Introduction
Nursing requires an understanding of components that affect an individual’s health and excellent professional skills. A nurse should be aware of personal values, which contribute to his or her work and can be reflected in a philosophy statement. This paper aims to identify my nursing philosophy, explain the four meta paradigms of nursing, and elaborate on the practical application of the chosen approach.
Personal Nursing Philosophy Statement
The critical approach that I want to apply to my work as a nurse is being able to help patients by respecting their decisions and guiding them through their health journey, and ensuring they receive the highest level of care for their physical and emotional issues. Firstly, the necessity to consider different components of one’s health, including supporting a patient, comes from an understanding that one’s health does not merely reflect the physical state of one’s body.
According to Beauvais, Andreychik, and Henkel (2017), nurses who display empathy should be well trained and have high levels of emotional intelligence to be able to work with many patients. It is due to the fact that events that cause a lot of emotions contribute to burnout. This factor provides an understanding of the need to continuously work on the improvement of personal skills such as emotional intelligence and regulation to be a better nurse.
The second component is connected to the knowledge and competencies that I, as a nurse, want to possess because those define the outcomes of my work. According to Edvardsson, Watt, and Pearce (2017), āpatient experiences of caring and personācentredness seem to have an influential role in the extent to which patients experience the quality of nursing careā (p. 217). Therefore, the understanding of medical procedures should be connected with factors such as empathy to improve health outcomes for individuals. This requires constant education through reading the professional journal and obtaining degrees as well as improvement of interpersonal skills, which would enable me to provide my patients with excellent health care.
The final factor that contributes to my nursing philosophy is the understanding of factors such as the external environment and habits that improve the process of treatment and ensuring that positive health outcomes are the priority of my work. This is necessary to ensure that a nurse can provide patient-centered care based on the particular beliefs and values that the individual has, as well as by giving advice that considers the personal and environmental aspects.
Four Metaparadigms of Nursing
The underlying components of any nurseās philosophy should be based on the four meta paradigms that outline the main elements of this work. Fawcett describes four met paradigms of the profession as a person, environment, health, and nursing (as cited in Nikfarid, Hekmat, Vedad, & Rajabi, 2018). Person refers to the need to understand different components such as compassion and emotional support, which can help a patient when he or she is going through difficulties.
In addition, it is crucial for healthcare professionals to listen and understand what individuals want and which treatment options they prefer. Moreover, a nurse should take into account the importance of the family to the individuals who receive care. This can be reflected in the communication, in which a healthcare professional can support family members and provide them with additional information. In my practice, I ensure that I can build a good interpersonal relationship with my patients.
The environment is essential because outside factors cause many healthcare issues. However, one should not forget that the internal state of an individual contributes to his health outcomes. Thus, a nurse should understand the community and social components, as well as personal factors that impact the state of an individual’s health. In my area of work, I apply this concept by assessing the information regarding the patient’s culture, interpersonal connections, as well as genetics to gain a better understanding of what is causing a particular health concern.
The next metaparadigm is health, and it is the primary objective of a nurse’s work. However, when considering the concept of a person, one can conclude that adhering to the patient’s wishes and understanding his or her perspective on personal health is crucial. Therefore, in my practice, I apply this approach by talking to my patients and identifying what particular result they would want to achieve through treatment. Finally, the nursing concept refers to the actual work a medical professional should perform daily. Everything that a nurse does, including health state assessments, diagnosis, interventions, is part of this factor. For me and my work, this component requires constant improvement of personal and professional knowledge to ensure that patients are satisfied with my work.
Practical Implications
As was previously mentioned, my philosophy enables me to educate myself, both personally and professionally. This includes obtaining a degree or ensuring that I read professional journals. It contributes to my practice because I can provide patients with care approaches that are up to date. This is the primary strength of my philosophy because by applying this strategy, I can combine the considerations for personal preferences of a patient with the modern approaches to create the best care plan that suits the particular individual and corresponds with the four meta paradigms. The one limitation that the method has is a need to balance professional development, work, and personal matters, which requires good time management skills.
Conclusion
Overall, my philosophy consists of three primary approaches ā focusing on an individual with consideration for the variety of factors that impact his or her health, understanding the external environment, and being a professional. The four meta paradigms ā nursing, person, environment, and health guide each nurse in their work. My approach to nursing requires continuous development that enables me to present the best quality care to my patients; however, it is time-consuming.
References
Beauvais, A., Andreychik, M., & Henkel, L. A. (2017). The role of emotional intelligence and empathy in compassionate nursing care. Mindfulness & Compassion, 2(2), 92-100. Web.
Edvardsson, D., Watt, E., & Pearce, F. (2017). Patient experiences of caring and personācentredness are associated with perceived nursing care quality. JAN, 73(1), 217-227. Web.
Nikfarid, L., Hekmat, N., Vedad, A., & Rajabi, A. (2018). The main nursing metaparadigm concepts in human caring theory and Persian mysticism: A comparative study. Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, 11, 6.