Running Head: PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING 1

Philosophy of Nursing
Lareka Dublin
Old Dominion University
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Philosophy of Nursing

A personal nursing philosophy involves considering one’s beliefs and values regarding

nursing. As I was preparing for this paper, I really had to sit down and ask myself, “What does

nursing mean to me?” In this paper I will discuss my personal opinions on the definition of

nursing, the purpose of nursing, my assumptions on the relationship between the nurse and the

client in a culturally diverse setting, community and amongst other healthcare providers. I will

also discuss two moral/ethical principles that guide my nursing practice.

Definition of Nursing

“Nursing is the use of clinical judgement and the provision of care to enable peace to

promote, improve, maintain or recover health or, when death is inevitable, to die peacefully”

(Scott, 2002, p. 1356). There are many different definitions of nursing but in my opinion, Scott

described it the best. I feel as though this is what I do in my everyday life as a nurse. To be able

to carry this definition of nursing out, you must obtain a therapeutic nurse/patient relationship.

This therapeutic relationship is one thing that makes nursing different from other professions.

This leads me into my next topic on the purpose of nursing.

Purpose of Nursing

The purpose of nursing can be described in many ways. In my opinion, the purpose of

nursing is to help patients prevent illness, recover from illness and get back to their highest level

of functioning. Education plays a big part in nursing to prevent further illnesses or complications

from illnesses. I chose nursing because helping others is something I enjoy and it gives my life

more purpose. I truly feel that nursing is God’s calling over my life. Every day, I try to make a

positive difference on someone else’s life. The biggest influence on my decision to become a
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nurse was my mother. My mother was a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)and worked with home

health for many years. I first saw her in full effect when my uncle, who was suffering from lung

cancer, came to live with us. My mom cared for him in a way that I will never forget. Her

passion for caring for others showed through her actions of caring for my uncle. This gave me

the motivation to one day care for others as she did. A few years later, I decided to take a Nurse

Aide course so that I could start working in the healthcare field. I worked as a CNA until I

started my career as a nurse.

Assumptions

Nurse and Client in a Culturally Diverse Setting

The nurse-patient relationship plays an important role in the care given to the patient. It

is very important to be culturally sensitive to all patients. It is important to be knowledgeable

about communication techniques, nutrition, family roles, healthcare practices, spirituality,

labor/delivery and death rituals. Larry Purnell’s Model for Cultural Competence is a great tool

to help guide culturally sensitive nursing care. His model has 12 cultural domains but I am only

going to focus on 7 of the 12 that I feel are important. One should know the patients dominant

language and nonverbal characteristics of communication. “Some nonverbal characteristics of

communication a nurse should know are volume, tone, special distance, eye contact, facial

expression and touch” (Blais & Hayes, 2016). These are important things to consider because

you don’t want to offend your patient or family members. In the hospital where I work, we have

telephones that translate many different languages between the patient and healthcare personnel.

“A nurse should know the meaning and use of food, culturally preferred foods, food-related

rituals and taboos and culturally defined food limitations” (Blais & Hayes, 2016). For example,

some Muslims do not eat pork or anything that contains pork. In a case like this, I would be sure
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to contact dietary services to ensure that the patients preference was granted. Family hierarchy,

gender position and roles and decision making is another cultural domain to consider. Some

cultures prefer for only the man of the family to be spoken to. Nurses need to know if the patient

is open to taking new medications and if the patient is taking any herbal supplements. Some

herbal supplements are known to interact with other medications. This is why it is importance to

know the patients’ healthcare practices so that you can find out about their cultural of folk

healing methods/medication usage. “Spirituality contains religious beliefs and practices

including the use of prayer and spiritual practices associated with health and illness” (Blais &

Hayes, 2016). I always make sure to give the patient their own space and time to participate in

their spiritual practices when needed. If working in Labor and Delivery, it would be important to

understand the patient’s wishes when it came to pregnancy, birthing and postpartum care. Some

women have birth plans in place during their labor and postpartum care. For every patient, it is

important to find out their beliefs and practices regarding dying, death and bereavement. One of

the first questions that physicians ask patient’s is if they want to be resuscitated if cardiac arrest

occurs. This is to ensure that we honor the patient’s wishes regarding death.

