Nursing is a dignified profession in the healthcare industry. In the past few decades, this noble profession experienced various changes regarding knowledge and practice of practitioners. The challenges faced by the contemporary nursing profession led to the formation of nursing schools and training centers. They help nurses to focus on their roles and to better understand the scope of the nursing profession. However, it should be noted that nurses give an equal consideration to the well being of patients, as well as their own values and beliefs. The demands of nurses have changed the course of patient care as nurses have to work under tremendous pressures and have access to limited resources. In order to counter these challenges, nursing philosophies were introduced which helped balancing personal values and the patient care. The paper highlights the components of nursing philosophy and personal values. Furthermore, professional and individual values are also discussed in this paper.
Since nurses have adopted various nursing philosophies to address the growing challenges of the nursing profession, these philosophies vary between individuals depending on their personal, professional, and individual values. The purpose of nursing philosophies is to ensure the delivery of high quality nursing / healthcare services.
I have been working as a nurse for the last four years, and I have also witnessed various changes and challenges confronted by the nursing profession. I have always tried to cater the needs of my patients in an effective manner. I strongly believe that patients need to be comfortable at all times. If nurses can build a strong and friendly relation with their patients then patients feel comfortable, which is very important for their health (O’Brien, 2010).
I practice and believe in the holistic medicine because it assists in healing a patient in a steady manner. I am of the view that patients not only require medical treatment, but they also need complete mental, spiritual, as well as body comfort. My philosophy has many underlying beliefs and values that I have considered over a period. These values certainly influenced my actions as a nurse in the last four years. I balanced my philosophy by focusing on both personal and professional values. I gave an equal importance to patients, as well as my family and the community where I live. It is important that these values are catered in the right manner so that nurses can fulfill their commitments to patients, colleagues, and more importantly themselves (O’Brien, 2010).
The reconciliation of professional and personal values is very important. If a nurse is unable to maintain a friendly and smooth relation between work and personal lives, then there are greater chances that he or she would not be able to deliver high quality service to his or her patients. It is important that the components of the nursing philosophy are integrated with individual values as it would yield better results and would also help in developing a sound and effective nursing philosophy. Friendship with patients and maintaining a line of comfort while serving them would allow patients to heal in a better way. It is important that nurses understand their basic roles of serving and helping patients. They should also incorporate a nursing philosophy that may help them to perform their job effectively and attain better results. It could be concluded that a successful nurse would always reconcile his or her professional and personal values in order to develop a sound nursing philosophy that would help him or her with his or her career in the long run.
Reference
O’Brien, M. E. (2010). Spirituality in Nursing. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.