Personal Philosophical Foundations of Nursing

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What Is Nursing

Nursing has been an integral part of almost our everyday lives. From a simple charity service given by women in the earlier era, it has evolved into a noble, highly looked upon the profession and likewise, a highly marketed educational program. These days, millions are being lured into entering this profession because of the number of benefits one can get from it.

Nursing started in various forms and various cultures. The most common idea about nursing during the 15th century would be a woman who is taking care of another person in the absence of his or her parents- this is done mostly for children (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989).

When the Crimean War broke in 1853, Florence Nightingale, most noted to be the “Lady of the Lamp”, worked to improve the conditions of the soldiers in the Crimean war despite the risks attached to it. She is the person responsible for laying out the foundations of modern nursing with her release of “Notes on Nursing”. With this milestone in the health care profession, nursing advanced from simple and noble work to a broader and more competitive discipline both in academics and profession.

As defined by the International Council of Nurses (n.d.), nursing is generally defined as “autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups, and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled, and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and inpatient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles.”

Nursing Knowledge

After the laying of the foundations of nursing, it has evolved into a growing and more extensive discipline. With this growth comes the development of nursing knowledge and theories. Nursing knowledge is an indispensable aspect of the nursing profession. With nursing knowledge, there becomes an established set of principles, theories, and practices that are being used to train and facilitate the learning of students. Nursing knowledge is said to be a combination of a set of knowledge and experiences which a person develops over time (Nursing BC, 2002).

Because of the ever-growing population of nursing programs and schools, there is a burden for them to devote much attention to their academic and professional philosophy and educational system. With each nursing school or institution bearing various knowledge and concepts, there is the main argument on the inconsistency and variability which revolves around the formation and foundation of nursing knowledge to be pinned upon the students.

This characteristic of nursing knowledge, being indefinite and unparallel among each institution is a main incongruity within the nursing profession. Because of this academic and professional confusion, the nursing theory which is supposed to be a set of underlying principles in the nursing practice becomes somewhat insignificant and challenged.

Nursing Theory

As a component of nursing knowledge, nursing theory serves a very significant purpose in the nursing profession. As defined by Cody (1994), nursing theory is “a distinct and well-articulated system of concepts and propositions rooted explicitly in a philosophy of nursing and intended solely to guide nursing practice and research”. It is the matrix of the nursing profession because it lays the principles that strengthen the nursing profession.

It is contended by Chinn and Jacobs (1978) that nursing theory aims to explain, calculate and elucidate the observable facts in nursing. With this definition, we may conclude that in studying nursing, a certain student should be taught the correct principles, knowledge and should be given the chance to practice the skills correctly to be able to perform what is said on the definition of the nursing theory- to explain, calculate and elucidate.

Moreover, nursing theory should provide the foundations of nursing practice, help to generate further knowledge, and indicate in which direction nursing should develop in the future (Brown 1964). Nursing theory is not only applicable to the on-action aspect of nursing. It is also utilized in creating further knowledge and providing more meaningful inputs and theories through productive research.

Generally, nursing theory is important because it tells us to decide what we know and what we still need to know (Parsons, 1949). With all nurses envisioned with a general theory to base their actions upon, there would be a more efficient delivery o care to the clients, more improved professional status, and more defined professional boundaries.

More than that, the intra-professional aspect of nurses becomes more effective and improved since there is a unified set of values, norms, and knowledge that encompasses them. Communication would be better among nurses and this is to the advantage of all involved in the health care profession.

The need to develop a systematized and uniform set of theories and knowledge is growing as time progresses. The professional issue with regards to nursing knowledge is indeed something to resolve because it would badly cripple the profession in the long run. However, although challenges are being met at certain parts of the road, these are all but manifestations that the nursing profession is a continuously growing and non-stagnated discipline geared toward maintain a person’s health and wellness, as well as promoting quality life to all persons who are in need.

How Nursing Knowledge Is Developed

The development of nursing knowledge is as important as the foundation of knowledge itself. Through developing this century-old knowledge, nursing becomes a growing and progressing discipline and keeps up to date with the needs of the changing time. Based on the Hierarchy of Contemporary Nursing Knowledge, five key components compose nursing knowledge. These are the meta paradigms, philosophies, conceptual models, theories, and methodologies for inquiry and practice. All these components are key areas from which nursing knowledge roots its development.

Development is most observed in the area of philosophies and theories which are growing at a fast pace. One example of development in the part of philosophies is when nursing schools and institutions require the students to make their philosophies and middle range theories which may contribute to the academic and professional development of nursing.

