Running Head: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING 1

Kathleen E. Fleck

Personal Philosophy of Nursing

NUR 4142 Synthesis for Nursing Practice

March 21, 2018

Dr. Turner

“I Pledge…”
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Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Prior to starting nursing school my personal philosophy of nursing was based off of my

own personal values, experiences, and beliefs from different events in my life. Now that I am

nearing the end of my time in nursing school, I can say that I have been able to tailor those

values and beliefs based on experiences that I have had with patients in the clinical setting. It is

amazing to see how much I have grown and developed in my clinical skills, therapeutic

communication, nurse-patient relationship building, and critical thinking. I plan to continue to

expand upon my personal philosophy of nursing as I progress in my career so that I can

withstand my standard of excellence.

Definition of Nursing

Nursing is a complex role that can be defined in a variety of ways. Although an important

aspect of nursing involves helping vulnerable individuals to meet a higher level of health, I do

not think that it is a conclusive definition of nursing. Throughout my time in school, my view of

nursing has evolved into a more complex understanding. I have discovered that nursing requires

the ability to communicate effectively with all types of individuals, flexibility to keep up with the

changing healthcare environment, and dedication to life-long learning. Providing holistic care to

others is important in nursing but is only possible if nurses are practicing self-care and nurturing

their own physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

has outlined its own philosophy of nursing statement and the three tenets that resonate most with

my personal philosophy of nursing are nursing education, caring, and health.

Nursing education is an important philosophy to follow in nursing due to the endlessly

changing environment of the healthcare system. In order to provide safe quality care to patients,

nurses need to be up-to-date on aspects of nursing like technology, safety, and procedures
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(BSMCON Faculty Handbook, 2016-17). My own nursing education has served to form a

foundation of knowledge that I can begin to incorporate into the clinical setting. Education will

also provide me with the opportunity to continue to grow personally and professionally

throughout my nursing career.

Caring is the next tenet of the Bon Secours philosophy statement that aligns with my own

personal philosophy. Caring involves putting into place nursing practice that meets the needs of

individuals in a manner that exhibits “interpersonal skills, assertiveness, curiosity, courage, and

humor” (BSMCON Faculty Handbook, 2016-17, p.39). I exhibit caring actions towards my

patients by going above and beyond when delivering patient care. As I mentioned previously, it

is imperative in nursing to practice self-care in order to provide adequate quality care to others.

The third tenet that aligns with my personal philosophy of nursing is health. Health and

wellbeing can be achieved when physical, mental, socioeconomic, environmental, and spiritual

needs are addressed and balanced. One important aspect of health to keep in mind is that it is

always changing and is specific to each individual (BSMCON Faculty Handbook, 2016-17). Bon

Secours believes that everyone should have equal access to healthcare and I think that it is

equally important for all individuals to receive non-judgmental care.

Reflect on Philosophy

I strive to abide by my own personal philosophy of nursing with every interprofessional

and nurse-patient interaction that I encounter. Compassion for others is the main driving force

behind my actions and serves as the primary motive behind my pursuit for a nursing career. I

provide non-judgmental care to all patients regardless of how they treat me in return; keeping in

mind that you never know what someone may be going through in his/her personal life. I greet

each person with a smile and find that positivity increases my chances of forming a strong
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relationship with the patient. Taking the time to communicate with patients through storytelling,

actively listening, or simply sitting and providing presence can all benefit the nurse-patient

relationship. Meeting the holistic needs of patients is significant in the overall health and

wellbeing of those individuals and by providing compassionate care I know that I am taking the

necessary steps to help them achieve that level of health.

Through continued education I will grow personally and professionally in my nursing

career. Dedicating myself to lifelong learning will enable me to continue to provide quality care

to patients. I realize that with growth comes the opportunity for improvement in many areas of

nursing and I know that it is impossible to be perfect. Through my belief in integrity, I will not

hide my mistakes but will communicate these mistakes to others and use them as a learning

opportunity to improve my practice in the future.

Nurse-Patient Encounter

My personal philosophy of nursing has developed over the course of my time in school. I

can think of many nurse-patient encounters that serve as examples of how I have used my

personal philosophy in practice. The one encounter that sticks out the most in my mind was

during my clinical immersion when I cared for an older gentleman who came in septic. I

provided care to this patient using my own personal philosophy of nursing which focuses on

compassionate holistic care and continued growth. The patient was lethargic, yet oriented with

his wife at the bedside. I spent an appropriate amount of time speaking with the patient and his

wife to work on forming a nurse-patient relationship. This really helped with the situation

because I could tell that it put them at ease and they really trusted me as a caregiver.

