Personal Philosophy of Nursing
Personal Philosophy of Nursing
Introduction
I am Larisa Infante-Centeno, I have an Associate Degree in Science of Nursing, and I am currently enrolled in a Bachelor in Science of Nursing (BSN) program. I have always had a genuine interest in this field of endeavor as I have the innate desire to be an instrumental contributor to the improvement of health and well-being of people through direct patient care.
In my encounter of various definitions of nursing, the description of its meaning as provided by the American Nurses Association is deemed most appropriate: “nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” . It could therefore be deduced that nursing addresses the holistic health needs and requirements of individuals towards an optimization of well-being.
Assumptions or Underlying Beliefs
In pursuing the nursing profession, it is therefore assumed that nurses abide by the standards of ethics, as expected of the profession. These include commitment to the patient, treating them with respect, complete accountability in the performance of duties and responsibilities, assuming conformity to the preservation of integrity and safety, observing maintenance of an effective health environment, and collaborating with other health care professionals towards the improvement of the health condition of patients .
Definitions and Examples of the Major Domains of Nursing
The major domains identified in nursing include: nursing client, transitions, interaction,
process, environment, therapeutics, and health (Meleis, 1991; cited in Smith, 2002). A domain was noted to be defined by Meleis (1991) as the “territory, or unique perspective of a discipline. Therefore, nursing’s domain contains the discipline’s content as well as nursing’s established values, beliefs, concepts, phenomena, problems, and investigative methodologies” (p. 12).
Summary
a- How are the domains connected?
The major domains are actually connected in terms of focusing on the patients’ holistic health needs and requirements. As could be deduced, each of the domain needs to be significantly considered and evaluated in terms of their distinct contribution to health care and how the patients’ health condition would be addressed through accurate assessment, intervention, and health care within the most effective health environment.
b-What is your vision of nursing for the future?
One’s vision of nursing for the future is that the profession would evolve into a more participative and collaborative practitioner within the health care setting; meaning, nurses’ direct contribution to patient care would be more involved and inputs would be more dynamic in conjunction with the inputs of other health care practitioners.
c-What are the challenges that you will face as a nurse?
The challenges that one would face as a nurse would be in addressing the varied and yet, unique needs of patients; especially where the health care environment is becoming more culturally diverse. Likewise, another challenge is the continuing advancement in the application of technology in the health care setting.
d-What are your goals for professional development?
One’s goals for professional development is to complete my BSN degree program and to eventually pursue higher education through a master in nursing program. Likewise, one plans to be involved in various training and development programs being sponsored and conducted in the health care organization where I am involved in. One eventually aims to be a nurse leader in the capacity of a manager to oversee and govern the roles and responsibilities of incoming nurses in the organization one would be serving.
References
American Nurses Association. (2001). Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretative Statements. Retrieved from nursingworld.com: http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf
American Nurses Association. (2013). What is Nursing? Retrieved from nursingworld.org: http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-is-Nursing
Meleis, A. (1991). Theoretical nursing: Development & progress 2nd edn. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B. Lippincott Company,.
Smith, L. (2002). Knowledge Domains in Nursing. Retrieved from scu.edu.au: http://scu.edu.au/schools/nhcp/aejne/vol8-1/non_refereed/smith.html