Nurse and the Community

The most important role of a nurse in the community is education and prevention.

Kulbok & Laffrey (1998) describe the three main foci of community health as health promotion,

illness, disease and disability prevention and illness care. Community health nurses should work

to optimize health by helping members of the community develop realistic goals for their health

and wellness. This includes educating communities on ways to prevent illnesses such as proper

hand hygiene, vaccinations and information about healthcare issues going on in the area.

Helping the community find the resources to get treatment from an illness is vital. The
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relationship between a nurse and the community doesn’t just focuses on one person and their

family but the community. The nurse must collaborate with other healthcare professionals to get

things done for the entire community.

Nurse and other Healthcare Professionals

The relationship between a nurse and other healthcare professions needs to be respectful

and therapeutic. Nurses need to have a good relationship with other healthcare providers to be

able to effectively communicate and collaborate with them. Collaboration and communication

are the most important variables between nurses and other healthcare providers. The goal is to

utilize the best knowledge and abilities of all the healthcare team members involved to produce

positive patient outcomes.

Moral/Ethical Principles

The two moral/ethical rules that help guide my nursing care are compassion and trust. I

genuinely care about each one of my patients. I always try to put myself in the shoes of my

patients so that I can be able to care for them as I would want to be cared for. I go above and

beyond for my patients to make sure they receive the best care possible. I have received

recognition from my patients and their family members saying how caring and patient I am with

them. This makes me grateful that I can make my patients feel this way. The second ethical rule

that guides my nursing practice is trust. I try to build a relationship with all my patients and their

family members so that they can trust me. I am always fully honesty with patients and family.

For example, there was a procedure that I had to perform on one of my patients that I had never

done before so I told the patient I wanted to have another nurse present with me to walk me

through it since I had never done it. The patient thanked me for being honest and appreciated the
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fact that I was honest enough to ask for help. I feel it is always best to be safe than sorry when

dealing with someone’s life.

Conclusion

My personal nursing philosophy is to help patients prevent illness, recover from illness

and get back to their highest level of functioning. Nurses should be sensitive and knowledgeable

about different cultures and their characteristics to provide culturally sensitive nursing care.

Nurses in the community should work with other healthcare members to educate and implement

prevention strategies for the entire community. Nurses and other healthcare members need to

effectively communicate and collaborate with each other to provide the best care for patients.

Compassion and trust are two principles that successfully guide my nursing practice.

Reflection

This paper allowed me to discover my true philosophy of nursing. I could reflect on my

own personal values and beliefs that guide my nursing practice. While researching, I learned

more about culturally diverse care. I feel as though I need to brush up on my knowledge of

different cultures. Overall, this was a great way for me to assess my true values and beliefs of

nursing.
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“I pledge to support the Honor System of Old Dominion University. I will refrain from any form

of academic dishonesty or deception, such as cheating or plagiarism. I am aware that as a

member of the academic community it is responsibility to turn in all suspected violators of the

Honor Code. I will report to a hearing if summoned.”

Name: _______Lareka Dublin______________

Signature: ____Lareka Dublin______________
Date: _____11/4/2017____________________
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References
Blais, K. K., & Hayes, J. S. (2016). Professional nursing practice: concepts and perspectives (7th

ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Kulbok, P. A., & Laffrey, S. C. (1999). An Integrative Model for Holistic Community Health

Nursing. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 17(1), 88-103. doi:10.1177/089801019901700107

Scott, H. (2002). RCN's definition of nursing: what makes nursing unique?. British Journal Of

Nursing, 11(21), 1356.