Personal Biography and Nursing Philosophy

Personal Biography
I was born and brought up in a small town of family of 9 in a typical catholic Australian family in 1964.
This is the place where my values were nurtured, I developed faith in kindness and compassion. These
character traits have not only persuaded my childhood, but they have made me the person who I am.
My interest in the felid of nursing grew when I was in my junior year of high school. I was constantly
applying in various volunteer programs after school in my community and that is when I realized nursing
is the field where I want my blood and sweat to be contributed to. Through volunteering, I was able to
understand how many lives I can save just by providing care, especially the ones who are in need of love
and support. That is the reason why I feel I am very sympathetic when it comes to helping people, and
this is the profession through which I can make huge difference in people’s lives. So, I can confidently
say that I am doing what I always intended to do and I can do this for my whole life.
When I entered my diploma course in university of Canberra, I wanted to become a nurse anesthetist;
but in the course of my study and the practice that I involved myself in after my diploma, I somehow
found my niche in mental health care. That is when I felt acquiring more knowledge through my
masters, would be a great opportunity for me to help people who are undergoing pain and trauma due
to various factors in their life, like addiction to drugs or alcohol, depression, anxiety, etc. After
completing 25 years of experience in mental health, I got inclined towards getting my master’s degree at
Southern Cross university and take a step forward in my educational qualification. Throughout my
nursing practice in various organizations and hospitals, I have had the opportunity to experience intense
emotions like joy, pain, sorrow, healing and death, these experiences have only catered me in the
process of realizing that I have made the right career choice.
I believe that one must bifurcate their goals, that is, keeping them short term and long term. For me, my
short-term goal would be to complete my masters in mental health in spring of 2019 and acquire a job
in the field of mental health in the best mental hospital in Queensland, Australia. Whereas, my long-
term goals involve being able to gain experience in mental/psychiatric hospital in Australia. Including, if
the time is right, I would like to further my education, that is, doctoral degree in psychiatric nursing in
order to contribute towards global and cultural mental health and mental health policy through my
work and research. However, my plans are not concrete because one cannot plan everything for
themselves, as sometimes the greatest of the opportunities need no planning.
My Nursing Philosophy
In my career of practice, I have always felt that nursing profession is vastly relevant and how efforts of a
nurse are overlooked every day. Nurses are the individuals who are making things happen when it
comes to a patients overall mental growth. They are the one who are working in stressful shifts and
doing “behindhand scenes” activities like uplifting patients, documenting, washing and referring patients
to get the resources they would require in their development. They are the ones who are executing
doctor’s instructions, but at the same time have the responsibility to be accountable to the orders that
are provided. They make sure, that the patient gets his/her medication or dosage on time and make
sure they are safe as well. They are the one who are with the patient round the clock and first
responders when any patient makes any requests. A nurse is made to be on his/her feet every minute
irrespective of their illness and discomfort. They come before even the shift begins and leave hours after
when their shift ends just to make sure that the patients, they are in charge have all the available goods
before they leave. They are with their patients at every step, even when their family leaves them in