University Nursing: Personal Philosophy and Transcultural Theory Essay

This essay delves into the student's personal nursing philosophy, which is primarily based on personal and ethical knowing. The philosophy emphasizes the importance of building therapeutic relationships with patients, understanding their individual needs, and making ethical decisions in care delivery. The essay then correlates this philosophy with the transcultural nursing theory, proposed by Madeleine Leininger, which stresses the understanding of diverse cultures in relation to health and nursing practices. It discusses the alignment of the student's philosophy with this theory, emphasizing the importance of cultural competence. The essay also acknowledges potential limitations of the theory, particularly in misinterpreting patient values, and emphasizes the importance of aligning theory with the specific situations and needs of patients from diverse backgrounds to provide effective and patient-centered care. The conclusion highlights the significance of transcultural care in improving patient outcomes.

Running head: ESSAY
Personal Theoretical Framework for Advanced Practice
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ESSAY
Introduction- The profession of nursing forms an essential component of health and
social care and focuses on providing care services to patients, their family members, and the
communities, such that they are able to maintain, recover or attain a meaningful and
purposeful life (Watson, 2008). According to Cañadas-De la Fuente et al. (2015) most
nursing professionals are entitled with the role of delivering care service, within the scope of
the physicians, and their conventional role has been identified responsible for shaping and
affecting the public image as care providers. Although there exist differences in nursing
practice, prevalent across different nations and specialties, the profession encompasses
collaborative and autonomous care of patients of all ages, well or sick, and in different
healthcare settings. This essay will provide an explanation on a personal nursing philosophy
and will also correlate it with a nursing theory and/or framework.
Personal nursing philosophy- Philosophy of nursing is an umbrella term that
encompasses a personal attitude and perspective, in relation to the domain of nursing and also
helps in elucidating the purpose of nursing profession and education (Alligood, 2017). In
other words, nursing philosophy is largely responsible for explaining how an individual
perceives the occupation, and also illustrates the underlying reasons behind their participation
and action. While reflecting upon my thoughts and outlook, I realized that development and
recognition of an appropriate nursing philosophy is imperative to advancement of the career
and also helps in enhancing the care that is delivered to patients and their families. My
philosophy of nursing is primarily based on the concepts of personal knowing and ethical
knowing. While the domain of personal knowing requires all nursing professionals to foster
effective therapeutic relationship with patients, regardless of their age, background or any
other socio-demographic factors (Will, 2016). In other words, personal knowing refers to the
fundamental pattern of understanding health and illness, by collecting information from
persona encounters, and experiences. This philosophy has been identified to create a

2ESSAY
substantial impact on development of interpersonal relationship with the patients, which in
turn plays a crucial role in the recuperation and recovery process (Garrett & Cutting, 2015).
My experiences and knowledge gained so far have helped me realize that the
philosophy of personal knowledge allows me to provide care to patients based on knowing,
encountering and actualizing my individual self. Time and again it has been established by
nursing theorists that application of this nursing philosophy prevents nursing professionals
from approach all patients merely as objects, rather makes them strive to actualize personal
association, with the aim of enhancing health outcomes of the former (Bélanger & Ducharme,
2015). This philosophy also focuses on the fact that it is utmost essential for nursing
professionals to be able to empathize with their patients, in addition to their family members,
owing to the fact that they seek treatment for injuries or illnesses. Hence, the concept of
personal knowing provides assistance to take into consideration the values and outlooks of
patients, in order to increase their awareness and sensitivity towards addressing the mental,
physical and emotional needs. In contrast, the philosophy of ethical knowing focuses on
conceptualization of good nursing actions and also helps in determining the ways to
accomplish them, even under circumstances when barriers impede the process of care
delivery. In other words, this philosophy facilitates the development of personal moral code
and also generates a sense of understanding of right and wrong.
My personal ethics are typically based on my accountability and obligation to respect
and protect human life. Thus, this nursing philosophy helps in making appropriate nursing
action related decisions, when there occurs any dilemma, in relation to providing care to
patients (Kulju, Stolt, Suhonen & Leino-Kilpi, 2016). Therefore, underpinning nursing
action, presence of nursing ethics necessitates decision about what should be done, and
avoided. In addition, it also gives rise to a multifaceted outcome of deliberation, learning, and
engagement with the codes, standards, and values of the nursing profession.

