Running head: MY PHILOSOPHY OF NURSING 1

My Philosophy of Nursing

Melody Wagner

Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing

Transition to BSN

3240

Ms. Trina Gardner

October 7, 2017

I Pledge
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My Philosophy of Nursing

My philosophy of nursing aligns with Florence Nightingale and is based on the four

nursing paradigms. The philosophy is a person has a desire to have control of and meet their

basic needs, including emotional and spiritual elements. The four paradigms are person: A

recipient of nursing care that has a set of basic human needs coupled with emotional and spiritual

components. Second, Environment: which is external elements influenced by living experience

and internalization. Third, Health: which is a state of well-being or illness as defined by the

specific human being. Fourth, Nursing: which is a caregiver with the ability to affect health and

environment while providing for basic human needs. Florence Nightingale discussed human

needs, only briefly discussing emotional and spiritual aspects and the affect the nurse has on

them. Taking that a step further, it is clear a person not only has basic human needs but has an

innate desire to control them as outlined in Maslows hierarchy of needs (Mcleod, 2017). As

nurses we should understand that patients come to us in all stages of life, with all the stresses of

home life coupled with suffering so we cannot ignore the basic needs. Ms. Nightingale talked of

nutritious food, cleanliness, clean and warm environment and concluded the outcome was

improved when we paid attention to them (Masters, 2017). Patients become acutely aware of the

fact they need to ask for a blanket, wait for food or drink, and lose control over their daily

activities thereby causing them to attempt to regain some order. They may become irritable,

emotional or simply withdraw, making diagnosis and treatment more complicated. This

increased stress delays healing and causes adverse effects on their body. Nurses need to

anticipate these needs through a relationship- based caring to promote a favorable environment

for well-being and the healing process.

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Along with my philosophy, I have five canons. The first canon is basic needs for food,

water, air and shelter. This is no secret as we all know a human being needs these things and will

seek to obtain them. Nurses are responsible for identifying needs, both in the hospital and at

home such as improper nutrition. Dieticians are present to help educate and provide sources to

assist patients and families. The second canon is basic emotional needs such as self -control,

love, respect, justice and self -esteem. This part of caring for patients encompasses the nurses

combination of head, heart and hands to figure out what the patient needs emotionally (Masters,

2017). The third canon is basic spiritual needs or a belief system for emotional support to

promote health or if needed a peaceful death. The Catholic health system provides spiritual

guidance for all patients, families and staff to ensure a holistic environment of caring and

healing, including death with compassion and dignity (https://www.chausa.org). The fourth

canon is basic environmental needs for clean air, clean water, adequate shelter which has

controlled temperature and is dry. A patient will not heal in an unclean environment so it is

important for nurses to ensure this need is met. The fifth and final canon is basic safety needs

such as a safe place to live, work, play and heal which is emotionally safe as well. Nurses are

responsible for reporting unsafe equipment or conditions and protecting their patients from harm.

Often nurses need to make ethical decisions to advocate and protect their patients emotions

(Cooper, 2012). Fear will increase a patients stress greatly and decrease their chance of a good

outcome.

The expectation of good outcomes is the basis for the Bon Secours values. Providing the

patients basic needs as outlined in the canons of my philosophy, reflects the core values of

respect, justice integrity and compassion. Furthermore, good stewardship allows us to provide

excellent care with good quality through growth and innovation (https://bonsecours.com/health
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system). Bon Secours is committed to care for the sick, poor and dying with dignity, treating the

person holistically with emphasis on spirituality. The help we as a system provides does not

depend on a persons ability to pay, but on the fact, they are in need. Bon Secours asks staff to

assist in finding new ways to treat our patients using good stewardship of time and resources. I

chose to work for Bon Secours because spiritual faith was encouraged and allowed in treatment

of patients and families.

My philosophy of basic needs is evident in a story from personal experience at Bon

Secours. I was working in ambulatory care / post anesthesia care several years ago. We did

outpatient chemotherapy at the time and I took care of an elderly man who after a few treatments

came in quite agitated. I went in to talk to him and he was complaining heavily because we had

placed him in a lounge chair next to the window and air condition vent. I calmly asked him why

he did not like this spot and he replied, I am bald and my head gets cold. I simply moved the

chair to the other side of the room for his comfort as this was important to meet his basic needs

of environment. Was this simply about environment? My guess is that although environment was

the discussion, his basic emotional needs were suffering as he had lost control. Cancer was now

controlling his life and he was desperately trying to gain some form of control. Though

seemingly small for us, it was a big deal for him and he was grieving for loss of health and

relationship since his wife never came with him. He admitted over the next few weeks that his

wife just could not cope with his cancer. He often would fiddle with his I.V. solution trying to

speed up the process to get back home to his wife. We talked about things he could do to help

her cope and I shared I could speak to her. He wasnt willing for me to call her, but he did take

my advice to her to help her deal with his situation which eventually became, their situation. He

became calmer as the weeks went by and talked with more smiling. He finished his treatment
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and I never saw him again, so I do not know how long he lived. However, I have never forgotten

this man and what I learned from caring for him. The first thought was he was a difficult,

grumpy old man which I observed and analyzed. The decision to meet his basic needs and help

him gain some control over his life was truly important, because I chose to follow my heart, use

my head and remember why I was there. This is what nursing is all about, meeting the need

using all the Bon Secours values to promote healing. My philosophy became clearer than ever

that day and still guides me every day as I interact with fellow coworkers and colleagues while

we care for those in need. My Philosophy considers a patient holistically, not a diagnosis or a

room number which can be easy to slide in to. Bon Secours takes another step by adding prayer

on the loud speaker daily and allowing quiet time in the afternoon for quiet rest. This all

promotes healing and further supports my philosophy of nursing.

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References

Bon Secours values: https:// bonsecours.com/health system

Catholic Health Ministry: https://www.chausa.org/

Cooper, Richard Jason, Making the case for ethical decision-making models, Nurse

Prescribing, 2012 vol. 10 No. 12

Masters, Kathleen (2017) Role Development in Professional Nursing, fourth edition

Burlington, MA Bartlett and Jones learning

Mcleod, Saul, (updated 2017) Maslows hierarchy of needs, Simply Psychology