Key concepts of my nursing philosophy
The key concepts of my nursing philosophy revolve around my core values, which include integrity, honesty, advocacy, compassion, respect, patient privacy, and knowledge. Compassion is the backbone of my nursing philosophy as I believe that I am a gift to humanity and my duty in this journey of life is to serve and help others in need. Knowledge underscores the need for continuous learning to keep abreast with the emerging trends and issues in the profession.
The 4 meta paradigms of nursing
According to Fawcett (1985), the 4 meta paradigms of nursing include nursing, environment, health, and person. According to my view, I see beyond the veil of patients as clients seeking medical help. I believe that nurse-patient relationships should be authentic based on core values that define human dignity and altruism. I believe that patients play a key role in achieving their health goals, which explains why I see them as partners in the process of caring. On the environment, I ascribe to Nightingale’s view that my role as a nurse is to “put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him or her” (Kelly, 2012, p. 2397).
I focus on how a patient can change his or her environment, which includes internal and external factors, to gain health in the shortest time possible. Where possible, I meet the patient’s relatives and friends and explain to them what they can do to help him or her recover quickly. On nursing, which is the third metaparadigm, I view it as a practice, which involves offering quality and holistic care to patients.
However, the term “patient” goes beyond the sick individual to incorporate families, populations, and societies. Therefore, as a nurse, I seek to improve the well-being of patients by incorporating all human dimensions. Finally, on the health element, I believe in the assertion that health is “negotiated and contextual rather than being imposed and universal” (Basford & Slevin, 2003, p. 195). Under this context, I believe that health determinants shape the recovery process of a patient.
The application of my philosophy to my present nursing practice, research, administration, and/or education
My nursing philosophy can be applied when caring for patients by letting them know that they contribute significantly to their healing process. It can be used in education to encourage students to know themselves first by exploring “who they are”, which gives meaning to the nursing practice. The person metaparadigm underscores the need for creating functional patient-nurse relationships for holistic healing.
On the metaparadigm of health, my philosophy can be employed in challenging the students to look at the patient from the perspective of the health determinants surrounding any given condition. The environment element can be highly useful in research in the field of nursing. Conventionally, the environment is understood to underscore the immediate surroundings of a patient. However, my philosophy expands to cover communities, families, and populations. Therefore, through advocacy, wellbeing can be promoted at the community level. The practice of nursing is wide, and it goes beyond the provision of care to a client seeking medical attention. It incorporates attitudes, beliefs, and systems that contribute to one’s well-being at different levels.
Strengths and limitations of my philosophy
One of my nursing philosophy’s strengths is that it is universal in its application. My philosophy hinges on the universal needs for human dignity and the sanctity of life, which can change how we offer care to the sick if well applied. For instance, I believe that a patient should not be seen as a client, and this perspective molds the way nurses relate with those in need of care. When applied in education, we can be assured of advancing nursing as a vocation, where the urge to serve springs from within. However, the greatest limitation to my philosophy is that people believe in different causes informed by disparate core values. Therefore, inasmuch as I would want to advance nursing as a calling, some people are in it for material gain, which limits my philosophy to individuals with shared values.
References
Basford, L., & Slevin, O. (2003). Theory and Practice of Nursing: An Integrated Approach to Caring Practice. Cheltenham, UK: Nelson Thornes.
Fawcett, J. (1985). Theory: basis for the study and practice of nursing education. Journal of Nursing Education, 24(6), 226-229.
Kelly, N. (2012). What has Florence Nightingale ever done for clinical nurses? Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(18), 2397-98.