurse learns from

experience typical events to expect in given situations and how plans can be modified in

response to the outcome of various events. In this stage, a nurse can realize when the normal

picture does not match up and can recognize early warning signs (Benner, 2001).

Finally, stage five constitutes being an expert. This nurse no longer relies on analytic

principles and now has a large background with experience and can grasp each situation. At the

expert stage, the nurse is able to hone in on the e region of the problem and have a deep

understanding of the total picture. Nursing performance at this stage becomes fluid and flexible
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and highly proficient (Benner, 2001, p. 34). However, not everyone will be able to meet this

stage because not all nurses can become experts. By implementing the Skill Acquisition in

Nursing Model, experience and skill mastery will be transformed bringing about change and

improvements in nursing performance (Benner, 2001).

At this time in my nursing career, I feel that I most meet the Skill Acquisition Stage of

competent. Through all of my clinical experience and work experience over the years, I believe

that I have been able to develop a good sense of competence and feel comfortable in almost

every situation that is thrown my way. I know that over the next couple of years I will continue

to grow and move on to the proficient stage of nursing. Being competent is important to me to

have a feeling of mastery and the ability to cope with and manage the many contingencies of

clinical nursing (Benner, 2001, p.27). The conscious, deliberate planning that is characteristic

of this skill level helps achieve efficiency and organization (Benner, 2001, p. 27). I am very

organized and thorough in my nursing practice, which allows me to catch things other people

may not. I feel experienced enough that I will be a competent nurse once I graduate and start as

an Emergency Room nurse.

To advance to the proficient stage of Skill Acquisition in Nursing, I will continue my

education and learn through hands on classes, be involved in unit specific groups, and complete

HealthStream modules and contact hours. By participating in this education, I will be able to

further my nursing skills and knowledge to become a proficient nurse. As I continue my nursing

career, I will become a better and quicker critical thinker, allowing me to achieve this stage by

putting the whole picture of the patients situation together. Lastly, to reach this stage, I will

reflect on what I do in my job and how I can grow from different situations and outcomes. This

will allow me to grow as a nurse and learn different ways to handle various situations.
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My individual philosophy of nursing will guide my education and practice as a nurse. I

will strive to offer the same care to every patient I encounter, no matter what the circumstances.

It will also remind me on the not-so-easy days why I am doing this and what nursing means to

me. As I near my ultimate goal of becoming a nurse, it is my hope that each one of my patients

will be impacted through the care they receive. I will strive to apply each and every principle I

learn to make my patients stays pleasant for them and rewarding for me. I believe my personal

philosophy, along with my beliefs and values, provides me with a strong core to build upon as I

grow as a nurse. I cannot wait to become a nurse and look forward to my journey and the

experiences I will gain.

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References

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

(commemorative ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.