Developing a Personal Philosophy in Nursing

In order to create a personal philosophy that is meaningful and can be carried through a person’s career; one must first start with the basis of being a nurse. According to Faye Abdellah
“Nursing is based on an art of science that moulds the attitudes, intellectual competencies, and technical skills of the individual nurse into the desire and ability to help people, sick or well, cope with their health needs” (Lessing, 2004). In other words, being a nurse builds you up as a person and uses your technical skills and intellect to care for people. Faye Abdellah describes nursing as an art of science, as the nurse learns new things, they become more qualified to look after their patients.
When I first became a nurse, I developed a philosophy

I believe people are connected beings with fundamental pride and values. To appropriately care for a person, the patient must be considered as a whole package. In order to do this, the person’s physical, social, psychological, cultural, spiritual, and aspects of their life must be considered when creating a plan of care. Environment can be defined as “the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surrounding and the social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or a population,” (n.d.). A person’s environment is such a large part of their life and such an influencing factor on their day-to-day decisions. Their environment includes their socio-economic status (can they afford their prescriptions? Is the test that’s being run really necessary or an undue burden on them financially?), demographics (what is their understanding of health? What are their religious beliefs? what are their race/are they more susceptible to certain conditions?), access of to health care (do they drive/have transportation? Do they have health insurance?), and social support (are they alone? Do they have too much support with too many opinions?). As a nurse, one must always know a person is in continuous contact with their environment and the stress that come along with it. An appropriate and relaxing environment can impact a patient’s adherence to their medications and treatments and reduce their recovery time. The third concept on which I based my philosophy is health, which is the absence of illness. As a nurse and/or practitioner, it is important to focus on the patient’s main health complaint as well as any associated symptoms, needs, and overall wellness of the patient. Nursing is the promotion, deterrence of sickness and harm, protection, optimization of wellbeing and abilities; and advocacy in the care of individuals, populations, communities,