Philosophy of Nursing Paper

PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING

NURS 401 Career Pathways Assessment

Purpose: 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.

Student Approach to the Assignment

I wrote this during my first class at Old Dominion and when I had only experienced one semester of nursing school at Northern Virginia Community College. I was new to theoretical nursing education and practice and was beginning to develop my own personal philosophy. This paper allowed me to thoroughly reflect on my feelings and ideas about the nursing profession.

Reason for Inclusion

This assignment exemplified how I was able to utilize different definitions of nursing to develop my own nursing values and create a model of nursing to guide my practice. This paper required critical thinking to define the practice of nursing and what limits as nurses, we are able to set on that practice by legal and professional nursing bodies.

Critical Thinking

·Uses nursing and other appropriate theories and models to guide professional practice

I utilized a combination of nursing definitions to develop my own. Essentially, the paper explained what nursing means to me. The definition as well as the purpose, values, and beliefs described in the paper reflect my current practice.

Leadership

·Articulates the values of the profession and the role of the nurse as a member of the interdisciplinary health care team

Identifying the values of the nursing profession and describing the role of the nurse within a healthcare team was important in this paper. I describe the role as the one who ultimately keeps the healthcare team functioning by caring for the patient and advocating for them as part of a team. The relationships between the healthcare team and the nurse are also crucial in order to promote a professional environment.

Professionalism

· Differentiates between general, institutional, and specialty-specific standards of practice to guide nursing care

This paper required research into the state and national bodies which regulate the nursing practice. I discussed the core standards of the Virginia State Board of Nursing and American Nurses Association which guide the practice of nursing.