At a closer look, nursing philosophies stipulate claims about phenomena of certain interest to a discipline, how these phenomena came to existence, and what values should be applied to a certain discipline. Philosophies function to tell other members of the discipline, as well as to other people, a person’s or a certain discipline’s beliefs and values which are followed and applied.

Philosophies of Nursing

Nursing as a Noble and Responsibility-Bound Profession

Before presenting my nursing philosophy, it would be more appreciable if we start with my philosophy of nursing as a whole. Nursing, for me, is an integration of both science and art. It is a client-centered profession aiming to provide man with the utmost quality of care he must receive in the course of his lifetime. This is realized by assuming the role as a nurse, applying the principles for health care in the clinical and community area, and making use of theories and processes necessary to the profession.

I also stand by the idea that all people have the right to have the highest quality of care and utmost respect despite their age, gender, race, and other possible barriers which may hinder them from being taken care of. Furthermore, a patient’s disease should not make him isolated among others and make him feel that he is helpless. The nurse should provide all that a patient needs for him to attain the highest possible function in life. This is done by maintaining proper communication and nurse-to-patient relationship and creating a congenial atmosphere.

Also, I believe that more than being excellent in the clinical area, nurses should also take note of their role as research-oriented individuals who must pioneer the achievement of a research-based action and principle which would be applied in all aspects of caring for the patient.

With the view that a nursing philosophy aims to convey to other people, most especially to the members of the same discipline the values and thoughts which one has for nursing, this personal nursing philosophy serves the aforementioned purpose, but more than that, this simple nursing philosophy also aims to inform to people that nursing is not only about being bounded to taking physical care of other people and making them well, it is also a way of showing one’s concern for man’s life, one’s spirit and being.

Recognizing the Uniqueness of Each Individual

According to Roy, a noted nurse theorist who contributed to the Adaptation Model, man is a biopsychosocial being in constant interaction with a changing environment. A man is not just merely the physical being we see and interact with. He also has other living aspects such as his psyche, his deeper personality, which we should as well consider in giving him service. Each aspect has its own needs such that man, as a biological being, needs food, water, and air to live. Man as a psychological being needs knowledge and information to cope with the happenings around him. He has this ability to improve his intellectual being and his knowledge capacity. Man as a sociological being needs other persons to fulfill his needs and can interact with other people around him. He is not confounded to the boundaries of his body and mind.

Constant interaction with the environment means that a person cannot exist optimally without the presence of others, be it a person or thing. In interacting with a person, this definition may be considered- that man is not merely a physical being but is also composed of other aspects which may be intangible for us.

Balanced care for these aspects of man may contribute to his optimal functioning as a person. Caring and giving focus to a single aspect of a man’s life might make him well in that context but the neglect of other aspects might cause him another hindrance to optimal functioning.

Acknowledging the Value of the Environment Towards Achieving a Healthy State and Well-Being

The environment is the perspective where individuals come across their needs. There are different classifications for an environment- each classification interrelating with one another to form a complex and unique component of man’s life. These kinds of the environment are the following: physiological, psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and biophysical.

Although viewed as separate classifications, these environments interrelate with each other because they provide man the means to achieving the fulfillment of their being human persons, being able to live, and being able to interact with others. Environmental health, an important factor in health promotion, is one of the main purposes of the nursing profession because it serves as a preventive measure for a greater number of individuals.

The nursing profession considers the environment to be of utmost significance because it is the recipient of focus when caring for a certain patient. The interaction between health and the environment should never be neglected, whatever the circumstances may be. This is one principle why the nursing profession encourages a community-based approach because of the environmental factor affecting the community members. Through quantitative and qualitative assessments, the community nurses come to know the possible health threats and counter them with interventions to prevent these threats from being materialized.

Understanding the Health-Illness-Wellness Notion for Maintaining the Quality of Care and Service to the Patients

Health

Is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, 1946). It is a complete integration of the body, mind, and environment of a person which brings about his maximum and optimal functioning. This definition means that one should not only consider the physical aspect of man to consider him to be healthy. A holistic approach to determining health is a must for all health care providers, most especially nurses. This may be carried out by a complete assessment of a client, digging into deeper information that can be voluntarily answered or exemplified by the patient.

Illness

Is the altered state of being which happens by the non-fulfillment of individual needs. When an individual acquires illness, he or she becomes hindered from doing his normal activities and even gets vulnerable and predisposed to certain diseases. My personal view of nursing is that it is a profession dedicated to helping patients recover from their illnesses. The task of nurses is not merely to administer treatment regimen but help the client, motivate them for a more positive approach with regards to their health, give them health teachings for self-reliance and give them a chance to participate in formulating their health plan.