3ESSAY
Nursing theory/framework- Nursing theory encompasses the rigorous and creative
organizing of philosophies that help in the development a tentative, focused, and methodical
view of occurrences. Through the process of systematic investigation in nursing practice, an
intelligible group of wide-ranging suggestions are generated, which provide an explanation
for the caregiving process. In other words, nursing theories help in providing a definite plan
for reflection, which in turn facilitate clinical investigation, management and decision making
process (Smith & Liehr, 2018). Personally, I try to follow the transcultural nursing theory in
my practice. Also referred to as cultural care theory, this theory was proposed by Madeleine
Leininger, and comprises of the procedure of understanding and knowing diverse cultures, in
relation to health, illness and nursing practices (Alligood, 2017). Furthermore, the theory also
places an emphasis on the values and beliefs, with the aim of providing efficacious and
meaningful care services to individuals, based on their cultural perceptions and beliefs.
Hence, this theory makes it imperative to take efforts for cultural care preservation (Giger,
2016).
Therefore, while showing adherence to this theory, professional decisions and actions
are easily taken that support, facilitate, enable, and assist patients of diverse culture to
preserve their values (Has, Syaltut, Kusumaningrum & Efendi, 2018). Taking into
consideration the fact that I show adherence on the philosophy of personal and ethical
knowing, my experiences by far have helped me gain a sound understanding of the fact that
cultural competence is a core nursing skill, and demonstration of any stigmatizing or
discriminating attitude towards patients are a matter of significant ethical concern. Thus, this
transcultural theory of nursing is in alignment with personal philosophy.
Poor fit of the theory- Although this theory focuses on the domain of culture, and
allows all nursing professionals to be more culturally sensitive towards their patients, it can
be cited as the major reason for error in clinical decision making, during misinterpretation of

4ESSAY
misperception of the values that the patients have regarding their health outcomes. In
addition, prevents us, the professionals from considering the uniqueness of the patients, at the
time of care delivery. Furthermore, nurses have often reported experiencing culture shock
that refers to their personal disorientation while experiencing unaccustomed ways of leading
life, on visiting a new nation, shifting between social environments, or during immigration
(Strouse & Nickerson, 2016). Hence, the initial stages of frustration are not restricted to
merely being unacquainted with social standards or perceptions of patients. In contrast, it
tends to create a negative impact on nursing staff, and make it difficult for them to display
cultural competency, while caring for people who have different cultural preferences.
Therefore, application of this nursing theory might not always prove beneficial if the
aforementioned circumstances are encountered.
Alignment of theory and situation- It is imperative for aligning the values of the
theory to nursing philosophy and the situations encountered since people belonging to
different cultures know, perceive, and practice caregiving in diverse ways, although there
exist some shared aims about caregiving, amid different cultures of the world. According to
Holland (2017) while the motive behind human care is collective across cultures, it is
generally established through varied expressions, patterns, actions, and meanings. Thus,
considering the fact that care is the dominant, distinct, central and unifying focus of nursing
profession, healing cannot occur in an effective manner, without delivery of care that matches
the prevailing situations and expectations of the patients.
Conclusion- To conclude, nursing must be delivered in the form of a transcultural care
discipline, and will prove effective in serving patients in different areas of the world.
Demonstration of personal and ethical knowing will enhance health outcomes by the
application of care plans that are congruent to the values, preferences and expectations. In
addition, culturally based care will also substantially contribute to the health and wellbeing of

5ESSAY
the patients, within the setting of their environment. Therefore, demonstration of an
appropriate nursing philosophy and adherence to a theory will assist the patients to move
towards improvement of their health condition.

6ESSAY
References
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7ESSAY
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8ESSAY
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