Philosophy of nursing represents a system of views and ideas from the position of a nurse to self neglect nursing diagnosis. It reflects the world outlook of the nurse in connection with the social environment, professional activities, improvement as well as development of personality and professional competence. In my nursing philosophy, the central link belongs to the patient with his/her social, psychological, and biological needs and is grounded on cooperation of the nurse, the doctor, and the patient.

Key Concepts

Philosophy of any profession, in particular nursing, is constantly in development. The views of society on certain values always undergo changes and, thus, an opinion about the nursing profession changes as well. I believe that nursing is both a science and an art and its major principles are to respect all patients despite their differences and find ways for cooperation of the nurse with both the patient and the doctor.

The mission of nursing in society lies in helping patients and families develop their social, mental, and physical potential and maintain it at an appropriate level, regardless of the changing working and living conditions. According to my philosophy, the most significant principle of nursing is respect for dignity, life, and human rights. I believe in the sacred gift of life and in connection with this, I consider every person as one unit with his/her internal opportunities for the philosophical, physical, cultural, social, spiritual, and intellectual development and growth.

A nurse is a specialist who has skills and knowledge, shows mercy, and is responsible for the care process. A nurse is a unique and socially active person improving spiritual, professional, and psychological qualities to provide the patient with the best care. A nurse acts in collaboration with other health professionals to satisfy the needs of society and patients for health protection. Nonetheless, based on my nursing philosophy, I consider that there are cases when nurses should act independently if it brings benefit to the patient. Nurses’ duties include respect for people and their natural right to independence. In such a way, nurses should act on the basis of principles – do good, not to harm, be committed to both the profession and the patient, and be able to cooperate. What is more, nurses have no restrictions on racial and national grounds, political, sex, or religious beliefs, as well as social status. A need for nursing care is global. Besides, people need it from until death. Helping people, a nurse tries to create an atmosphere of respect for spiritual beliefs, customs, and ethical values. Nurses keep confidentiality in the interests of the patient and protect information if it does not contradict public and personal health.

Metaparadigms

There are four basic metaparadigms in nursing philosophy. They include nursing as science and art, a patient as an individual, the environment and health. According to my philosophy, art has a great impact on the spiritual world of the person. The effect of art on the general mood and state of the person as well as the beneficial influence on health were seen back in antiquity. Florence Nightingale claimed that nursing is one of the oldest arts and one of the youngest sciences that concentrates on caring for patients. According to my belief, nursing as a science is founded not only on medical knowledge, but also on sociology, psychology, history, culturology, aesthetics, and ethics. A patient is a dynamic, integral, and self-regulating biological system consisting of a set of spiritual and psychosocial needs, the satisfaction of which defines the development, growth and merging with the environment. Psychological, biological, spiritual and social components constitute a single whole of the patient. They are characteristic of all people; however, at the same time, they are individual for every person forming a unique personality. Therefore, the nurse should be prepared to deal with any patient and respect his/her past and present, beliefs, customs and life values.

The environment has always influenced people’s lives. Hippocrates believed that environmental factors affect the formation of bodily and mental properties of the person. I think that the environment is one of the most significant factors in maintaining health and preventing diseases. The relations that a nurse forms with people depend considerably on the environment in which he/she grew up, works, and lives. It should be remembered that the habitat imposes a trace on the character of people and, thus, on health and illness. Health is not only the absence of the disease. A healthy person has a good state of health within the mental, physical, spiritual, and psychosocial aspects.

Nursing Process

My philosophy is directly applied to nursing practice. Firstly, counseling and care are successful if the patient and the nurse cooperate. Three elements of nursing – counseling, care, and cooperation - are at the corners of an equilateral triangle, as their importance for maintaining human health is equivalent. Moreover, a nursing process cannot be successful if the nurse does not respect the patent’s inner feelings and worldview. Therefore, a nurse should consult a patient if there are certain doubts regarding the treatment.

Strengths and Limitations

I think that my nursing philosophy has both strengths and limitations. The most important strength of my philosophy consists in the fact that it is based on the respect of human dignity and the importance of cooperation. In my opinion, these factors are the most significant for the achievement of the most successful treatment. However, the major weakness of my nursing philosophy is that it does not contain fundamentally new ideas.

Philosophy represents a specific type of thinking, a worldview system and an emotional mood. Philosophy of medicine is based on the criterion of the spiritual value of human life. A role of this philosophy consists in the fact that it defines the general ideas of medicine that are central not only in the field of philosophical and medical problems, but also in the life of the person in general. Nursing philosophy reflects an attitude of the nurse to professional activities and the patient. According to my nursing philosophy, the main role of the nurse is to respect the patient’s beliefs, dignity and worldview. Moreover, cooperation is highly important for the successful treatment.