Running Head: PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY PAPER 1

Jessica M. Harris

Personal Philosophy Paper

Nursing Synthesis for Nursing Practice

NUR 4142

March 15, 2018

Dr. Turner

“I pledge…” - Honor Code

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Define Nursing

I have always found a deep sense of purpose when taking care of others. I believe that

nursing is an honorable, humble, and respectable profession. Although I am already a licensed

practical nurse (LPN), the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing (BSMCON) tenets have

helped me grow as a person and a nurse. For me, nursing beings with caring, which is one of the

tenets of BSMCON. “Caring is expressed through application of nursing knowledge in practice,

critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills, assertiveness, curiosity, courage, and humor”

(BSMCON, 2017, Faculty Handbook, p. 39). All these aspects that make up caring are critical

for nursing practice. I have always found that humor can put a patient at ease and help foster the

patient-nurse relationship. To be able to care for our patients, nurses must develop the ability to

be assertive, to critically think, and to have excellent interpersonal skills. I have always found

myself to have a certain sense of curiosity, to want to know how a system works or why it’s not

working, which is imperative in nursing.

I also believed that nursing is much more than just a science. The tenet of nursing is the

first tenet discussed in the BSMCON Faculty Handbook and according to the Handbook,

“Nursing is both an art and a science” (2017, p. 38). There is an art to nursing that cannot be

defined by science. According to Robinson, “The art of nursing is our perception of patient needs

based on their expressed behaviors” (2014, p. 44). I believe that the science of nursing

sometimes, unfortunately, outshines the art of nursing. Nursing has merged with technology and

I believe it hasn’t necessarily improved the nurse-patient relationship. I fear that without

incorporating the art into nursing, that patient’s will not be cared for properly. Robinson

describes the art of nursing as synonymous with being present with our patients (2014, p. 44).

For me, that means then nurse needs to avoid being task oriented or staring at the computer,
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instead of interacting with the patient and their family. The nurse needs to pay attention to their

patients by practicing the art of presence. Through practicing the art of being present with our

patients and families, I think that nursing can combat the technology aspect of nursing.

Nursing education is, perhaps, the most important of the tenets. The BSMCON Faculty

Handbook describes one aspect of nursing education as such, “Nursing education enables

students to provide safe, competent care from birth to entry into the spiritual realm of death”

(2017, p. 38). I couldn’t be where I am today with out the education and guidance from

BSMCON. Even though I am already a LPN, BSMCON had made me a better person and nurse.

I know that I am ready to be a registered nurse because I know that they have taught and

prepared me well. BSMCON has covered every age range and given me a broad understanding

of how to take care of patients, from birth to death.

Reflect on Philosophy

My nurse-patient encounter can explain my personal nursing philosophy effortlessly. I

have always had a passion for taking care of people, even from a young age. I believe that

patients and their families should receive compassionate care, regardless of their situation,

religion, race, etc. It’s important to me, that I have excellent communication skills and to be

flexible in any situation. I think it’s imperative to treat others the way you would want to be

treated. That creating a sense of trust with our patients and their families is important to nursing

practice. Another important aspect of my personal nursing philosophy is the importance of

patient and family education. I believe that keeping a patient and their family informed, by

providing education, is critical to help patients and their family make important healthcare

decisions.
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Nurse-Patient Encounter

During my immersion at St. Francis Medical Center (SFMC) on the Labor and Delivery

(L&D) floor, I took care of a patient who was getting ready to have her first baby. This patient

came in to have a primary cesarean section due to placenta previa. She had a dislike of needles

and was nervous for the spinal anesthesia needed during the procedure, as well as having to have

blood work drawn for a type a cross, and an extra IV inserted in case of hemorrhage, due to the

placenta previa. I found that she used humor to combat her nervousness, so I joked around with

her to help create a rapport with her and her family support member. Before going back to the

operating room for her cesarean section, I discussed with her that the anesthesiologist would

come in to talk with her about the spinal block used for cesarean sections. After speaking with

the anesthesiologist, I could tell she was less nervous about the spinal block. I discussed with her

that there was an increased risk of bleeding, due to her placenta previa and this was why we had

to draw the type and cross, as well as putting in the second IV. She expressed that she understood

the reasonings and that she was okay with receiving blood if she needed too. I also discussed

with her about what would happen in the operating room and what would happen after she came

back to her room after she had her baby.

When I helped walk her back to the operating room she seemed much more comfortable

about what was going to happen and was visibly in good spirits. I helped her through her spinal

block by standing in front of her and encouraging her during the procedure, which she thanked

me for. I helped her during the cesarean section by checking in on her from time-to-time until her

family support person could come in. Afterwards, when she was back in her room with her baby

I checked on her frequently, checking her fundus and lochia and making sure that she wasn’t in

pain as her spinal anesthesia wore off. A few hours after her cesarean section, I noticed that her
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family had left, so I checked on her more frequently, than I would have if she still had family

present, to make sure she was doing okay and didn’t need anything. When I helped take her and

her baby up to the postpartum floor, she remarked that she had enjoyed my care and was sad to

lose me and my preceptor as her nurses. She wished me good luck in school and I wished her

good luck with her new chapter in life as a mom.

