Personal Nursing Concepts and Values

Abstract

Personal nursing philosophy and nursing practices are a result of studying and implementation of nursing philosophy. The nature and essence of the profession of nurses are studied and described in the paper. It is known that an appropriate relationship with patients and their family is crucial in the creation of a positive atmosphere and establishing friendly relations during treatment for good results. It is important to be open and sympathetic with a patient as well as with other medical staff. This paper defines the nursing model and describes personal nursing philosophy. Additionally, it focuses on practice-specific concepts and propositions.

Cultural-Informed Care, Safety and Quality as Personal Nursing Concepts and Values

The philosophy of nursing is the attitude of a person and his or her beliefs for caring people. The philosophy shows how a person perceives the profession of nursing and explains the reasons for his or her actions. For people who have linked their lives to this profession, it is a way to help others to improve their health. Personal philosophy reveals the importance of caring for humans. Although scientists highlight the four metaparadigms, the specific concepts with some assumptions and propositions play a significant role in different sphere of nursing.

Being a native of Cuba, I came to the United States of America when I was nine years old. Later, I decided to obtain the coveted profession of a nurse. To achieve my goal, I entered the institution of higher education in the specialty of nursing and currently, I have a bachelor’s degree in this field. During my studies, I have gained invaluable experience in the field of medicine, mastered my knowledge and skills of practical medicine that are necessary in my routine work. Additionally, I have learned the importance and basic principles of deontological ethics that gave me the concepts and skills of correct relations between staff and possibilities to learn the rules of successful communication with patients to get the desirable result regarding health. To improve my knowledge in nursing I enrolled in the master’s program that gave me the important experience for my future profession. Among the significant knowledge about nursing I have gained, there was the approach to the cultural diversity of patients that could be crucial for successful treatment. Currently, I am a full time employed as an obstetrics case manager at an insurance company, where I can apply my theoretical knowledge and skills in practice. This position has given me the understanding of the importance of ensuring the quality of care through trusting communication with patients in face-to-face conversations or during phone cooperation. Additionally, I have gained the experience of supporting patients with medication review and condition learning as well as connecting to available resources. The position of an obstetrics case manager at an insurance company is the possibility to help people through assisting them with the transition from the place of nursing and caring for their usual, comfortable, and familiar places. While gaining my bachelor’s degree, accomplishing master’s program, and obtaining actual working experience, I have managed to convince of the correctness of my choice of a profession and its importance for the wellness of the generation.

Conceptual models and theories of nursing have different paradigms derived from subjects of care. Although each conceptual model connects and defines four metaparadigms differently, there are four concepts in each model. The basic concepts of nursing are person, environment, health, and nursing. These concepts are characterized as “the person receiving the nursing, the environment within which the person exists, the health—illness continuum within which the person falls at the interaction with the nurse, and nursing actions themselves” (Masters, 2015, p. 48). The environment includes social beliefs, values, customs, expectations, and circumstances that affect a person. It is an energy field, which in the combination with the energy of man is interpreted as the basis where the patient faces aesthetic beauty, care, and threats to health. The health is affected not only by cultural, historical, psychological and physical factors, but also by political and economic issues of the world. The environment plays an important role in restoring patients’ health and supports him or her during the recovery.

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The main principle of supporting health is the placement of a patient in the environment that affects him or her in the best way. Additionally, the environment should promote health and allow a patient to save energy and power, which one should use for faster recovery. A person is a part of the community that has its own characteristics and peculiarities. Since people and the environment are interconnected, an approach that provides the separation of a human from the familiar surroundings is wrong.

Health is seen not only as the absence of a disease, but also as a contributor to physical, psychological and environmental factors. Being healthy means not only to feel well, but also to use the life forcefully. Perception of health has to combine the understanding of diseases and the capacity to stay healthy. People know little about the principles of health; however, it is the experience of adequacy between the opportunities and realities based on caring. Illness is perceived as the experience of loss and the lack of comfort. There are five factors of health, including clean air, clean water, light, tidiness, and efficient drainage. The interaction between people and their environment is the level of health.

A patient is one more element of metaparadigm and it is a person who receives help. A patient is the one who combines psychological, biological, spiritual, and social factors. The biological factor is shown by the use of medicine and patient care to combat the disease. Psychological and social factor embodies self-esteem; feelings and spiritual factors are the beliefs of a patient, which she or she respects. The concept of the patient is based on integrations of these four factors and their environment.

