Running head: PHILOSPOHY OF NURSING

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Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper

Mariah Blystone
NUR 4142 Synthesis of Nursing Practice
Susan Massengill
March 28, 2016

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I have neither given nor received aid, other than acknowledged, on this assignment or test, nor
have I seen anyone else do so. Mariah G. Blystone
Personal Philosophy of Nursing
Section 1
To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go
through; that is to be a nurse (Mattison, 2012). This quote embodies my thoughts on what
nursing is. Even though I have almost completed my nursing education, I still find it difficult to
put nursing into a concrete definition. My definition of nursing is a service of caring and
advocating for the health of others in a collaborative manner in order to provide the best
outcomes. The three tenants of Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursings philosophy
statement that are reflected in my definition are caring, health, and service. Caring is the basis of
nursing. A nurse cares not only for the physical self, but the mental, emotional, and spiritual self
as well. The caring aspect of nursing is what attracted me to the profession. Health is achieved
when all aspects of ones life is balanced. As nurses we often see individuals who are on the
unhealthy, or risk of being unhealthy, side of the health spectrum. This is the point when they
require the holistic caring nature of nurses. Each individual has their own process and definition
of health. This definition and continuum of health is defined through their experiences, culture,
family, and personal belief system. Finally, service is acting for the good of others instead of
focusing on self-interests. As a student of a college that teaches the Catholic health ministry the
saying good help to those in need has been a huge part of my education. I have been lucky to
have gone through a program that gave me service-learning opportunities to serve the
community. These three tenets are not only major traits of a nurse, but are values I hold in life.

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Section 2
How my personal philosophy is reflected in my nursing practice can be seen through my
interactions with patients and other members of the healthcare team. In each interaction I am a
part of I show I care by having genuine compassionate conversations with patients, their
families, and healthcare providers. I channel God and His word to allow Him to guide my
practice. I am not afraid to step out of my comfort zone to advocate for the need of a patient
when they are uncomfortable or unable to do so for themselves. In my opinion, the role of
advocate is one of the most important roles the nurse plays in patient care. In order to have the
best health outcomes for my patients, I look at everyday as a learning opportunity. I want to learn
as much as I can to provide the best care to my patients. I am not afraid to ask questions if I am
unsure about something because I want to provide safe, quality care.
Section 3
A recent encounter with a patient and during my summer externship experience
demonstrates the application of my personal philosophy of nursing. Before entering the hospital,
my patient had never been hospitalized. He was in relatively good health up until being
diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, undergoing an ablation, and being started on an anticoagulant
and a calcium channel blocker. I had not been assigned this patient until the day of his discharge
so I did not anything other than what was given to me in report. During the discharge process I
felt like something was wrong with the patient. I thought it may have been nothing, but I did not
want to take that chance. After taking the time to set aside the discharge instructions, I sat down
to talk with him. I came to the conclusion that he really did not understand what was happening

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to his body; which was making him feel helpless and hopeless. After ensuring his safety was not
at risk, I encouraged him to write down all his questions. With the help of my preceptor, we
addressed the questions that we could and called the doctor to come address the questions we
could not. I also found every handout and brochure about atrial fibrillation and anticoagulants I
could to give this patient. Although the doctor did not want to, my preceptor ensured he went
into the patients room to answer his questions. I could have ignored my inner feeling that
something was not right but I didnt. I know that advocating for my patient is my job. I took the
time to show I really cared about my patients situation. In order to have the best health outcomes
and the best quality of life this patient needed a voice; and that was me.
Section 4
Since writing my original personal philosophy of nursing in NUR 1100, my values and
beliefs have not changed, but have become more meaningful. Timeliness, compassion, and
education continue to be at the forefront of my values that affect my nursing practice. I have
improved upon my time management skills in patient care, continued to show compassion in
everything that I do, and have placed even more value on continuing to learn all that I can in
order to provide the best patient care in a constantly changing field of nursing. My belief in the
Golden rule, God and His Son Jesus Christ, and the importance of a support system are still
central in my nursing care. I continue and better understand the significance of treating others the
way I want to be treated. Everyone, no matter who they are, deserves the best possible care. My
relationship with God has been strengthened tremendously in the past few years. I know that
with God I am able to accomplish anything. Through the countless patient interactions from the
beginning of my nursing career, I can honestly say that having a support system, who ever that
may be, is a vital component in the plan of care.

