An individual’s nursing philosophy comprises of one's principles, reflections, and values that are directly linked to the patient’s care. While formulating my nursing philosophy, I began to review what a nurse practitioner meant to me and what was were the guidelines for my practice. To begin with, I chose the profession of nursing because I believe in helping others particularly the most vulnerable and underserved members in society. Although my nursing philosophy is always evolving, it has its foundations on providing quality care for rural patients in rural areas. The philosophy gives me an opportunity to not only become privy to how my values and ideals have impacted my practice but also influenced my decision to further my education and become an advanced nursing practitioner. Combining my philosophy with experiences over the years, I hope to provide quality care in the rural areas for rural patients, in the future as a nurse practitioner.
As a nurse practitioner, I would help reduce the shortage of primary care providers in rural areas. A recent study reveals that for decades, the rural areas of the United States have experienced persistent shortages of nurse practitioners (Ortiz, Hofler, Bushy, Lin, Khanijahani & Bitney, 20118). This has left rural residents at greater risk for health problems and illness complications. Of great relevance to serving rural areas is the removal of barriers of practice and care. As an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse if permitted to work to the full extent of my education, training, and professional experience, I would provide quality care that is necessary for the increasing rural people, especially those living in underserved rural regions. Furthermore, research reveals outcomes of patients in rural areas treated by nurse practitioners are positive as compared to those of physicians (Yang, Long, Jackson, Rhee, Tomolo, Olson & Phillips, 2019). Besides reducing shortage, my role as a nurse practitioner would help me improve patient outcomes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Quality care, at its core, is a complex and trans-cultural process grounded in ethical and spiritual contexts. Although rural and urban communities differ from each other, both are culturally diverse. Hispanics, African Americans, and Latinos among others have dispersed across the country in rural areas. It is not uncommon that spiritual beliefs regarding health care, preferences, cultural beliefs, and differ from one rural patient and community to another (Ortiz et al, 2018). As such, my role as an advanced practice registered nurse is to be culturally sensitive and provide quality care to meet the diverse needs. Furthermore caring in nursing is a moral obligation whose framework is based on standards that seek to safeguard the patient’s rights in terms of getting quality care (Reed, 2017). Working with the diverse patients from rural areas requires active collaboration and reciprocity with the community an advanced practice registered nurse can identify with. Having garnered the experience at my current workplace, I feel obligated to providing quality care for patients in rural areas.
Currently, I work as a medical-surgical nurse in the emergency department of John Hopkins. For me to get at this point in my career, I had to further my education and become a nurse practitioner because I felt my disposition and demeanor are aligned with my nursing philosophy. Working at John Hopkins has given me an opportunity to gain hands-on experience, particularly being compassionate and empathetic towards the patient while maintaining a conducive environment for their recovery. Furthermore, quality care for a practitioner does not entail just scientific procedures such as assessment, diagnosis, planning, and evaluation (McPhee, 2019). Instead, quality care involves customization of a holistic approach that combines empathy, respect, experiences, and collaboration with other health care providers.
My pivotal role at John Hopkins has as a nurse practitioner for surgical procedures has enabled me to review quality care as a guideline for my practice. Furthermore, surgical procedures require a lot of care, particularly when post-surgery when the patient has to heal. In rural areas, there is a shortage of nurse practitioners in regards to treating patients following surgery. My goal as an advanced practitioner registered nurse, would be to help patients attain positive outcomes through promoting good diet, creating patient care plans, and improving on the already existing ones (Wholihan & Tilley, 2016). I feel obligated to serve rural patients because quality care should not be compromised, yet still, there is a shortage, which suggests that perhaps quality care is being compromised in underserved rural areas.
In her Theory of Human Caring, Jean Watson posits that humans can neither be treated as objects nor separated from others, self, nature, and the larger workforce (McPhee, 2019). Instead, the placement of patients at the center of the care is deemed as quality care. As a nurse practitioner, the application of Watson’s theory is based on carative factors all of which are in alignment with my nursing philosophy. Through the practice of equality, cultivating spirituality, having a caring-healing practice, and creating environments that enable healing, advanced practice nurses have to engage personal emotions in the care of the patient. This will enable both spiritual and emotional experiences that are deemed necessary for providing quality care to patients.
In conclusion, the combination of my nursing philosophy with experiences over the years places me in a position to give quality care in the rural areas for rural patients, in the future as a nurse practitioner. My philosophy underpinning of the term caring defines my practice as a current nurse and future advanced practice registered nurse, serving rural patients in rural areas. With the shortage of advanced practice registered nurses in rural areas, there is no doubt that quality care is being compromised in these regions. I hope to exude confidence while in service of the underserved regions as well as use my nursing philosophy as a guideline for my profession as a nurse practitioner.
References
McPhee, C. B. (2019). The Lived Experience Of Self-Compassion Among Registered Nurses In The Workplace (Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University).
Ortiz, J., Hofler, R., Bushy, A., Lin, Y. L., Khanijahani, A., & Bitney, A. (2018, June). Impact of nurse practitioner practice regulations on rural population health outcomes. In Healthcare (Vol. 6, No. 2, p. 65). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.
Reed, P. G. (2017). Philosophical Clarity and Justifying the Scope of Advanced Practice Nursing. Nursing science quarterly , 30 (1), 73-76.
Wholihan, D., & Tilley, C. (2016). Fundamental skills and education for the palliative advanced practice registered nurse. Advanced practice palliative nursing , 13-22.
Yang, Y., Long, Q., Jackson, S. L., Rhee, M. K., Tomolo, A., Olson, D., & Phillips, L. S. (2018). Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians are comparable in managing the first five years of diabetes. The American journal of medicine , 131 (3), 276-283.
