Growing up as a dedicated member of my family, on matters both education and social life, I found myself being more concerned about the wellbeing of people around me, something that earned me a nickname ‘guardian angel’ over the years. Practicing nursing has always felt like a purposed destiny, hence, I believe I have a moral duty to give the best of services to patients at all times. The utilization of a nursing philosophy as a foundation for nursing practice has been an essential element in promoting my application of nursing knowledge and development of further nursing theories. My personal nursing philosophy is centered on the art of conveying the knowledge of medicine and nursing science while combining it with; compassionate care aimed at valuing the dignity of patients, holism while respecting values of patients, interconnected care, inter-professional relationships aimed at quality care, and community service. This philosophy matches the four nursing metaparadigm concepts of person, environment, health, and nursing.
Nursing science and knowledge of medicine provides great insights into nursing practices in maternal care, reproductive health, orthopedic, among many other branches in medicine. The nurse is equipped with full knowledge on how to diagnose, treat, and care for a patient ( McCutcheon & Stalter, 2017) . My philosophy focuses on combining the theoretical knowledge with compassionate care. The patient’s dignity is a crucial aspect that should be put into consideration while administering patient care. However, other factors must also be considered: the emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of the patient are just as essential to ensure that administered care is driven by compassion. As a nurse, it is my duty to focus on how the patient feels; their pain levels, nature of their sleep at night, and if possible, to understand what their apprehensions of the next day may be. Maintaining a positive relationship with the patient helps in rapport development as well as creating a bond which makes it effortless to get answers from the patient, thus, enabling provision of the best care for them. My nursing philosophy is focused on building trust with the patient regardless of whether there exists compatibility of personal beliefs or not; the goal is to achieve a status where the patient is comfortable enough to share personal life experiences with uttermost honesty, which in the process might inform on better approaches to consider while providing healthcare to the patient.
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Using a holistic approach allows me to focus on the patient as a whole, as opposed to focusing only on the small part which led them to seek medical attention. Erickson (2007), defines holism as a study of the interrelationships of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions of a person. For instance, for a patient suffering from Tuberculosis, I will not only focus on controlling the condition but also on the patient’s spiritual beliefs, sleep patterns, body temperature, digestion, eating habits, appetite, breathing, among many other aspects pertaining to the well-being of the human body. Holism encompasses spiritual care, medical care, and any other type of care that may be crucial in helping the patient to recover fully.
Interconnected care is a primary aspect of my nursing philosophy, and is consistent with Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, which states that human caring should be focused on holism and development of transpersonal relationships (Jones, 2018). Therefore, as a nurse, I feel it is important to create time during the day to reflect and rejuvenate, and to take care of personal needs so that while in practice, the patient gets to have full presence of the nurse. The ability to maintain interconnections with the patient, professionalism, and the work setting increases with dedication to centeredness by the nursing professional. Therefore, my philosophy advocates for personal care as a nurse, which in turn influences patient care. The responsibility of a nurse to a patient is more than treating the reported illness, it extends to a wider perspective: to society, and the public.
Collaboration among nursing professionals provides a base that hosts a wide range of ideas which are useful in providing the best healthcare for a patient. Additionally, maintaining interprofessional connections at work helps me to observe high standards of behavior, a concept that is consistent with the occupation-profession model devised by Pavalko (McCacheon & Stalter, 2017). Just like other professions, the learning curve for nursing is unending given the diversity of patient conditions and the rise of new diseases and infections. Therefore, collaborating with other professionals creates a learning platform where new concept can be shared, hence, professional development.
My philosophy also extends to community service and giving back to my society. Healthcare is key in the well-being of human beings. Therefore, efforts as a nurse to promote healthcare within the society through avenues such as disease campaigns, vaccination programs, public health and hygiene awareness, HIV awareness and care for PLHA, free cancer screening programs, among other activities form a huge part of my philosophy. I believe my success as a nurse is measured by the impact I make in the lives of my patients and the society: healthcare is my duty and I get paid to do it, but impacting lives is my greatest calling.
The Humanistic model of nursing philosophy is the best philosophy that matches my personal philosophy of nursing. The Humanistic model’s approach to nursing is focused on looking at the patient as a whole rather than simply the reported illness (Cara et al., 2016). The model focuses on the patient as an individual and every condition as unique, hence, there is no specific procedure to care for patients because each patient is given medical attention on a case-by-case basis. This model of nursing is in tandem with holism and humanism, hence, it takes care of both the physical and emotional well-being of the patient. The humanistic model explains that a nurse-patient relationship is crucial in achieving a patient’s healing interventions. Analysis of my personal philosophy relates to the holism approach to patient care, compassion, and interconnected care: these aspects are described by the Humanistic model.
A Nursing Framework or theory that fits that Philosophy including how it fits your Personal Philosophy
The metaparadigm of nursing is a perfect framework, compatible with both the Humanistic philosophy of nursing and my personal philosophy. The nursing metaparadigm consists of four main concepts which include the person, the environment, health, and nursing goals and functions (Bender, 2018). The person component of the metaparadigm focuses on the receiver of nursing care. The care structure takes into account the person’s health care needs, spirituality, and social needs: therefore, the result of healthcare depends solely on the individual’s interaction with hose components. The environment element focuses on the surrounding of the patient and how interactions with components of the environment may influence their health well-being. The health component is focused on how the patient’s physicality, genetic makeup, social well-being, intellect, and emotions are integrated in the general health well-being of the patient. The nursing component encompasses provision of optimal healthcare services to patients through combination of knowledge, skills, collaborations, and professional judgement. The humanistic model of nursing philosophy is centered on providing healthcare to the patient by focusing on the individual as a whole to ensure maximum care. This model matches with the nursing and care components of the metaparadigm. Comparison with my personal philosophy of nursing also indicates a complete match with the four metaparadigms of nursing: holism, compassion, and interconnected care explain the significance of patient involvement in their own healing process, a component reiterated by all metaparadigms.
Possible situation in which that framework or theory would be a poor fit and discuss why it is a poor fit for that situation
In a surgical nursing setting, the metaparadigm framework would fit in the preoperative phase where the nurse has to interact with the patient and the family members, listen to them and help control their anxiety. However, in the intraoperative phase, the framework would be a poor fit: the patient is usually under anesthesia. Therefore, the role of the surgical nurse in this phase would be restricted to providing support in nasogastric and endotracheal intubation, and body temperature control. The person component of the metaparadigm would fail to apply in such a setting because the patient is inactive and almost has no ability to influence their well-being. The nursing and health components of the metaparadigm are the only elements that apply in this scenario: the nurse is solely responsible for the well-being of the patient while in sedation.
References
Bender, M. (2018). Re‐conceptualizing the nursing metaparadigm: Articulating the philosophical ontology of the nursing discipline that orients inquiry and practice. Nursing inquiry , 25 (3), e12243.
Cara, C., Gauvin-Lepage, J., Lefebvre, H., Létourneau, D., Alderson, M., Larue, C., ... & Roy, M. (2016). The “Humanistic Model of Nursing Care–UdeM”: An innovative and pragmatic perspective. Recherche en soins infirmiers , (2), 20-31.
Erickson, H. L. (2007). Philosophy and theory of holism. Nursing Clinics of North America , 42 (2), 139-163.
Jones, S. N. (2018). Watson's Theory of Human Caring: Effect on Nurse Perception of Care Environment (Doctoral dissertation, Gardner-Webb University).
McCutcheon, K. A., & Stalter, A. M. (2017). Discovering my nursing philosophy. Nursing2019 , 47 (5), 68-69.
