Influence of Worldview and Philosophy in Nursing

This study discusses the influence of a nurse's worldview and philosophy on patient care. It explores the Transcultural Nursing theory and its importance in providing respectful care to patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. The study also highlights the need for cultural competency in modern nursing practice and the importance of understanding cultural differences.

Running head: INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 1
Influence of worldview and philosophy in nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Worldview and personal philosophy...........................................................................................3
Preferred theory: Transcultural nursing.......................................................................................4
Transcultural nursing versus Holistic nursing.............................................................................5
Nursing practice development.....................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 3
Influence of worldview and philosophy in nursing
Introduction
Practice of caring is traditionally known as nursing. On the other hand, nursing
philosophy is a personal belief, hopes, attitude, and approach which are part of their practice and
education regarding to the study of nursing. It defines how a nurse perceives their profession and
actions. To develop a patient care and personal philosophy is a critical aspect for the
development of all nurses. It is similarly help nurses to develop their own identity (Foth, Lange
& Smith, 2018). Therefore, this study will discuss how a nurses’ own worldview can influence
the treatment of a patient care. It will also discuss a nursing theory in accordance with nursing
philosophy and how it will assist developing nursing career further.
Discussion
Worldview and personal philosophy
Worldview is an entity’s own personal faith of their realism which guides their decision
making and thinking. I am a catholic RN with a strong belief in spirituality. As a catholic, my
personal behaviours and thoughts are generally consistent with the general belief of Catholicism
but not always. Generally, I assume that peoples are good and everything happens for a reason.
One thing that disappointments me the most is that the disrespect towards women and I tend to
get upset when people do not stand up in this situation. Being a born catholic, I believe it help
me to look at the world with tolerance, compassion and without judgement. In my honest self-
assessment, I believe that being a catholic brings out the better person in me while I am caring
for a patient with need. It helps me to be compassionate with them, helps me to take care of them
without judgement. It aids me to be respectful and tolerant towards all other cultural belief
without reservation and judgement. Catholicism has taught me to be open-minded and acceptant.

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 4
This supports me to overcome my own bias while taking care for the patient different cultures.
Catholicism also taught us that every people have the equal right to the same standard of living
and the right to avail same healthcare. It shows me that every person is equal despite their
diverse, different cultural background. Thus, I should take care of the patient without any bias or
judgement. To summarise, I can say that values and ethics of Catholicism helps me grow as a
person as well as a nurse.
Preferred theory: Transcultural nursing
As I review different nursing theories, I am most comfortable with the nursing theory
known as Transcultural Nursing by Madeleine Leininger. The theory was first introduced in
1978 (Isaacs et al., 2016). Just like my personal philosophy this nursing theory also provides
nursing care with beliefs, practices, and cultural values. It also suggests exploring cultural point
of view of patients who are receiving care. In today’s world of globalisation, nurses are being
exposed to various different cultures. In turn, they are realizing the significance of transcultural
nursing (Rosner & Christensen, 2016). To cite one example, the United States is home to a very
diverse culture and people from every culture lives in the United States. Hence, nurses in the
United States have to be mindful about the diverse culture of patients from different culture.
Transcultural nursing theory taught us to understand and recognize the cultural difference,
different healthcare views, death, and life. By using formerly mentioned aspect as a framework,
transcultural nursing care theory’s goal is to provide respectful care to the patients. Most
significant dogma of this theory is that there cannot be any cure without caring (Shen, 2015). In
my opinion, this goes hand to hand with my own personal worldview and philosophy. Just like
this theory, my personal view is also to provide most respect care to a patient with considering

