As a nurse or healthcare personnel, it is always important to have a personal philosophy that guides one in their daily professional practice. This personal philosophy acts as the guideline that motivates and keeps one moving in the right direction and serving the patient population in the manner that befits their status and provides ultimate satisfaction to the healthcare provider at the personal level. In most cases, the professional practice derives satisfaction not form the wages and economic benefits but from the satisfaction with the outcomes each time they are reviewed (Laabs, 2011).
For the nurse, the satisfaction is brought about by the ability to actualize patient outcomes and afford patients the care they deserve and that which puts them at the position where they are optimally functioning. The nurse’s satisfaction is based on what they regard as their personal philosophy. There are pertinent questions that guide the philosophical appeal of the nurse and they include; what do I want to achieve today? What is best for each of my patients? What is the role of my patient in the care process? Who else should I involve in the care process apart from the patient and self? The personal philosophy is usually built along the values of the code of practice of nursing (Douglas, Pierce, Rosenkoetter, Pacquiao, Callister, Hattar-Pollara & Purnell, 2011).
I consider my personal philosophy as the ultimate guide to my daily nursing roles and the standard along which I gauge and evaluate whether the day or period has been success or a failure. Along this personal philosophy, once I discover that there are areas where the quality of care, satisfaction of the patient or the safety of the patient is being hampered, then I usually have to respond by reviewing my philosophy and if possible making amends for the particular situation if still there is a chance to do so. I believe that this personal philosophy has been the key metric for my actions and behaviors and it is the standard along which I have been able to grow as a nurse. One of the key aspects of my nursing philosophy and which is entrenched in the code of ethics for nurse is respect (Sellman, 2011).
My encounter with patients implies that I will at one time or the other meet a diverse patient population with differing cultural, social, economic, political and religious. I have recognized the need to regard each patient as a human in need as opposed to classifying or categorizing them based on a particular issue. As a nurse, the patient has to recognize that you appreciate their presence and in that regard, they tend to open up on their issues and this becomes the first instant of a successfully assessment process. On the other hand, such respect is based on my recognition that the patient needs are mainly determined by each of those factors within their environment and that the nurse has a role to seek a common platform along which the patient can adapt well to their environment (Laabs, 2011).
Over the course of time, I have also appreciated the role of kindness and compassion as key aspects of the healthcare system. Patients will always consider their illness as an issue that has usually taken away their happiness or their ability to function optimally. There is a tendency to feel that they have lost some of the characteristics that make them complete humans. For those in end-of-life care, they recognize that their condition could be a pointer of their last days on earth. As a nurse, I have learned to show compassion and kindness to these patients and allow them to recognize that their current situation is one that they can overcome or in cases of End-of-life care they can cope well. Patients do not just need medication and therapies but they also need someone who can show love and help them feel that they still have a role to play in their lives.
Further, as a nurse, I have learned that the outcomes in healthcare are mainly determined by the level of communication between the patient and the nurse. I therefore seek to develop an open communication channel between me and the patients. I know that the active participation of the patient in the care process is a key aspect that determines the outcomes. On one hand, when the patient is directly involved and allowed to participate, they appreciate the treatment regimen or therapies that are decided upon and they may therefore take a lead role in ensuring adherence (Douglas, Pierce, Rosenkoetter, Pacquiao, Callister, Hattar-Pollara & Purnell, 2011). On the other hand the involvement of the patient implies that the nurse has a platform to recognize the perceptions and beliefs of the nurse that may influence or hinder the healing process and therefore affording the nurse a chance to redesign the care plan within those identified components as voiced by the patient during this communication (Sellman, 2011).
In another perspective, there are many reasons that patients may feel contented with the care provided. Similarly, there is a reason as to why the family may be comfortable with the care process. The patient population present with various values, beliefs and perceptions and this implies that the nurse has to understand them, not necessarily abide by them but do the best that can be done to accord patients the care that aligns with those beliefs. In this case, the involvement of the family is one other aspect that I consider pertinent in the care process. Family members are the closest people that can help identify the needs of the patients but even more, they are the group that can assure the patient that the care process as explained by the nurse is important and necessary for them. Patients need assurance and such is even more important when it comes from close family members. On the other hand, issues such as deliberation and negotiation on religious and cultural beliefs can be achieved optimally when the family is involved (Douglas, Pierce, Rosenkoetter, Pacquiao, Callister, Hattar-Pollara & Purnell, 2011).
Patients regard their privacy as a key item and while they may disclose so much information to the nurse or the healthcare provider, they expect that the nurse or the care provider will safeguard that information even in their absence and use to only when necessary unless under any other further authority by the patient. As a nurse, I know that the patient holds so much trust for the nurse once they disclose personal information, it is a point where they need help and they believe that such information can help the nurse develop a care plan that can actually help them in the recovery and restoration. In my philosophy, I understand that I should remain true to the patient and that implies protecting their information thus upholding confidentiality (Laabs, 2011).
Each of these values should be upheld in unison as opposed to isolation and the determinant should be the satisfaction of the patient. The nurse therefore has no role to determining which aspects of the code of conduct they should uphold at one time or the other. Each situation will demand that the nurse demonstrate a particular value or provision of the code of conduct. Over the course of time, and in different situations, the nurse will ultimately learn to implement each of those values at the most appropriate time (Sellman, 2011).
References
Douglas, M. K., Pierce, J. U., Rosenkoetter, M., Pacquiao, D., Callister, L. C., Hattar-Pollara, M., & Purnell, L. (2011). Standards of practice for culturally competent nursing care: 2011 update. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 22(4), 317.
Laabs, C. (2011). Perceptions of moral integrity: contradictions in need of explanation. Nursing Ethics, 18(3), 431-440.
Sellman, D. (2011). Professional values and nursing. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 14(2), 203-208.
