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Running head: NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Nursing Philosophy
Kristopher L. Gainey
Old Dominion University, School of Nursing

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Nursing Philosophy
Most of my professional life has been spent in the service of others through my time in
the Navy. It stood to reason that nursing would be a good fit for me as it checked all the boxes
associated with my desires of continuing to serve others while keeping me close to home. This
altruistic desire to serve others forms the backbone for my will to be a nurse. How I conduct
myself as a nurse rests on my nursing philosophy. My nursing philosophy is the result of
influences by my nursing education, my faith, previous career experiences from the Navy, and
various life experiences. From these experiences I feel I have a philosophy that will make me an
excellent nurse that will benefit my patients, coworkers, workplace, and even me. This
philosophy for me defines what it means to be a professional and successful nurse.
I was asked to write a nursing philosophy earlier this semester for a lower division
course. I started out simple with ten I will statements: I will exude a sense of confidence and
approachability to my patients and fellow health care providers, I will put my patients first while
Im on shift, I will maintain balance between work, family, friends, and self, I will endeavor to
treat superiors and subordinates with equal respect, I will arrive for my shift early and prepared, I
will not turn a blind-eye to unsafe practices, I will keep myself physically and mentally fit, I will
approach new nurses as a mentor, I will ask for help when its needed, and I will always perform
my three checks and five rights when administering medication. These will be expounded
throughout this paper.
First and foremost, as a nurse I am a health care provider. My purpose is to promote my
patients physical, emotional, and mental health. I achieve this care through the nursing process
of assessing, diagnosing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. I will assess my patient
through interview, observation of non-verbal cues such as gait and body language, and

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

knowledge of their health history. I will then use this data to diagnose my patients condition and
needs. From there I can devise a plan of care that will best define the health goals I want to see
my patient achieve. I will then implement that plan through patient education and
encouragement. Finally, I will evaluate my patients progress on those goals and revise the plan
or methods of implementation accordingly.
I will likely be practicing in a hospital amongst a diverse group of people including
doctors, specialists, administrative staff, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, certified
nursing assistants, pharmacists, and a variety of technicians. All of these people have knowledge
unique to their profession and all of it necessary to provide the myriad types of care required by
patients. I have to understand what they know and the types of care or services they provide and
how to utilize those to the benefit of my patient. I must also caution myself against acting
superior to others based on my position. I learned from my time in the Navy that those lower in
rank than me often had more valuable knowledge or perspective of a situation than I did. From
this, Ive learned that I need to strive to give equal consideration to even the most left field
comment or observation as I would those from a veteran doctor.
I will be practicing in a place that people are required to visit because of injury or illness;
a place where someone has decided their condition is beyond the scope of their ability to handle
and need my help. It is a place where safety is the top priority and I must be mindful of potential
safety hazards. It is also a place that is inherently a health hazard as people with various
communicable diseases frequent it. I must follow the protocols established by my workplace to
minimize the spread of these diseases and enhance patient safety.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Punctuality is valued in every profession I know of. I learned the value of punctuality
mostly from the Navy. There was a saying on my ship, and Im sure most ships, that if you
arrive early to a scheduled event, then youre on time; but if you arrive on time, then youre late.
This was especially true when standing watch on the bridge of a ship, there has to be a turnover
of information before the oncoming watch standers can take over. It was expected that the
oncoming watch standers arrived fifteen minutes early to allow sufficient time for this process.
Based on what I know so far of RN work, there is a similar process when an oncoming nurse
starts their shift. I expect myself to arrive early to work and to plan ahead for contingencies such
as weather or traffic that may delay my arrival. I would expect the same of my co-workers. I
wouldnt appreciate having to stay late because my relief nurse is late for shift and nor would I
expect other nurses to appreciate differently.
Mentorship is huge on my list of beliefs and values. It stems from my Catholic faith and
the commandment of do unto others as you would want them to do to you. I would want to be
mentored as a new nurse because there tends to be some disconnect between what is learned in
school and what happens in the workplace. Mentorship, I believe, helps to bridge this gap and
would ease the transition and lower anxiety. Once I become a more seasoned nurse I expect
myself to fill the role of mentor to new nurses. As a student nurse I greatly appreciated the
CNAs and LPNs at the long term care facility for taking the time to demonstrate various aspects
of AM care to me. I was even more appreciative after hearing third-hand accounts from
classmates who didnt receive this mentorship and instead were regarded as extra bodies to pass
work on to. Mentorship is essential to the learning process as it allows a new nurse to experience
real-world techniques and procedures under the guidance of someone with more experience. It
also increases the sense of teamwork, approachability, and dependability amongst coworkers.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Maintaining balance between work, family, friends, and self is a very important longterm effort and key to my overall happiness. I cant imagine being a successful nurse if one
those life aspects of that balance get too much or too little emphasis. I see my nursing career as a
means to an end, not only is it a means to fulfill my desire to serve others, but also as a means of
financial support necessary to enjoy time with family and friends; whether it be for plane tickets
to visit my family in California or to take a vacation with my fianc. Maintaining this balance
requires the ability to prioritize my time and resources and to evaluate which life aspects are in
need of change. I acknowledge there will be days where these aspects arent in equilibrium and
itll be then that Ill need to leave my personal lifes baggage at the door and focus on my work,
or seek help from my support group to get me through rough patches.
My moral responsibilities as a nurse include honesty and putting patient care first. I am
responsible for giving the patient or co-worker the right information. If I dont know an answer I
will say so and make every reasonable effort to obtain that answer. It is of no benefit to guess or
save face when a patients care is at stake. There is a vast amount of information pertaining to a
patients health and no one person can know it all. The nurse-patient relationship Ive learned
about in class is at the center of this. That relationship requires trust which would be placed in
jeopardy if Im giving answers Im not sure about. Health care is a team effort and as a nurse I
must be humble enough to know when to look to others for answers.
Putting the patient first requires the use of best practice. That means the patient first also
mean discreetly confronting fellow providers I witness performing unsafe practices. Ideally this
confrontation would be an opportunity for educating the provider on best practice, unless the
unsafe practice is deliberate or habitual in which case it may require intervention from higher
authority.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