The aim of nursing is strictly different from the aim of medicine and mean the best state for acting nursing for better and faster recovery of a patient. In this case, the environmental factors and nursing are related. Thus, many symptoms and causes of bad health are not related to the disease and are the result of adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, the nurse should react to the first needs of patients, such as fresh air, cleanliness, lighting, and proper nutrition. The control of the environmental helps nurses to improve patient health and set up the real disease symptoms, not just the signs of the negative impact of external factors. Some conceptual models appear from the metaparadigm of nursing, as these concepts are the abstract ones.

Cultural-informed care for a patient and environment is one of my practice-specific concepts as an obstetrician manager specialist. A person and environment are two concepts of the metaparadigm of the nursing theory. The cultural-informed care for me as for an obstetrician manager specialist is significant because multiculturalism is an essential factor in my professional activities as it is based on a population with different characteristics. I constantly face the peculiarities of people’s beliefs that can be an obstacle for their treatment. Cultural-informed care is crucial for my profession as patients constantly expose to external factors. That is why; an obstetrics case manager at an insurance company must have the ability to provide practical advice to the patient based on the environmental impact.

The next practice-specific concept for me as an obstetrician manager specialist is the safety of a patient and the quality of his or her caring. This practice-specific concept involves three metaparadigm concepts, including health, patient, and nursing. Safety and quality to a patient and health are based on improving patient conditions while using correct nursing activities. In other words, health must be wholesome that requires correct and useful communication and connection to the sources. The manager checks the quality and safety of patient’s care that is revealed in communication. Thus, “it is crucial that patient safety and quality efforts focus on the systems of care that are designed to prevent harm” (White, Dudley-Brown & Terhaar, 2016, p. 102). The activities of the obstetrician manager must be centered on a patient. Thus, the specialists have to consider cultural, social, and specific needs of patients. One of the philosophies from the nursing literature that supports the importance of these two concepts is Florence Nightingale’s description of the nursing nature. As her observations are based on the issues of illness and disease, such description of the nursing nature is the basement of the obstetrician manager practice.

Additionally, these concepts comply with the philosophy that culture is significant in nursing profession. Thus, “lack of cultural competence is oftentimes a barrier to effective communication, which can often trickle down to patients and their families” (Coe, 2013). Cultural diversity is the base domain for cross-cultural health and related sciences. Moreover, these concepts are referred to Watson’s theory of carative factors. According to this theory, a patient and the environment are a single unit and it is vital to use safe and quality overture for the positive result.

The two practice-specific concepts in my work are connected through some propositions and assumptions. First, the obstetrician manager specialist influences nursing through close effective communication. Second, it is the obstetrician manager’s responsibility to support members with medication review to ease patient’s safety. Third, cultural factors play a key role for the effective health care service. Fourth, the obstetrician manager practice is focused on improving patient’s health by assisting them. Finally, effective and positive practice depends on the intercommunion between a patient, environment, and a manager.

The profession of nursing is an art and nursing philosophy is the core of the success of this profession. My personal philosophy includes the values and principles of the sphere of caring and it based on the responsibility to society for patient care, which must be holistic, caring and focused on a patient. The holistic approach is principal as it “nurture wholeness, peace and healing by valuing each person’s physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and environmental strengths and challenges and honoring each person’s values, health beliefs and health experience” (“What is holistic nursing,” 2017). Nurses should be aware that patients are people who need special care and treatment. It should satisfy all their needs and encourage them to take part in their treatment and recovery.

Another important aspect of treatment is the confidentiality of the process of controlling the disease. Moreover, nurses should inform patients and their family about the disease and treatments and give the information on the useful lifestyle that promotes faster recovery. Nurses have to meet high professional standards and verify their responsibility, skills, and ability to be responsible for another person’s life. Licensing and improvement of knowledge and skills throughout life, using practical and technological achievements, are the right way to meet the desirable results.

The crucial factors in the nursing profession are understanding and respect. Nurses should be able to help people regardless of their lifestyle, religion beliefs, and cultural preferences that will help a patient to feel their dignity and – respect. My core values of nursing are kindness, honesty, patience, safety, and positivity. Moreover, sometimes it is necessary to become a friend, an advocate, and give support to patients.

Nursing philosophy is the core of this profession that has the necessary and useful components of helping people. It is nice for people of this sphere to develop their personal nursing philosophy that will focus on the main aspect of nursing. A person should be aware of the practice-specific concepts and find the goals to achieve the best results in the profession. I consider that this profession has such main components as patient, society, health, and nursing. Additionally, friendly attitude and sympathy will help to create a positive atmosphere.