Basic Principles of Personal Philosophy of Nursing and Concepts of Nursing Paradigm

Definitions

Besides being a discipline studying the fundamental essence of knowledge and existential aspects of human life, philosophy can also be defined as an attitude of a person or a community that provides guidelines for behavior. Philosophy of nursing is aimed to state one’s personal ideas concerning the nature of the profession (including ethical beliefs) that direct one’s activities (McCormack & McCance, 2016).

Nursing can be defined as an act of providing and maintaining people’s health and capabilities, preventing illnesses, performing the treatment, educating patients about proper self-care, and increasing the level of health care quality in general (by contributing to the well-being of each person in particular) (Bahramnezhad, Shiri, Asgari, & Afshar, 2015).

The Basic Principles of my Nursing Philosophy

Identifying your personal nursing philosophy means establishing links between opportunities that the profession can offer and your own values, competences, and expectations (McCormack & McCance, 2016).

My nursing philosophy is based on the following assumptions and beliefs:

• the care that I provide must be patient-oriented, which means that all the peculiarities of the person must be taken into consideration;
• it is my duty to encourage patients to take an active part in their own care, to learn everything about their present condition and the ways they can deal with it successfully;
• I must be able to explain to my patients their part of the responsibility for their actions and make them acquainted with preventive measures;
• I must provide enough information for patients to be able to acquire healthy habits that foster their gradual transition to a healthy lifestyle;
• I must continue learning throughout my whole nursing activity, not only from books and medical journals but also from other nurses’ experience as well as my own;
• my work should not run isolated as it is essential to provide support to fellow-nurses and other team members;
• the end of my shift never means the end of my work as nursing implies readiness to help people in need no matter where and when you encounter them.

The Concepts of Nursing Paradigm

Taking into account all the assumptions provided, I can give the following interpretation of the domains of the nursing metaparadigm within the framework of my personal philosophy:

1. A person is a human being that possesses his/her specific background and should be examined comprehensively in dynamics. I am going to analyze each person as a sum of constantly changing physiological, psychological, intellectual, and social characteristics (e.g., gender, age, habits, attitude to treatment, etc.).
2. The environment is understood as a context or settings of human experience that can vary in space, time, and nature (e.g., cultural norms and values, financial and social status of the patient, his/her political views, etc.).
3. Health is a dynamic state comprised of wellness and diseases in their different proportions. I take into consideration that absolute health is unachievable and is always context-dependent and multifaceted (e.g., physical condition, mental stability, moral realms, self-perception, etc.)
4. Nursing, for me, is the art of providing comprehensive full-fledged care for those who cannot do it themselves (e.g., critical assessment, medical treatment, education of patients).
5. Education is a combination of theoretical foundations and practical training, clarifying my professional aims and duties. I will strive to obtain enough knowledge to become a nurse educator that would allow me to give proper direction to young specialists and help them bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice.
6. Research in nursing is understood as an activity aimed to provide the necessary evidence for improving nursing practice through innovation. I am going to specialize in research in health care settings to be able to apply newly discovered methods.
7. The administration is the ability to manage nursing staff, patient care, and the distribution of resources in the most effective way.

Finally, my primary objective will be to render medical aid to all people who need it, no matter what cultural background they belong to, what religion they have, or what their financial and social status is.

References

Bahramnezhad, F., Shiri, M., Asgari, P., & Afshar, P. F. (2015). A review of the nursing paradigm. Open Journal of Nursing, 5(01), 17-22.

McCormack, B., & McCance, T. (2016). Person-centered practice in nursing and health care: Theory and practice. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.