Nursing Philosophy QEP

Hydia S. Stubbs

Benjamín León School of Nursing, Miami Dade College

NUR 2811C Leadership Seminar

Dr. Lenora Yates

November 30, 2020

 Nursing Philosophy QEP

Introduction

From the earliest nursing theorist, Florence Nightingale to the later theorists like Jean

Watson, each one has developed their own nursing philosophy based around the four domains of

the Nursing Metaparadigm. Each one has a different interpretation of the definition of each of the

domains. Nursing theorist Martha Rogers created the theory The Science of Unitary Human

Beings. According to her theory, she believed nursing is both an art and science, her definition of

nursing is, “assisting people to achieve their maximum health potential” (Gonzalo, 2019). She
defined environment as “the study of unitary, irreducible, indivisible human and environmental

fields, people and their environment” (Gonzalo, 2019). She views the environment as essential

part of a person (Gonzalo, 2019). She believed that health was “an expression of the life process”

(Gonzalo, 2019). She believed that health and illness were on a continuum (Gonzalo, 2019). She

defined a person as “an indivisible, pan dimensional energy field identified by a pattern, and

manifesting characteristics specific to the whole, and that cannot be predicted from knowledge of

the parts” (Gonzalo, 2019).

Person Definition of Four Domains

My personal definitions of the four domains are as follows. Nursing is a profession that

requires caring for a person’s physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Environment is a place

where human beings, plants and animals interact. Health is when a person is in a balanced

physical, mental and emotional state. A person is a human being with a complex set of needs,

emotions and ideas. Because I believe that a person has a complex set of needs, emotions and

ideas and the environment is a place where human beings, plants and animals interact, my

philosophy as a nurse would be to care for my patients’ physical, mental, and emotional

wellbeing in order to help them achieve a balanced physical, mental, and emotional state.

Analysis of Institutions.

According to the Benjamín León School of Nursing Associate of Science in Nursing

Student Handbook, their philosophies include teaching students to “provide care to a multi-
cultural community” and “provide safe and effective care environments” (Miami Dade College,

2019, p.8). Their philosophy also includes promoting psychological and physiological integrity

to meet the needs of our patients and collaborating with the other members of the health care

team to help meet a patient’s needs and obtain positive outcomes of patient care (Miami Dade

College, 2019, p.8). The philosophy of Miami Dade College is to teach students to provide care

in several different environments such as extended care facilities, acute care facilities, and

community facilities (Miami Dade College, 2019, p.8). The philosophy of Jackson Health

System is, “To provide comprehensive medical care to all who need it” (Jackson Health System,
2020). At Jackson Health Systems their vision is to be recognized nationally and internationally,

they strive to be a medical system that is world-class and the provider of choice for high quality

care (Jackson Health System, 2020). Their values are, “to provide the best care, with care, for

everyone by demonstrating compassion, accountability, respect, and expertise" (Jackson Health

System, 2019). The philosophies of Miami Dade College and Jackson Health System are both

centered around providing high quality medical care to patients and serving a diverse patient

population. The philosophies of Miami Dade College and Jackson Health Systems differ in that

the philosophy of Miami Dade College puts more focus into teaching students how to provide

quality care in order to prepare them to enter the workforce after graduation. Whereas Jackson

Health system focuses on providing high quality care to their patients and maintaining a standard

of excellence.

Summary/ Reflection

In conclusion the Nursing Metaparadigm is made up of four domains, nursing,

environment, health, and person. Many nursing theorists have defined what each of the domains

means to them. According to Martha Rogers nursing is assisting people to reach maximum

health, environment is defined as people and the world around them, health is being in a state of

balance in all aspects of life, and a person is an energy field made up of many different parts. My

personal definitions of the four domains are, nursing is a profession centered around caring for

people, environment is a combination of people and nature, health is a balanced physical and
mental state, and a person is an individual with a complex set of specific needs. The philosophies

of Miami Dade College and Jackson Health System are similar in that they both are centered

around providing high quality care to patient but differ in the fact that Miami Dade is more

focused on teaching and preparing students to become nurses. From this assignment I learned

about many different nursing theorists such as Florence Nightingale and Martha Rogers and their

nursing theories. I also learned about the philosophies of both Miami Dade College and Jackson

Health Systems. This assignment will impact my development as a nurse because it helped me to

reflect on what nursing means to me and ultimately discover what my nursing philosophy is. In
the future as a nurse, I will ensure that I apply my nursing theory to my everyday practice.
 References

Gonzalo, A., By, & -. (2019, September 11). Martha Rogers: Science of Unitary Human Beings.

https://nurseslabs.com/martha-e-rogers-theory-unitary-human-beings/

Jackson Health System. (2020). About Us. https://jacksonhealth.org/about-us/

Miami Dade College. (2019). Associate of Science in Nursing Student Handbook. Miami,

Florida. https://www.mdc.edu/nursing/docs/ASN-Student-Handbook.pdf