Philosophy Paper Introduction
Purpose of the Assignment: This project provides the student with an opportunity to define his/her philosophy of nursing in the early phases of education and professionalization. In the spirit of life-long learning inherent to the practice of nursing, the student will also explore and describe his/her goals for higher level nursing education. As required for the Senior year portfolio, the student can use this project to look back and reflect upon the values, understandings, ambiguities, and personal experiences that have changed or held steadfast throughout his/her undergraduate nursing education and their influence on the transition to the professional nurse role.
Student Approach to Assignment: While completing this assignment I was able to see how my philosophy of nursing didn’t change but was expanded upon. Though the core of my philosophy was still connection to patients, my understanding of what it means to be a nurse had transformed. It now included the importance of the science behind our actions, and just how important cultural competence is to our practice in order to be able to connect to patients and attend to their care holistically. It was interesting to see how examining my definition and understanding of what composes nursing illuminated my passion and how it had started to gain a sense of direction I hadn’t had at the start of school and now I have an area of nursing I’m passionate about when for so long my answer was that I didn’t know.
Reason for Inclusion of the Assignment in the Portfolio: This assignment compliments my portfolio because it defines my personal understanding of my purpose as a nurse and expands on how I’ve already been demonstrating those values in my clinical experiences. This assignment shows how I will operate in my professional development and will be insightful for anyone trying to examine my motives as a nurse.
Domain 1: Knowledge for Nursing Practice
End of program learning outcome 2. Demonstrate social responsibility as a global citizen who fosters the attainment of health equity for all. (Domain 1)
-In this paper I discuss that one of my goals as a nurse is to serve the community and that I understand that our role as nurses is to be a patient advocate and that applies to the larger picture of policy making and advocation beyond the critical care setting.
End of program learning outcome 3. Articulates an understanding of how human behavior is affected by culture, race, religion, gender, lifestyle, and age. (Domain 1)
-I demonstrate in this paper that I understand that nurses have to be culturally aware to provide optimal patient care to diverse populations, and that members of different cultures will have different ideas of what proper care looks like and what kind of medical intervention they’ll be receptive to.
Domain 9: Professionalism
End of program learning outcome 41. Apply principles of professional nursing ethics and human rights in patient care and professional situations. (Domain 9)
–In this paper I explored the concepts of beneficence and veracity and how they influence my nursing practice. I also discussed an instance where I observed an instance of patient care that wasn’t preserving the patient’s dignity and escalated it to my supervisor so hopefully the patient wouldn’t be treated that way in the future.
Domain 10: Personal, Professional, and Leadership Development
End of program learning outcome 33. Explores personal philosophy of nursing and educational goals at the beginning and end of the program. (Domain 10)
-This page details my personal philosophy and explores how my goals changed across the last two years, and the final result of me finding the field I wanted to go into and securing a job in that field before graduating.