Philosophy of Nursing

Philosophy can be defined as “the study of the nature of reality and existence, of what is
possible to know, and of right and wrong behavior, or a particular set of beliefs of this type”
(Cambridge Dictionary, 2019). Philosophy can have many meanings and can be interpreted in
many different ways. In nursing philosophy is constantly in question, especially in regards to
ethical dilemmas. Nurses can find themselves in ethical dilemmas all throughout their practice.
This can be seen when their own values and morals are put to the test regarding the care they
give their patients. If a nurse is a strong believer in the catholic faith and a patient comes in to get
an abortion the nurse might find them having some negative bias towards that patient, because to
them they see the patient killing an innocent child. Although to the patient it may be different,
the pregnancy may have been accidental or may have some underlying trauma associated with it.
In this circumstance it us up to the nurse to put all of their biases aside and focus on providing
the best possible care they can to the patient. To me the philosophy of nursing involves providing
the best possible care that I can regardless if I do not agree with what is being done. I believe that
as a nurse the best possible thing you can do is advocate for your patient and support them in any
possible way that I can. A big part of nursing to me is being respectful of others religious beliefs
and practices regardless of my own. To me nursing is something I truly value and providing care
to those who need it puts my mind at ease. I personally do not have any religious background
and tend to focus more on the logical and scientific reasoning behind things. Even so, I do not
allow that to blind my judgement and I always mean to put the patient first. If I were to ever see
a fellow team member intoxicated while providing care or diverting medications I would not
hesitate to act because of who I am and what I believe in, I know what they are doing is morally
wrong and should not be allowed. Regardless of how it may affect our relationship. In doing so
they are harming the patient and that is something I as a nurse can never allow. I believe that part
of being a nurse is never putting your patients in harm's way or allowing others to do the same,
regardless if they are my patient or not. There may be instances were a nurse may have to take
care of a convicted felon who may have community murder or other unspeakable crimes.
Regardless of what you may think of them, or how much anger you may have towards them for
doing what they have done. As a nurse you must put that aside and focus on providing the best
possible care that you can, because if not you, then who else. Its dilemmas like this were one's
own philosophy of nursing are put to the test. Nurses must advocate for all people and be
someone that anyone and everyone can depend on. In a sense I would consider myself more of a
human advocate more than just a patient advocate. If need be I will even provide care to those
who are not my patient and in emergency situations I plan to be there for anyone. In my future
practices I hope to not only provide the best possible care that I can, but to also be someone my
patients can feel comfortable with and rely. Part of nursing is compassion and I wanna let those
that I take care of that they are not only just another patient or a number to me, but that they are a
person and that I see them as a person. If one cannot have any compassion for the people that
they care about then nursing may not be the right career choice for them.
 References

Cambridge Dictionary, (2019), ​Philosophy definition​, Retrieved from:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/philosophy