Personal philosophy is the cornerstone of any nursing practice. Without it, the effort becomes meaningless, leading to the loss of purpose, existential crisis, and burnout. My personal philosophy has been shaped by my studies as well as the overarching goals and missions of the educational facility. Barry University seeks to promote commitment and address various healthcare needs of the people of Florida and the rest of the world by training nurses as well as preparing them for the realities of working in diverse and unique communities.
The core values of Barry University include Catholic identity, global diversity, student success, and leadership development, which are the values I can stand by, proudly. The university provided me with a theoretical and ethical framework to create my own system of beliefs in regards to healthcare delivery.
My personal philosophy revolves around Campinha-Bacote’s theory of care. It is heavily centered on culture, addressing five critical constructs of cultural competence in the delivery of nursing care, such as cultural desire, awareness, knowledge, skill, and encounters (Alligood, 2017). The theory emphasizes the role of cultural competence in all these areas to win the patient’s trust and compliance, which would result in greater patient agency and cooperation.
Cultural desire stands for willingness to engage in culturally appropriate healthcare delivery. Cultural awareness stands for basic knowledge of the patient’s culture. Cultural skill and knowledge stand for the ability to explain and deliver healthcare in a culturally sensitive manner. Lastly, the concept of cultural encounters stands for the ability to directly engage in cultural healthcare with patients.
It is possible to see that Campinha-Bacote’s model had a heavy influence on our university’s mission statement as well as on its diversity policy. I acknowledge that cultural diversity and willingness to accommodate the patients basing on their culture is one of the foremost duties of a healthcare provider. It accounts for mental and spiritual health and allows the nurse to engage in healthcare interventions more effectively due to increased agency and willingness of the patient to participate in the process.
During my time as a student at Barry University, I became acquainted with numerous healthcare theories. One of the theories closest to my healthcare beliefs is Orem’s Self-Care Model. It is based on the assumption that most patients would be eager and willing to participate in their own healthcare and achieve greater autonomy (Alligood, 2017). The purpose of the nurse is to assist them in this journey. Orem’s theory meshes well with Campinha-Bacote’s model, as the latter achieves greater agency and participation through respect and familiarity with the patient’s cultural norms.
My personal beliefs revolve around enabling the patients to take care of themselves. Passive obedience without understanding creates a negative psychological climate. A patient should be an active participant in the healing process and the main agent of personal change. Understanding and utilizing cultural norms to deliver the message to the patient is one of the primary tools for facilitating reciprocal participation (Yeon-Soon & Jin-Young, 2014).
I will have an opportunity to test and implement my beliefs on a daily basis, once my internship starts. The USA has a rich and diverse racial community, which makes every day exciting and challenging for the nurses. My journey towards cultural competence will involve acquiring theoretical and practical knowledge during my studies and testing it out in the field.
References
Alligood, M. R. (2017). Nursing theorists and their work (9th ed.). New York, NY: Elsevier.
Yeon-Soon, K, & Jin-Young, K. (2014). The effect of the cultural competence in multicultural nursing education by action learning. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial Cooperation Society, 15(1), 6527-6535.