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Section 5
The skill acquisition in nursing model describes the progression a nurse makes through
development of knowledge and skill (Benner, 2001, p.13). This progression consists of five
levels of proficiency: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (p. 13). The
movement through these five levels is based upon three aspects of performance. The first is using
past experiences over reliance on strict rules (p. 13). The second is seeing every situation as a
whole with specific relevant parts rather than a collection of small parts (p.13). The third, and
last, is being an involved performer rather than an isolated observer (p. 13).
Section 6
Based upon the skill acquisition in nursing model, I believe that stage two, advanced
beginner, most accurately represents my current professional development. Advanced beginners
have enough real life situations to draw from in order to have a marginally acceptable
performance (Benner, 2001, p. 22). I was blessed to be selected for a twelve week externship at
VCU Health System last summer. That experience, along with the tremendous number of hours
of clinical and working in healthcare for almost three years now, has allowed me to work through
many different real life nursing situations. As opposed to the rule oriented novice with little to no
experience, the advanced beginner can use aspect recognition based on a past experience, to form
guidelines for their practice (p.23). Because of my large amount of experience, I am able to
recognize a past encounter and apply it to my nursing practice. For example, during my
externship I was able to work with my preceptor to care for a patient experiencing sepsis. I
worked through the protocols and pathophysiology with my preceptor to really understand what
was happening. During my first week of immersion, I recognized the increased lactic acid level,

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temperature, decreased level of consciousness, and decreased blood pressure from my past
experience with sepsis in another patient. I asked my preceptor if that was what was occurring,
and she said yes; that is what the plan of care was focused around possible sepsis at that time. I
was able to apply the priority interventions I used during my externship to this new patient in a
more confident and proficient manner.
Although the advanced beginner can begin to use their experience, they are not skilled in
prioritization and therefore require at least a competent level nurse for support and guidance
(Benner, 2001, p. 25). During both my externship experience and my immersion this semester, I
was paired with a two nurses, who in my opinion, are at the proficient level. In order to enhance
my skills and knowledge these nurses are really supportive. Preceptors are used to point out
important aspects to the advanced beginner to improve their learning and ensure patient have the
best outcomes (p. 25). My preceptor for immersion this semester is doing just that. She allows
me to independently perform tasks I am confident in and walks me through those I am not. She
asks me a lot of questions to help me better understand where my focus needs to be. She is not
simply telling me to do this or that while I observe, but allowing me to perform and acquire the
knowledge first hand. She is great at making me feel supported to provide independent nursing
care.
Section 7
In order to move on to the next stage of skill acquisition, Stage three: competent, I can do
the following three actions. First, I can identify at least a competent nurse as a mentor on my first
unit. This will allow me to have someone to go to for support, to answer my questions, and to
help show me professional nursing actions. Second, I will join a professional organization. I

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hope to start my nursing career on a cardiac progressive care unit. If that is the case I will join
the American Association of Critical Care Nurses to allow me access to resources and evidenced
based research. Third, I will continue my education; which ties in with the third action. Through
joining the professional organization, I will be able to work towards my Progressive Care
Nursing (PCCN) certification and be exposed to countless learning opportunities. Also, I hope to
continue my education with pursing my master of science in nursing after two to three years of
clinical experience. I take pride in being a lifelong learner and seeing every day as a learning
opportunity. I will continue to have this mindset for my entre nursing career.

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References

Benner, P. (2001). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice
(commemorative ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Mattison, M. (2012, Aug 20). Top 10 quotes for nurses. Chamberlain college of nursing.
Retrieved Jan 25 2016 from http://blog.chamberlain.edu.