Running head: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY PAPER 1

Personal Philosophy Paper

Erika Swinson

NUR 4142: Synthesis for Nursing Practice

October 17, 2017

Dr. Turner

Honor code: I pledge

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Define Nursing

Nursing is not just one word that is easily defined. It has many pieces and parts that some

would never think of when they think of the word nursing. One of the first words I think of when

I hear the word nursing is caring, but its much more complex than that. Nursing is caring for not

only your patients, but for your coworkers, your place of employment, your community, and

yourself as a person and a nurse. Nursing is constantly learning new way to better care for your

patients with the ever-changing technology that is discovered in our world today. Nursing is

constantly improving yourself and your skills to care in the best possible way. Nursing is not an

easy job. Its running back and forth all day, constantly critically thinking to make sure your

patients are being cared for in the best possible way. Nursing is praying that you dont miss

anything that could cause your patients health to decline. Nursing is constantly assessing,

evaluating, implementing, and teaching your patients. Nursing is being creative and being

willing to learn to go along with your patients ever changing needs. Nursing is comforting your

patients and their families in their times of need. Nursing is holistic, its caring for the whole

person, not just their physical needs, but also by promoting wellness by teaching and

encouraging your patients to take better care of themselves. Nursing is taking care of yourself so

that you can be the best nurse when caring for your patients. Nursing is researching and

continuous education. Nursing is using evidence based practice to provide top notch care.

Nursing is speaking up for vulnerable populations throughout the community and world and

finding ways to improve these populations and eliminate health disparity. Nursing is providing

culturally competent care. Nursing is respecting and treating every person that you care for the

same no matter what the situation. Lastly, I believe nursing is a passion, and not everyone is

made to be a nurse, but those of us that are, love it and wouldnt change it for anything.
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Reflect on Philosophy

My personal philosophy of nursing is reflected in my nursing practice not only

when caring for my patients in the hospital, but daily through-out my life. I try to always

maintain a positive attitude when caring for my patients even in the most difficult of situations. I

always respect my patients, coworkers, teachers, and peers even during disagreements. I have

always believed that you should always treat others as you want to be treated. This is something

that I strive to do even when I have a patient that is treating me poorly. I understand most people

are not in the hospital because their health is improving, and these patients sometimes choose

their nurses to take out there anger and grief on and I understand that. I dont think of these

people as any less of a person when they treat me negatively, instead I try my best to be there for

them and empathize with them in any way possible. Prayer is something I have always believed

is very important. I pray every day whether its for guidance to make the right decision when

caring for my patients or just that the day will go smoothly I truly believe this is something that

God makes a huge impact on my nursing care.

Nurse-patient encounter

When I think of a specific nurse-patient encounter that demonstrates me applying my

personal philosophy of nursing I think of one specific encounter that I had in my adult nursing

science two clinical. When receiving report on this patent I was very intimidated. The nurse

giving report to me and the oncoming nurse described this patient as unpleasant, rude, and said

he had a very dry since of humor. I was still at the stage of getting nervous when first meeting

my patients for the day so all this information really intimidated me. This patient of mine had

been at the hospital for 2-3 months due to multiple infections and he was also currently on

contact precautions. When I first entered the room with the nurse to introduce ourselves he did in
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fact seem like a rather grouchy older gentleman. When returning to the room to do my

assessments he acted as though I was a bother to him. I tried my best to explain to him why I

needed to ask him all the questions I was asking for my assessment. The more time I spent with

him the more he opened-up to me. I learned that he did not have any family and he also hadnt

had any visitors come to visit him while he was in the hospital. I really empathized with him

because I couldnt imagine being in his position, stuck in a room for months with no one to talk

to except for those that cared for him. He also shared with me that he felt that the nurses and

techs did not really take time to care for him like they should. He made the comment to me that

most of the time the techs wouldnt even come in the room they would just open his door and ask

him if he needed anything from the door way so that they didnt have to gown and glove up. That

alone can really make a person feel bad about themselves. After him telling me this I spent a lot

more time in his room because I knew that he really needed to feel my presence and know that I

cared about how he felt. At the end of the day he thanked me for everything that I did for him

and he also told me that he really appreciated that I took so much time out of my day to listen

and care for him in the manner that I did. Hearing this from him was extremely rewarding. It

made me realize how important it is to truly take the time out of our busy days to care for our

patients not just physically, but for their emotional needs as well.