Values and Beliefs

When I reflect upon my first personal nursing philosophy paper, I cannot say that my

values and beliefs have changed much since my first paper three years ago. I still believe that

there is a higher power and that I was called to become a nurse. I still value family and

friendship, compassion, honesty, accountability, and the power of humor. I believe that laughter

has the power to heal the soul. If anything, I think that my time and education at BSMCON has

only reinforced my beliefs and values, as well as, helped me grow as a person and as a nurse. I

honestly don’t think I would be the nurse or person I am today with out the guidance and support

of the faculty and my peers. The experiences, both clinical and simulation, have taught and

prepared me to become the best possible nurse I can be.

Benner’s Theory

In the book, From Novice to Expert, Benner describes how a nurse can transform from a

novice to expert nurse. She discusses the five stages: novice, advanced beginner, competent,

proficient, and expert. Each of these stages must build upon the last for the novice nurse to

finally become an expert nurse. It can and will take years and years of nursing practice for a

novice nurse to emerge an expert.

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In the novice stage, Benner describes a novice nurse as beginners. She states, “Beginners

have had no experience of the situations in which they are expected to perform” (Benner, 2001,

p. 20). When I started at BSMCON, I already had eight years of LPN experience in pediatrics.

Some of the objective attributes, such as learning how to take a manual blood pressure or pulse, I

already had years of experience in. Even with my LPN experiences, I still felt like a novice on

the first day of my clinical rotations. The advance beginner, “are ones who can demonstrate

marginally acceptable performance, one’s who have coped with enough real situations to

note…” (Benner, 2001, p. 22). The advance beginner is where most new graduates begin their

professional practice at.

The competent nurse is a nurse that has been on a specific floor or area for a couple of

years. This nurse may “lack the speed and flexibility of the proficient nurse but does have a

feeling of mastery and the ability to cope with and manage the many contingencies of clinical

nursing” (Benner, 2001, p. 24). The proficient nurse can understand a situation based on previous

experiences and they generally know when an expected situation did not occur. Lastly, the expert

nurse, this nurse has a vast amount of nursing background and experience, generally over five

years. The expert nurse works with his or her intuition and can accurately zero in on the problem

or issue the patient is experiencing.

Skill Acquisition Stage

While I do have prior nursing experiences as an LPN, I believe that I am currently an

advanced beginner registered nurse. All my LPN experience was at a pediatric doctor’s office, so

while I am quite proficient in taking vital signs, giving immunizations, and intermittent

catherization’s, I would not venture to say that I am an expert. I have had the opportunity to work

as a patient care technician at St. Mary’s in their intensive care unit (ICU) for almost two years. I
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do believe that this has given me a great deal more experience and opportunities to advance my

skills, especially in phlebotomy.

In my immersion I feel that I am advancing my skills in the L&D setting. I feel more

confident my ability to properly care for an antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum patient. I

have noticed a change in my clinical knowledge from the beginning of immersion up until this

point. I am confident in my ability to properly analyze the contraction and fetal heart rate

monitors. I am more confident in calling time-outs before a procedure, more confident in the

documentation required for both cesarean and vaginal births, and more confident in giving

change of shift report or transfer reports. I can tell that I have grown as a nurse during my time

on the L&D floor at SFMC. I’m looking forward to being able to work on a L&D floor in the

future.

3 Things: Skill Acquisition

One of the first things that I plan on doing is joining a committee or group to help

advance my nursing career. I believe that it’s important to be apart of a group that helps, not only

myself grow, but can help the profession of nursing grow. I know that there are several

committees that I can join in the Bon Secours hospitals. I often talk my coworkers in the ICU

that are apart of various committees, and I hope that I can become apart of some of them on

whichever unit I begin my registered nursing career on.

I also want to take full advantage of having a preceptor the first several months of

working as a new registered nurse. I want to take in all that I can from my preceptor on how he

or she breaks down their day and how they practice time management. I want to make sure that I
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feel confident in myself to be able to take care of my patients while I have a preceptor, so that

when I am out of orientation, I know that I can do it by myself.

I’m a life-long learner. So, I want to make sure that I attend seminars or classes to help

me stay abreast of what is the latest and greatest in nursing, as well as, keeping up with my

continued education credits. Education is an important aspect of who I am and I’m constantly

reading and trying to learn new things every day. I would love to take medical American Sign

Language or Spanish classes, so that I can communicate with the hearing impaired and Spanish

speaking patients that I encounter. I also would love to someday go back to school and get my

masters.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while I’m excited and nervous to begin my life as a registered nurse, I

know that I have been prepared by the best. BSMCON has given me every tool that I need to

succeed and to become the best possible registered nurse. I am looking forward to putting my

personal nursing philosophy to practice this summer after graduation, hopefully as a labor and

delivery nurse or as a ICU nurse.

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Reference

Benner, P. (2001). From novice to expert: excellence and power in clinical nursing practice.

New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing. (2017). Nursing program philosophy statement. In

2016-2017 BSMCON Faculty Handbook

Robinson, S. G. (2014). True presence. Nursing, 44(4), 44-45.

doi:10.1097/01.nurse.0000444533.58704.e5