Philosophy of Nursing
Nursing 401 – Career Pathway- Assessment
Purpose of Assignment:
The purpose of this assignment is to enable the student to discover his or her personal philosophy of nursing, as it exists at the beginning of the academic journey toward the BSN.
Approach to Assignment:
While completing this assignment, I had to evaluate what I valued most not only in life but also how that applied to my nursing career. I was able to formulate my own definition of what I believe nursing is able to accomplish, independently of medical care, while using my values to define my core principles, which I was already acting upon without knowledge to myself. It was interesting to see how quickly I was able to complete this assignment after I was able to define the core content required to complete it. I feel like I’m completing this assignment with a better understanding of my approach to nursing
Reason for Inclusion:
Including this assignment in my portfolio allows those viewing this assignment to further understand what I find most important in nursing. We are not only responsible for treating patients and restoring them back to health but we are also responsible for preventing further illness by way of education. This assignment also successfully outlines my values and beliefs and how they benefit me during my nursing career.
Curricular outcomes
Critical Thinking
o Uses Nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional practice
By using Virginia Henderson’s philosophy of nursing, I was to further expand and discover my own philosophy of nursing. Mrs. Henderson and Betty Neuman’s systems model of nursing were very influential while I was completing this assignment, especially Betty’s statement that “prevention is intervention.”
Betty Neuman was an advocate of preventing a problem at three different stages of patient care. Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention; in my job, I am commonly able to use secondary and tertiary prevention via treatment of symptoms and reeducation to prevent future occurrences. This model has been the basis of my philosophy. I discuss in my paper my goal to ensure all patients leave better educated and more likely to prevent return for the same cause of illness.
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Engages in creative problem solving
As discussed in my paper, when faced with a patient coming in for illness secondary to a previous injury I was able to find a way to prevent further return for the same problem. If educated properly upon leaving the facility with the rib injury and possibly provided with an incentive spirometer, the patient may very well have not returned with pneumonia. To solve this problem, while treating the patient I used my critical thinking skills to hopefully eliminate the problem by providing proper education that was missed at the time of original discharge.
Nursing Practice
o Applies appropriate knowledge of major health problems to guide nursing practice
In the paper, I was able to use my knowledge of the disease process of pneumonia to help assist the patient and family to better understand was the illness occurred and with methods to prevent its return.
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Performs direct and indirect therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety
Discussed in this assignment, I showed use of teaching methods for prevention of illness is an intervention based on proper patient safety and quality management. By providing this education, I was able to provide knowledge to the patient and family members that may prevent further return to the hospital for the same cause increasing patient health safety and improving quality of care management.
Communication
o Uses therapeutic communication with the nurse-patient relationship
I believe I met this criteria while discussing my interaction with the “rude” patient
I cared for during wound care teaching. I was able to approach the patient with a smile and positive attitude changing his demeanor completely and turning a poor situation into an appropriately beneficial situation.
Teaching
o Provides teaching to patients and/or professionals about health care procedures and technologies in preparation for and following nursing and medical interventions
I believe I met this goal by providing teaching on Turn, Cough, Deep breathing and Huff Coughing methods as methods of prevention against pneumonia in the example provided in the paper.
o Provides relevant and sensitive health education information and counseling to patients, and families, in a variety of situations and settings
I believe I met this goal while not only demonstrating teaching to the patient and family of a patient suffering with pneumonia but also with the teaching performed for the patient with wound care needs in the same example in the written assignment.