Nursing Philosophy Essay Paper

My understanding of philosophy is that it is the ideas and thoughts that bring meaning to my life. In this respect, my nursing philosophy are the ideas and thought that guide my profession as a nurse, especially with I engage with other stakeholders as well as future career plans. Nursing Philosophy Essay Paper  My philosophy of nursing is centered around the notions of care and independence. The notions of care and independence are based on the assumption that any individual seeking nursing care recognizes the personal limitations is seeking to achieve health and wellbeing goals. Nurses intervene by leveraging their unique professional skills, knowledge and competencies to provide the required care while helping patients to achieve independence (Zaccagnini & White, 2017). The understanding of nursing science and profession has traditionally been based on four concepts of environment, client, health and nursing that are considered the building blocks of nursing practice (Butts & Rich, 2018). The present paper offers a personal philosophy of nursing based on the four concepts.

Concept of environment

The environment refers to all internal and external surroundings that have an impact on health and wellbeing to include the weather and people. I understand that no single person lives in isolation, and that the combination of environmental factors have an influence on health outcomes. This understanding is especially important when conducting assessments of patients. For instance, persons from certain geographical regions are likely to suffer from certain medical conditions, and it is important to rule out the more common conditions before exploring others as this would save on time and money. Nursing Philosophy Essay Paper   Besides that, having an awareness of the environment is important for communicating with the client as it presents important background information that acts as a conversation starter. In addition, the environment can help with developing discharge education as it indicates the resources available to the patient and what can be leveraged to improve health, such as the presence of family members with medical knowledge to provide round the clock care (Butts & Rich, 2018). In this respect, I consider the environment as an important aspect of care delivery since it presents the features that influence health and supports that can be leveraged to support the achievement of health and wellbeing goals.

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Concept of client

The client refers to the recipient of nursing care who could be a single individual, family, group or community. Each client presents a unique set of information to include demographics as well as the health concern. Handling each client as an individual, irrespective of whether the client presents within a group or not, is important for ensuring that the prevailing nursing care needs are met. For instance, there could be a flu outbreak in a town that has teenagers and the elderly. The nursing care needs of the two groups (teenagers and elderly) would differ since the teenagers would be expected to have stronger immune systems than the elderly thereby requiring different care approaches even if they both have the same strain of flu. Additionally, it is important to differentiate the client from the others in the peripherals and the environment since the client is of primary concern while the other stakeholders are of secondary concern (Butts & Rich, 2018). As a result, I consider the client as the primary incidental recipient of nursing with the others in the peripherals being secondary accidental recipients.

Concept of health

Health refers to the degree of wellness and wellbeing that the client experiences. This is a relative concept that changes with every situation. Every time that a client has an interaction with nursing care, the definition of health would change. To be more precise, the client is in a spectrum that shifts between healthiness and unhealthiness so that nursing care seeks to achieve a balance that takes the least amount of energy to maintain. For instance, if a client suffers from a treatable ailment, then providing treatment to eliminate the ailment so that no more medical care is required would be considered as achieving a balance. On the other hand, if the client suffers from a terminal illness, then managing the medical condition and helping the client to minimize the effects of the illness would be considered as achieving balance (Masters, 2015). In this respect, I perceive health as achieving a balance between healthiness and unhealthiness that takes the least amount of energy to maintain.

Concept of nursing

Nursing refers to the intervention that delivers care aspects considered to be nursing specialties. Nurses engage in a series of attributes, characteristics and actions that are unique to them, and considered part of their professional roles and responsibilities. While other medical professions could complete the same actions, nurses are specifically trained to undertake the actions. For nurses to act within the care environment, there is a need for support from the patients. The support involves active participation. For instance, if a patient is advised to refrain from taking alcohol alongside prescription medication then the client would actively participate in the care provision by following the medical advice (Masters, 2015). As a result, I perceive nursing as any action that makes use of specialist nursing knowledge and intended to support the client in achieving a desired state of health and wellbeing.

References

Butts, J., & Rich, K. (Eds.) (2018). Philosophies and Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice (3^rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

Masters, K. (2015). Nursing Theories: A Framework for Professional Practice (2^nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.

Zaccagnini, M., & White, K. (Eds.) (2017). The Doctor of Nursing Practice Essentials: A New Model for Advanced Practice Nursing (3^rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.  Nursing Philosophy Essay Paper