DNP-815 Reflective Analysis: Personal Nursing Philosophy Case Report

This case report presents a personal nursing philosophy developed through professional and educational experiences. The author emphasizes the importance of individualized patient care, respecting patient autonomy, and involving patients in their care. The report highlights the significance of understanding both the internal and external environments of patients, drawing on Nightingale's environmental theory. Health is defined as wellness and quality of life, with an understanding of the relationship between health and illness. The philosophy underscores the role of nursing in supporting patients and mitigating the impact of illness. The report includes a discussion of the author's beliefs about the individual, how their worldview influences their approach to patients, and the interaction between the environment and health outcomes. The author references multiple sources to support their personal beliefs. The report emphasizes the importance of nurses in supporting patients and their families to maintain and sustain health, as well as to help them effectively reduce the impacts of illnesses. The report also discusses the importance of nurses in the care continuum to improve their quality of health and improve health outcomes.

Running head: PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 1
Personal Nursing Philosophy
Name of Author
Institution
Date of Submission

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 2
ABSTRACT
Personal Nursing Philosophy entails personal beliefs and virtues in relation to nursing practice. I
have a clear notion about an individual person as an autonomous, complex and unique individual
whose integrity must be protected. Further, I prioritize care to the patients to improve their
quality of health. I strive to engage patients to enable accurate assessment of their needs for
proper handling of their needs. I am privy to the environmental component of patients that
encompass both internal and external aspects. Further, I assess the environments of the patients
as a way of evaluating their needs to design the best care options. I hold and view health to be
wellness and quality of life of an individual. Moreover, there is a relationship between illness
and health as they are the major components of nursing. Lastly, I believe nursing relates to
supporting of patients and people to sustain their health as well as devising ways of mitigating
the impacts of illness to individuals.

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 3
Personal Nursing Philosophy
Throughout my professional and educational journey, I have always been overwhelmed
by a strong desire to provide quality care to patients. As such, I sought to develop and sustain a
personal nursing philosophy that will prioritize the needs of the patients and embody my
personal norms and values as guidance to practice.
Firstly, my personal belief about the individual person is guided by the fact that
everybody is unique in their own way. My perception of patients is that they are partners in their
own care. I often seek to involve them in the care process considering the fact that they are
complex individuals with unique needs that require attention. I tend to develop relationships and
connections with individuals to understand them better during the care process (Bender, 2018). I
believe respecting the values and opinions of patients is a major step towards meeting their
needs.
My personal worldview is based on the fact that one should prioritize care to all other
needs. I believe in the autonomy of patients as well as the need to respect their opinions and
build a good relationship. The fact that I prioritize enables effective practice as I easily get along
with patients to improve the chances of positive health outcomes. My personal worldview puts
me in a position to understand the values and beliefs of the patients in relation to care needs
deeply. These meaningful encounters with patients culminate into authentic connections and
hence a better understanding as well as interaction with patients (Straughair, 2019). I find it easy
to incorporate the views of the patients into nursing care to ensure they have positive experiences
about care.

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 4
Personally, the environment entails both the external and internal components that
interact to affect the health of people. In the nursing context, I still believe strongly in
Nightingale’s environment theory and its impact on the health impacts of the patient. The
concept of environment in nursing is quite broad and includes the aspects of social and economic
situations which can be categorized as external (Lindahl, 2018). For instance, economic
conditions have always affected the health outcomes of patients who may not have enough
money to afford quality care. On the other hand, the internal environment of a patient relates
majorly to what they consume like drinking water, food and drugs among others. These
substances significantly remain essential for consideration by nursing care (Jairath et al., 2018).
The environment also encompasses the support system regarding the care that one receives in a
manner to improve their quality of life. For instance, a terminal cancer patient, wanting to have
their families sits around their beds to provide support.
There is an interaction between an individual and the environment. It should be noted that
individuals are unique in their needs and values. It is crucial to appreciate that the environment
can result in both positive and negative effects on the health of a patient. As such, I believe,
controlling both the internal environment and the external environment may improve the quality
of health of the patients and hence health outcomes. Environmental control is critical to
maintaining the integrity of the environment as a way of preventing illnesses (Bender &
Feldman, 2015). For instance, lack of personal cleanliness may lead to illnesses that could be
avoided by maintaining proper body hygiene. Notably, the interaction between the environments
can affect health outcomes and impact on the quality of health. I often dedicate my time to
engage the patients about their environments and advice them on the best ways of managing their
environment to avoid harmful interactions.