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 5
the patient’s personal beliefs and culture. In a nutshell, it can be said that transcultural nursing
care will bolster my own philosophy and my approach to patient care.
Transcultural nursing versus Holistic nursing
Modern nursing is based on the holistic nursing practice which is based on an
individual’s wholeness. This nursing care came to effect during the twentieth century. The Main
pillar of holistic nursing centres on the recognition of choices and rights of the patients
(Papathanasiou, Sklavou & Kourkouta, 2013). According to Leininger, the originator of
transcultural nursing, patients are not provided full holistic care by the professionals as it does
not include the factors such as religion, environment, culture, and kinship (Holland, 2017).
Transcultural nursing emphasises on the importance of not being judgemental while providing
care. With comparison to other theories, focus and core of the transcultural nursing theory is care
whereas health, nursing, and environment for others. Unlike other theories, it can also be applied
effectively to various different scenarios making it very universal (Prosen, 2015). Continuous
growth of multicultural community across the globe, especially in the United States, has poses
major challenges to provide holistic care to patients. Transcultural can solve this particular
problem with its care framework to acknowledge cultural disparities in customs, values, and
beliefs. Also, a cultural conflict has risen worldwide due to ignorance towards a particular
culture which demands nurses to become more aware of cultural differences. To cite one
example, in some culture sitting close is a sign of warmth and care while in another it might be a
sign of invasion of personal space. Another example of cultural difference is that Islamic and
Jewish culture requires their woman to cover head, legs, and arms to maintain modesty. Asking
to remove them due to cultural ignorance can be deeply offending. Also, drinking moderately is
perfectly acceptable in Christian culture while it is strictly prohibited in Islamic culture. All of

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 6
the above examples of conflict could be avoided if nurses adapt transcultural nursing care and
study the difference in different culture. Nurses will be able to avoid conflict instead of resolving
them as the old proverb says ‘Prevention is better than cure’. They will also be able to provide
better holistic care to patients from diverse cultural background. As a by-product it will also
diminish stereotyping of people and racism at the same time. Nurses will be taking care of
patients from different cultural background more and more due to globalisation and will be
confronted by these issues (Kim, 2014). Hence, adapting the transcultural nursing method will
help resolve the problem as well as improving the patient care quality.
Nursing practice development
In today’s world, every country is becoming more and more multicultural. Thus, to a
nursing student, it is immensely vital that they acquire the cultural competency and awareness to
address all levels of holistic care in a professional manner. With this regard, my chosen nursing
theory and worldview discussed above will help me immensely to develop my nursing patient
care further. To elaborate, understanding and acknowledging different culture can lead to better
fulfilment of patient care which in turn will lead to the desired outcome. By adhering to
transcultural nursing care, I can add cultural competency to the techniques of current holistic
nursing practice which will aid me to serve better. As communities become more and more
diverse, I believe, transcultural nursing care will be an added advantage for my nursing career.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that transcultural nursing
practice is very much essential to modern nursing practice as nurses will face more and more
patient from different cultural background. It is essential for nurses to understand the cultural
differences as nurses have the closest contact with the patients. Transcultural nursing practice is

INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEW AND PHILOSOPHY IN NURSING 7
the most effective way to achieve that. Finally, no one nursing method is perfect and foolproof
and there is an additional need for further research to expand the understanding regarding
proficient nursing care.

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References
Foth, T., Lange, J., & Smith, K. (2018). Nursing history as philosophy—towards a critical
history of nursing. Nursing Philosophy, e12210.
Holland, K. (2017). Cultural care: Knowledge and skills for implementation in practice.
In Cultural Awareness in Nursing and Health Care, Third Edition (pp. 23-48).
Routledge.
Isaacs, A. N., Raymond, A., Jacob, E., Jones, J., McGrail, M., & Drysdale, M. (2016). Cultural
desire need not improve with cultural knowledge: A cross-sectional study of student
nurses. Nurse education in practice, 19, 91-96.
Kim, J. H. (2014). A study about cultural sensitivity and stereotype about immigrant women
among nursing students. Journal of Digital Convergence, 12(7), 305-314.
Papathanasiou, I., Sklavou, M., & Kourkouta, L. (2013). Holistic nursing care: theories and
perspectives. American Journal of Nursing Science, 2(1), 1-5.
Prosen, M. (2015). Introducing transcultural nursing education: implementation of transcultural
nursing in the postgraduate nursing curriculum. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 174, 149-155.
Rosner, I. D., & Christensen, J. (2016). Globalisation brought into the classroom–reflections
from the local context in social work and nursing education. Tiltai, 74(2), 21-32.
Shen, Z. (2015). Cultural competence models and cultural competence assessment instruments in
nursing: a literature review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(3), 308-321.