PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING

NURS 401 Professional Development

Purpose of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to enable the student to discover his or her personal philosophy
of nursing, as it exists at the beginning of the academic journey toward the BSN.
Approach to Assignment
As I was brainstorming about this assignment, I really had to stop and ask myself, “What does
nursing mean to me?” I thought about what things help guide me as a nurse and what traits I
have that make me a great nurse. I was writing this after about one year of being a nurse, so I
didn’t have a huge amount of experience yet so that is why I approached the assignment in this
way. This assignment allowed me to reflect on my personal vision of nursing.
Reason for Inclusion
This paper was a required portfolio entry. It summarizes my beliefs and values as a nurse.
This paper will also help others get a better understanding of who I am as a nurse and why I
chose nursing as a career.
Critical Thinking
Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional nursing practice.
 In this paper, I used Larry Purnell’s Model for Cultural Competence to help guide
culturally sensitive nursing care. This model describes 12 domains, but I only chose to
focus on seven that I felt were most important and that I use to guide my nursing practice.
The seven domains I focused on were: communication, nutrition, family roles and
organization, health care practices, spirituality, death rituals, and pregnancy and
childbearing.
Leadership
Articulates the values of the profession and role of the nurse as member of the interdisciplinary
team.
 In this paper, I talked about the relationship between the nurse and other members of the
interdisciplinary team. The relationship between members of the interdisciplinary team
needs to be both respectful and therapeutic so that adequate communication and
collaboration can occur. The goal is to utilize the best knowledge and abilities of the all
members of the interdisciplinary team to produce the best outcomes for the patient.
Professionalism
Demonstrates accountability for one’s own professional practice as well as limits to one’s own
scope of practice.
  In this paper, I talked about a specific bedside procedure that I had to perform on a
patient but I had never performed before. I took accountability and told the patient that I
did not feel comfortable performing the procedure alone because I had not done so before
and that I would like to have another nurse present to assist. The patient thanked me for
being truthful and honest enough to ask for help when it was needed.
Culture
Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race, religion,
gender, lifestyle and age.
 In this paper, I talked about how it is important to be aware of nonverbal communication
characteristics such as volume, tone, special distance, eye contact, facial expression and
touch. This is important so that you do not offend other cultures. Family hierarchy,
gender roles and decision making is another thing to consider. Some cultures prefer for
only the male of the family be spoken to. I took care of a Muslim client in the hospital
who had dietary limitations due to his religious preference. The client was worried about
the hospital not being able to honor his wishes, so I contacted dietary staff to make sure
they were aware of the client’s dietary limitations. I wanted to make sure the client felt
comfortable.