My preceptor and I followed the initial sepsis protocol and delivered the recommended

amount of fluid. After determining that the fluid had not increased his blood pressure we alerted
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the doctor and he ordered more fluids. When it was all said and done the man had received over

5500 mL of fluid bolus and had not shown any urine output. We went to the doctor to

recommend that we put in a central line and administer a pressor of some sort rather than

continue with fluids because we did not want to put the man into fluid overload and put him into

kidney or heart failure. Although this was the right call to make, I wish that we had determined

this was the appropriate action sooner. Going along with my desire to grow and use instances

like this as a learning opportunity, I hope that my continued growth and development of skills

will help me to speak up to the doctor in a more efficient manner.

Values and Beliefs

I began my nursing school with a set of values and beliefs that have served as the

foundation for my actions throughout this journey. My belief that every individual deserves to be

treated with the same respect regardless of who they are or what they believe still rings true. Bon

Secours does not turn any patient away and as a nurse working for Bon Secours I want to accept

the responsibility to care for any patient who comes my way.

Coming into nursing school I focused on the values of compassion and quality and

although I still rank those highly, growth has become one of my primary values. Dedication to

lifelong learning and continued education will enable me to grow personally and professionally

in my nursing practice. Keeping up with the frequent changes in healthcare will allow me to

provide the safest quality care to patients. I also believe that because I am focusing on making

sure I am up to date and competent on all aspects of patient care that I am ultimately showing

compassion to my patients. Instead of only accomplishing the bare minimum, I want to achieve

nursing excellence.

Benner’s Theory
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Patricia Benner’s theory: From Novice to Expert serves as a model to show the varying

stages of proficiency in nursing. The theory looks at the different skill levels of nurses based on

education and experience in the clinical setting and serves as a guide for progression in the career

of nursing. The stages go from least experienced to most experienced, following this order:

novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (Benner, 1984).

The novice nurse or beginner has no experience, very little confidence, and is unable to

use knowledge about past experiences to make decisions. These individuals need prompts to

complete tasks. The next stage is the advanced beginner and includes nurses who have some

experience in certain situations but are still developing their knowledge. They may be able to do

more than the novice nurse but will still need some supportive assistance. The competent nurse

in stage three is the individual who has at least two to three years of experience in the same

situation or position. The competent nurse does not need cues for completing tasks because this

nurse is confident and can see how his/her actions play out in long-term situations. The fourth

stage is proficient and this nurse looks at the whole situation rather than merely seeing individual

pieces. The proficient nurse has a great deal of knowledge based off of experience. The expert

nurse has the most abundant knowledge based off of experience and holds the ability to

efficiently focus in on specific problems without wasting time on the whole picture (Benner,

1984).

Skill Acquisition Stage

At this point in my nursing career, I believe that I am an advanced beginner. I am able to

make decisions and care for patients based off of previous interactions but still require some

advice from my preceptor. My experience in the clinical setting as a student has provided me

with the opportunity to not only use critical thinking to make decisions but I am also able to
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identify personalities that would make a great mentor in my future career. When it comes to

recognizing important issues regarding clinical situations it is still difficult for me to catch

everything, especially with the abundance of information that I am still trying to process. As an

advanced beginner I find it helpful to ask questions about anything that I do not know. Working

in the emergency room, I have found that one of my main struggles is prioritizing patient care.

My current preceptor has been an advocate for my success since the beginning and spends time

going over case studies and talking through patient situations in the immersion setting. As a

result of her dedication to serving as a mentor, I feel my confidence growing each day.

Next Steps

The next stage of my nursing development is the competent stage. In order to reach this

level of nursing there are a few things that I will need to accomplish. First, I will need to gain

more experience in the clinical setting. I plan to do this in the emergency department where I can

advance my prioritization and critical thinking skills. Another step that I will take to advance to

the competent level is to utilize my resources, specifically my preceptor or other mentors on the

unit. I have found that asking questions and talking through situations with someone of more

experience enhances my own knowledge on the subject matter. The third step that I will take to

become a competent nurse will be to continue my education by participating in all necessary

informational meetings, skills fairs, and courses that will enhance my knowledge and enable me

to provide quality care to patients.

Conclusion

Nursing is a career for those who not only care about the goodwill of others but also want

to continue to learn and better themselves. I began my pursuit for a nursing career with certain

values and beliefs and will soon graduate with the same beliefs, in addition to a few newly
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developed ones as well. I know that the challenging journey of becoming a nurse does not end

with graduation but I am excited to tackle my first few years. I am confident that my motivation

to become an exceptional nurse will drive my continued growth and knowledge acquisition in

my future career.
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References

(2016-17). Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing faculty handbook. Retrieved from

https://bsmcon.blackboard.com/

Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice.

Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.