The nurse’s action for an illness doesn’t terminate even when the patient gets well and treated. It is still the responsibility of the nurse to report it to necessary health agencies should the illness be alarming, i.e. contagious diseases, and the like. Along with treating the illness per se, the nurse should also look deeper into the causative factors of the illness and resolve it as well; this is a good step towards making a person truly free from the illness, making him or her less prone to exacerbation.

Wellness

Is a dynamic state of being wherein all the needs of the individual are fulfilled. The challenge for nurses in this situation lies in the aspect of maintaining this state of wellness. This may be accomplished through implementing promotive and preventive health programs which would benefit the clients and the members of the community as well. A nurse could also help maintain the health and wellness of a certain individual by modifying not just the lifestyle of the patient but also the environment.

Integrating all these concepts, the primary goal of nursing is to promote health and wellness to all through making efficient interventions to a person’s lifestyle, environment, and other aspects which the nurse may deem significant.

Recognizing the Role of Learner as an Important Character for Disseminating and Developing Nursing Knowledge

The learner is recognized in the nursing profession as the medium by which information is disseminated and developed. A learner is a person, a unique individual with his or her own needs which may or may not differ from the needs of others. Aside from these needs, this learner also possesses a variety of values and beliefs endowed with him as he or she grew up.

This view also recognizes the importance of the nurse to motivate the learner and provide him with all that is required of him to promote a healthy lifestyle, prevent diseases and illnesses, and sustain his or her well-being.

Appreciating the Role of the Teacher in Facilitating the Transfer and Development of Knowledge

The role of the teacher is equally important as the role of the learner is in the facilitation of learning and of transferring the nursing knowledge from one to another. The teacher is the one responsible for creating more productive and socially oriented, self-reliant individuals, in the pursuit of better health outcomes and lifestyle. Also integrated with the teacher role, he or she must serve to be a role model among the learners, provoking critical thinking and assisting learners towards the goal of the teaching and learning process.

The Teaching/Learning Process as a Vital Role in the Continuity and Growth of the Profession

Learning is a process wherein there is a constant flow of knowledge, skills, and attitudes being shared by a person to another. The integration of all these aspects is important to the nursing profession. Through proper facilitation of knowledge, schools and nursing institutions become a producer of quality and competitive nurses who will be of service shortly.

Stressing the Importance of Nursing Education as a Tool for Mounting the Nursing Profession

Nursing education is most efficient when carried out with a team of competent professors and instructors, an up-to-date curriculum, and a flexible medium of lecture and related learning experiences. Furthermore, nursing education is most functional and productive when integrated with a larger number of students to stimulate the students into a diverse environment that promotes intellectual and social development.

Nursing education is also an integration of the three most essential elements in learning: knowledge, skills, and attitude. Nursing education should devote their time and focus to developing these three aspects which are most needed for a person to be a qualified and competent registered nurse.

I further stand by the idea that nursing education is best achieved through a more practical and clinical setting-based approach to present to the learners the real scenario of promoting the patient’s health and preventing him from acquiring illnesses.

Conclusion

Nursing is indeed a dignified profession. The role of nurses in taking care of people who are in need may appear a bit simple but it’s not as straightforward as it may seem. Nursing holds many different ideas which all need to be integrated into one noble profession to provide the best care he or she can give to the patient.

It is an interrelation of many different aspects- man, environment, health, illness, and wellness; all of which need to be fully comprehended by the nurse in practice. The principles behind these terms should also be applied appropriately when necessary.

In the process of nursing education, some aspects are of great significance- the learner, the teacher, and the education itself. Each key term should be clearly defined and portrayed to efficiently facilitate the task of training new members of the field.

A plethora of ideas on health, an interrelation of sound and significant philosophical claims, rigorous training of individuals aiming to be part of the service, a unique and indispensable role in the health care setting prioritizing not only the illness and treatment to that disease itself but moreover to the person at hand- simply put, that is what the NURSING profession is all about.

References

Brown M (1964). Research in the development of nursing theory: the importance of a theoretical framework in nursing research. Nursing Research.13, 2, 109-112.

Chinn P, Jacobs M (1978). A model for theory development in nursing. Advances in Nursing Science. 1, 1, 1-11.

Cody, W. K. (1994). Nursing theory-guided practice: What it is and what it is not. Nursing Science Quarterly, 7, 144-145.

International Council of Nurses. (n.d.). Web.

Nursing BC. (2002). Nursing knowledge linked to lower mortality rates. Web.

The Oxford English Dictionary. (1989). Nurse. Oxford University Press.

WHO. (1946). HEALTH. Constitution of the World Health Organization, Geneva, 1946.

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