Reflection on Personal Nursing Philosophy, Care, and Theory - NURS 500

This essay reflects on the evolution of the student's nursing philosophy throughout a nursing course. It analyzes the Virginia Henderson Need Theory, emphasizing patient-centered care and the importance of patient independence. The reflection addresses how personal values and assumptions have been challenged, the student's definition of the meta-paradigm of nursing, and how their initial philosophy has changed. The paper highlights the significance of nursing as both an art and a science, emphasizing the nurse's role in providing comprehensive care, integrating theory into practice, and adapting to the evolving needs of patients. The student also discusses the importance of collaboration with doctors and the limitations of care based on patient's medical condition. The essay also emphasizes the importance of knowledge and skill development for nurses.

Running head: REFLECTION ON NURSING PHILOSOPHY
REFLECTION ON NURSING PHILOSOPHY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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REFLECTION ON NURSING PHILOSOPHY
I would reflect on the factor of the nursing philosophy and the process of the nursing
philosophy development and the nursing care process. The factors that impact on the nursing
care process would also be discussed in this reflection process. The following section would
highlight the process of the nursing care and the Virginia Henderson Need Theory of nursing.
The philosophy of this theory would be the factor that I will discuss in the following section
as well.
As per the Virginia Henderson Need Theory of nursing the needs of the individual
patients and the independence of the patient is the most important factor in terms of the
nursing practice. On the basis of my knowledge I developed this theory of nursing in order to
provide the patients a proper care. The improved care of the patients would be achieved by
implementing this theory. As my opinion and the learning the nursing is a profession which
would be the proper way to provide care to the patients and the patients are the most priority
of the nurses. According to the Virginia Henderson need theory’s principle, the nurse should
take care of the patient till the patient is not able to take care of himself. The needs of the
patients are the basic priority of a nurse and the nurse should be able to provide the patient
with patient centred care which would address the theory of the Virginia Henderson’s Need
Theory of nursing as well (MacDonald & Bowen, 2017). However, the factor of the
independence of the patient is a factor that affected by the traditional nursing practice and the
formalities of care also affect the implementation of the Need Theory. The second principle
of the Virginia Henderson need theory is that each and every nurse should devote themselves
to the patient for day and night. Hence, as a nursing practitioner I should be able to provide
the patient with all the facilities and all the requirements of the patients would be addressed
by me. I should be aware about the need and preferences of the patient to provide care at any
time. However, it could not be helped if the patient’s desires would affect his or her health
(Adams, 2016). Hence, on this condition I can also state that the factor of the patient’s needs

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REFLECTION ON NURSING PHILOSOPHY
should be prioritised by the nurse also the factor of providing proper care to the patient. On
the other hand the proper care to the patient should be provided with the collaboration with
the doctor and also providing the patient with the needs of the patient. However, the factor of
the care should have some limitations in providing all the needs of the patient on the basis of
the patient’s medical condition (Rakuom et al., 2016). According to the third principle, the
nurse should be educated about the nurse care at the graduation level. Hence, by using that
knowledge, it is my responsibility to provide better care to the patient.
On this context it can be said that the nursing meta paradigm depends on the four
paradigms that are the person, environment, health and nursing. The factor of the nursing
paradigm is focused on the process of the person’s needs and the health along with the
environment of the patient. The factor of the nursing on the other hand refers to the factor of
providing the patient with proper care by means of applying all the knowledge and skills of
the nurse (Rosa, Estes & Watson, 2017). Hence, the factor of the nursing care should be
focused on the need of the patient and thus the Need Theory of nursing is critically important
in providing improved care to the patient. On the basis of this discussion I can say that the
factors of care providence my opinion and feelings about nursing changed with time and
nursing philosophy has also been changed for me. In case of nursing I can state that the
patient’s need should be analysed and prioritised with utmost importance in order to provide
maximum independence to the patient and also providing the client satisfaction factor in a
proper way. Hence, the implementation of the Need theory helps in the betterment of care for
the patients as it relates to the patient centred care philosophy (Arora, 2015). On the other
hand the Meta paradigm of the nursing helps in the analysis of the relationship of the patient
and the patient needs (Bender, 2018).
Based on the above discussion and the prospects of my philosophical insights I can
state that the nursing philosophy is the factor that helps in the better care providence to the

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REFLECTION ON NURSING PHILOSOPHY
patients and it helps in the manner of the skill and knowledge development of the nurse. The
Meta paradigm of nursing helps in the proper knowledge development and the analysis of the
needs of the patient as well. The patient care and the patient needs are the intrigue factors that
impacts in the process of the proper care providence to the patient. Thus I can be able to
understand the factor of the nursing philosophy of the Virginia Henderson Need Theory and
also develop the knowledge about idea about the factor of the nursing philosophy
development and nursing care.
References
Adams, L. Y. (2016). The conundrum of caring in nursing. International Journal of Caring
Sciences, 9(1), 1.
Arora, S. (2015). Integration of Nursing Theories in Practice. International.
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.
MacDonald, L., & Bowen, D. M. (2017). Theory analysis of the dental hygiene human needs
conceptual model. International journal of dental hygiene, 15(4), e163-e172.
Rakuom, C. P., Wagoro, M. C., Mirereh, J. O., & Galo, S. (2016). Returning nursing to
Nightingale: The bigger picture of mainstreaming Kenya-Nursing Process. J.
Community Public Heal. Nurs, 2(4).
Rosa, W., Estes, T., & Watson, J. (2017). Caring science conscious dying: an emerging
metaparadigm. Nursing science quarterly, 30(1), 58-64.