Nursing is an evidence based practice which all nurses rely on as support for their
actions. Our procedures and protocols are the result of lessons learned from previous successes
and failures. This practice goes all the way back to the early 1900s when Florence Nightingale
discovered the benefits of hand hygiene all the way to today with the Red Cross changing the
order of administering CPR from Airway, Breathing, and Compressions to Compressions,
Airway, and Breathing. Evidence and science based practice guides my nursing education and
will guide my practice once I begin a nursing career.
Nursing is also a dynamic practice meaning that it is constantly changing and evolving.
A procedure I utilize today could change tomorrow as a result of something discovered that
increases its benefit or minimizes its risk. The Joint Commission is a major player in the
changes to the nursing practice. An example of changes it has made is their publication of the
list of Do Not Use abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols to reduce the confusion found in
medical orders. I believe a nurse must keep current on the latest advances affecting his or her
practice. Opportunities to achieve this come in the forms of journals and conferences but the
nurse must have the thirst for new knowledge to glean the most from these examples.
As a first semester nursing student, the influences I have guiding my practice are the
instructors, textbooks, the short amount of time Ive spent at the long term care facility, and
common sense. Common sense has been at odds with the textbook in a few instances. For
example, in nearly every procedure in the textbook it states to perform hand hygiene before
drawing the patients curtain for privacy. It doesnt make sense to touch a dirty curtain after
cleaning my hands; I would have to clean them again before I could touch my patient for
assessment or checking ID and allergy bracelets. This serves as a reminder that I must remain a
critical thinker and not blindly follow directions.

NURSING PHILOSOPHY

I would say that my instructors are my biggest influence in my practice so far; primarily
because they write the tests, so when they stress that something is important in lecture or clinical
I take note of it. Another reason theyre so influential is theyre able to explain the rationale
behind practices, or answer any questions I have. Its this interaction that makes them a more
impactful influence than the text.
This philosophy paper has helped me to explore and expand on the short list of I wills
along with my values and experiences that drive my nursing philosophy. I believe my
philosophy will serve as a solid guide for how to conduct myself both in and out of the health
care setting. I also believe this philosophy will maximize the therapeutic effect of my
interactions with my patients. Concluding this paper does not conclude my philosophy; like
nursing, my philosophy is dynamic and will continue to evolve as I encounter new experiences
and information in my nursing career.

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