Values and Beliefs

When looking back at my personal philosophy paper from Nursing 1101, I really cannot

say that my values and beliefs have really changed that much over my time as student at the

college of nursing. Back in my first semester of nursing school I stated that my personal values

of nursing were to provide holistic care, be thorough, have compassion, be loyal, be trustworthy,

be honest, collaborate with my patients and staff to reach a goal, be aware at all times, and
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provide patient education when it is needed. Now in my final semester of nursing school I still

consider these things as my personal values of nursing with just a few that have changed. One

value that has changed is that I know to always provide patient education, whether the patient

thinks they needs it or not, there is always a piece or part of something that may be missing that

they may not be aware of. The other value that has changed slightly would be when I said be

aware at all times I would include that what I really mean by that is to be an attentive listener and

pay close attention to detail at all times. When writing my personal philosophy of nursing paper

my first semester I said that my personal beliefs about nursing are: believing in Jesus Christ,

believing in providing the best nursing care possible, believing in listening to patients needs,

and that I believe that all people deserve equal quality care. None of my personal beliefs about

nursing have changed but I would add that I now believe that researching, continuous education,

and following evidence based practice are all extremely important aspects in nursing.

Benners Theory

Patricia Benners theory from Novice to expect is based off The Dreyfus Model. This

model suggests That in the acquisition and development of a skill, a student passes through five

levels of proficiency: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (Benner,

2001, p. 13).

According to Benner, in 2001 the different levels reflect changes in three general aspects

of skilled performance. One is the movement from reliance on abstract principles to the

use of past concrete experience as paradigms. The second is a change in the learners

perception of the demand situation, in which the situation is seen less and less as a

compilation of equally relevant bits, and more and more as a complete whole in which

only certain parts are relevant. The third is a passage from detached observer to involved
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performer. The performer no longer stands outside the situation but is not engages in the

situation. (p. 13)

The novice stage of the theory includes beginners which have had no experience of the situation

in which they are expected to perform (Benner, 2001, p. 20). Nursing students are used as an

example in this section as well as nurses that are going into a clinical situation where they have

no experience with that specific patient population. The advanced beginner stage includes those

that can demonstrate marginally acceptable performance, ones who have coped with enough

real situations to note (or to have them pointed out to them by a mentor) the reoccurring

meaningful situational components (Benner, 2001, p. 22). These meaningful situational

components are referred to as aspects which are characteristics that can be identified only

through prior experience (Benner, 2001, p. 22). The competent stage includes nurses that have

usually worked in the same area for two to three years. They show competence when they begin

to see their actions in terms of long-range goals or plans of which he or she is consciously

aware (Benner, 2001, pp. 25-26).

In 2001, Benner states that the competent nurse lacks the speed and flexibility of the

proficient nurse but does have a feeling of mastery and the ability to cope with and

manage the many contingencies of clinical nursing. The conscious, deliberate planning

that is characteristic of this skill level helps achieve efficiency and organization. (p. 27)

In the Proficient stage the nurse perceives situations as wholes rather than in terms of aspects,

and performance is guided by maxims (Benner, 2001, p. 27). The proficient nurse learns from

experience what typical events to expect in a given situation and how plans need to be modified

in response to these events (Benner, 2001, p. 28). As said above the proficient nurse used

maxims as a guide. According to Benner in 2001 maxims reflect what would appear to the
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competent or novice performer as unintelligible nuances of the situation; they can mean one

thing at one time and quite another thing later (p. 29). She goes on to explain when the

performer has a deep understanding of the situation that the maxim then provides direction as to

what must be taken into consideration (p. 29). The expert nurse does not rely on rules,

guidelines or maxims to link the understanding of a situation with an action. The expert nurse,

with an enormous background of experience, now has an intuitive grasp of each situation and

zeroes in on the accurate region of the problem without wasteful consideration of a large range of

unfruitful, alternative diagnoses and solutions (Benner, 2001, p. 32).

Skill Acquisition Stage

I would say the skill acquisition stage that most closely represents my current

professional development would be both the novice stage and the advanced beginner stage. I

would say I fall under the advanced beginner stage for my professional development as a student

nurse on the MIU where I am placed in my clinical immersion. I choose advanced beginner for

this part because I would be able to point out certain situations due to the characteristics that

usually go along with situations that I have experienced before. If I was put on any other unit I

would still be in the novice stage because I would have little or no experience of the skills and

critical thinking that I would be expected to perform. I would still say for the most part my

overall professional development is still in the novice stage, I have little situational experience

on many units, most of my knowledge is based off what I have learned in the classroom.

State 3 things

The first thing I will do to move onto the advanced beginner stage is I would try my best

to follow the rules that I am given but also still be flexible. Benner talks about that when you

always follow the rules exactly as they are it can prevent successful performance because those
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rules dont tell you what the most important task would be to perform in an actual patient

situation (p. 21). The Second thing I would do is treat each situation I encounter differently

because each patient is individual and you dont know if these situations will turn out the same

as it did the first time you encountered it. The Last thing I would do to move onto the advanced

beginner stage is to take all of the knowledge I have learned through the situations I have

encountered in the clinical setting and apply my knowledge to similar situations in the future.
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References

Benner, P. (2001). From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing

Practice. Upper Saddle River , NJ: Prentice Hall.