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 5
Personality I have two significant views about health. First I refer to health as the
wellbeing and wellness of the patient. From this perspective, I believe that a healthy individual
may not need nursing care unless in cases of awareness. I believe changes in the health of an
individual all require careful attention from nurses. The negative impacts of wellness of an
individual like injuries and diseases make nursing an essential career in society. Such issues
make nursing care an integral component in society to cater to the needs of the patients whose
health is compromised (Deliktas et al., 2019). Secondly, I hold the opinion that there are many
factors that determine the health of individuals. As such, I not only view patients from their
illness and care perspectives in a narrow manner but also view them from the perspective of their
life situations. This method is holistic enough to cover all the necessary aspects of care to the
patients.
There is a relationship between health and illness. Firstly, health can be described as the
wellness of an individual. Further, health can also be attributed in practice to be the accessibility
of an individual to healthcare services. The balance between the physical, cognitive and spiritual
aspects of an individual characterize health. While in practice, I also embrace the idea that
nursing entails caring to sustain and regain the health of individuals. In situations when the
health of an individual is jeopardized by either factor such as environment or disease, one
becomes ill. Practically, illnesses interfere with the wellbeing of individuals affecting their
ability to enjoy quality lives. The non-ending possibility of developing illnesses by individuals
necessitates nursing assessment and development of nursing care plans for implementation of
necessary interventions (Creamer & Austin, 2017). The illnesses form a crucial component of the
caring needs for patients.

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 6
Nursing is a discipline that focuses on the provision of support and assistance to
individuals and their families to maintain and sustain their health and to help them effectively
reduce the impacts of illnesses (Mill, Allen & Morrow, 2016). Hence, the central themes behind
nursing hinge on two major components illness and health. Nursing is itself a deliberate effort to
alter the quality of health and change the health outcomes of individuals. From my perception, I
believe nursing is a form of moral practice where the needs of others are given priority for
restoration to their personal good. It embodies the development and sustenance of care and other
expected behaviour entailing values and virtues (McEwen & Wills, 2017). I find the nursing
practice a humble experience as the patients get to trust me to listen to their needs and
appropriately apply the professional expertise to enhance the quality of their lives.
As noted above, my nursing philosophy outlines clearly my values and beliefs about
nursing. I firmly believe in the autonomy of the patient and the need to maintain their dignity. I
opt to engage the patients in the care continuum to improve their quality of health and improve
health outcomes. My personal worldview prioritizes on the provision of care to patients in a
holistic manner. Further, I believe the environment is the very critical determiner of health and
associated health outcomes. The environment can cause illnesses that will affect the quality of
health of patients. I strongly believe in the interaction between the environment and individuals.
The type of interaction can greatly affect the health outcomes and quality of life. Lastly, the
concept of nursing is key to my personal nursing philosophy. I believe nursing relates to two
major aspects that include health and illness. Nursing enables the sustainability of health and
determination of the best strategies of managing illness.

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 7
References
Bender, M. (2018). Re‐conceptualizing the nursing metaparadigm: Articulating the philosophical
ontology of the nursing discipline that orients inquiry and practice. Nursing
inquiry, 25(3), e12243.
Straughair, C. (2019). Reflections on developing a conceptual framework to support a
constructivist grounded theory study on compassion in nursing. Nurse Researcher, 27(1).
Lindahl, B. (2018). On locating the metaparadigm concept environment within caring
science. Scandinavian journal of caring sciences, 32(3), 997-998.
Bender, M., & Feldman, M. S. (2015). A practice theory approach to understanding the
interdependency of nursing practice and the environment. Advances in Nursing
Science, 38(2), 96-109.
Deliktas, A., Korukcu, O., Aydin, R., & Kabukcuoglu, K. (2019). Nursing Students' Perceptions
of Nursing Metaparadigms: A Phenomenological Study. The journal of nursing research:
JNR.
Creamer, A. M., & Austin, W. (2017). Canadian Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies
Identified: An Opportunity to Build Mental Health and Illness Skills and Knowledge. The
Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(5), e231-e236.
Mill, J. E., Allen, M. N., & Morrow, R. A. (2016). Critical theory: Critical methodology to
disciplinary foundations in nursing. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research
Archive, 33(2).

PERSONAL NURSING THEORY 8
McEwen, M., & Wills, E. M. (2017). Theoretical basis for nursing. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins.
Jairath, N. N., Peden-McAlpine, C. J., Sullivan, M. C., Vessey, J. A., & Henly, S. J. (2018).
Theory and Theorizing in Nursing Science: Commentary from the Nursing Research
Special Issue Editorial Team. Nursing research, 67(2), 188-195.