Introduction
Various nursing philosophies are presented in the literature, each of which suggests unique goals and principles. However, it is essential for every nurse to design his or her personal nursing philosophy to specify the essence of practice, aims to be achieved, and principles to be implemented, as stated by Marchuk (2014). This paper will present my personal nursing philosophy, including key concepts, four meta paradigms, limitations, and strengths.
Body
Key Concepts
The main concepts of my personal nursing philosophy are evidence-based practice, patient education, and health literacy promotion. Various researches emphasize the role of evidence-based intervention in diagnosing and managing patients, which shows its great capability of addressing serious diseases and facilitating chronic conditions (Hall & Roussel, 2017). Personally, I understood that the application of interventions that were examined by scholars could bring significant benefits by increasing health care quality and enhancing patient outcomes.
Two other concepts of health literacy promotion and patient education are closely related to each other since the latter is the way to achieve the former, preventing morbidity and reducing mortality levels. I strongly believe that patient health education should be assigned a top priority as it allows explaining to them how to recognize the signs of one or another disease, follow treatment prescriptions, and manage their own health. Educational programs should be culturally-competent and sensitive to the needs of the target population. The importance of self-care and its maintenance should be promoted through building trustful relationships between caregivers and patients.
Metaparadigms
A person, health, environment, and nursing compose four meta paradigms I would like to apply as a nurse. In terms of the first metaparadigm, a person should be referred to as an individual, not just as a patient. In my opinion, the same approach of holistic care should be applied to families of patients as unique groups. This metaparadigm involves the development of a sensitive attitude towards a person, including his or her background, culture, age, gender, and other peculiarities (Marchuk, 2014). I consider that health does not mean only the absence of a disease as it also includes physical, mental, and social well-being. The ability of a person to satisfy his or her basic needs should be taken into account in the context of the health metaparadigm. For example, the meaning of health for a patient with type II diabetes mellitus cannot be the same as for the one with migraine. Thus, health should be regarded as a relative concept.
In my nursing philosophy, the environment is inseparable from the health of a person. People affect the environment likewise it impacts them (Hall & Roussel, 2017). The physical environment includes a living area and conditions. The mental and social environment consists of relationships between people, communication, culture, and behavioral patterns. My understanding of nursing care is associated with the prevention of diseases and maintenance of health through education. Based on an accurate medical history of a person, nursing ensures adequate patient assessment, diagnostics, and a treatment plan along with follow-up interventions (Marchuk, 2014). Applying the mentioned meta paradigms in my practice, I strive to be sensitive to patients, taking into account their environments, health conditions, and nursing principles.
Nursing Process – Philosophy
My nursing philosophy can be applied to practice through critical thinking and evidence-based decision-making. In particular, I suppose that the introduction of innovative working methods to achieve better results in nursing practice should be noted. Since today’s environment presents new technology in the field of healthcare, it is essential to implement it in practice (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). The identification of areas of nursing research and the provision of studies should also be based on my personal nursing philosophy. As for administration and education, I strive to engage, develop, and effectively use the nursing potential by expanding my professional competencies and providing nursing services that best meet the needs of populations. To ensure appropriate services, I support the provision of an educational process for the training of highly qualified nurses.
Nursing Process – Strengths and Limitations
The most important strong point of my philosophy is its relevance to today’s needs and expectations of patients and healthcare in general. The holistic approach described above is one more strong side as it considers patients as individuals. Speaking of limitations, I should note that I live and practice in Miami, Florida which narrows my personal nursing philosophy to this area. In particular, I focus more on the needs of the local populations rather than those of the country as a whole. However, I guess that my philosophy may change with time due to discoveries in healthcare, new treatment options, and many other factors.
Conclusion
To conclude, my personal nursing philosophy is based on evidence-based practice and health literacy promotion. It should be stressed that I strive to follow the principles of holistic care and consider every patient as an individual with unique needs and expectations. Among the meta paradigms of my philosophy, there are a person, health, environment, and nursing. Even though the identified philosophy is limited to my practice area, it has such strengths as relevance and reliability.
References
Hall, H. R., & Roussel, L. A. (2017). Evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2017). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (9th ed.). St. Louis, MI: Elsevier.
Marchuk, A. (2014). A personal nursing philosophy in practice. Journal of Neonatal Nursing, 20(6), 266-273.