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Philosophy of Nursing

Gregory Wendt

BSCN 4156

Sault College

Lori Matthews

November 10th, 2023

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Philosophy of Nursing

I have always been interested in nursing, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that

I decided to pursue a nursing education. Throughout my four years of schooling, I have

developed a set of values, skills, and knowledge that I can apply to my future career in nursing.

Values, Knowledge, Skills, and Interests

The values I have that I think are relevant to nursing are patience and empathy. Empathy

is often thought to be a crucial part of nursing because comprehending the emotions and frame of

reference of another person is the best way to understand what a patient is going through

(Fernandez & Zahavi, 2020). Patience is a way to demonstrate tolerance and acceptance for

patients. Patience has also been proven to be linked to resilience and a high level of competence

(Ibrahimoglu et al., 2021). Some soft skills I possess are communication, teamwork, and

adaptability. Good communication between nurses and patients can help to improve health

outcomes (Lotfi et al., 2019). Teamwork is critical to providing safe nursing care. Poor teamwork

can lead to missed nursing care and a lack of safety (Goh et al., 2020). Adaptability is being able

to change without great difficulty and adjust to new situations. Being flexible and open-minded

can be a valuable skill in the nursing world since you never know how one shift will differentiate

from another (Cockerham et al., 2022). My interests are in learning new things and helping

others. These interests coincide well with the field of nursing because there are so many different

new skills to learn and practice to help better take care of patients (Kardong-Edgren et al., 2019).
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Contributing to my Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Patience and empathy have helped to shape my philosophy of nursing because those are

the values on which I place the greatest importance. Many philosophers have considered

empathy to be paramount both in daily life and when applied to the role of a nurse (Fernandez &

Zahavi, 2020). I also think that adaptability should also have a place in my nursing philosophy.

Depending on where a nurse is working, their philosophy of caring is bound to be different to fit

into the given scenario. I think that the personal philosophy of a nurse would change if they

changed units from the maternity ward to the operating room, or if they were to go into public

health. Good communication and strong leadership are also important to my philosophy because

you can’t be a good nurse and provide care for your patients without being out. My interest in

helping others has also helped to shape my nursing philosophy since I believe that the interests of

the patients and clients should be a nurse’s top priority.

Identifying My Philosophy of Nursing

My philosophy of nursing is to always put your patients before yourself and to provide

the best possible care. Advocate for your patients and go above and beyond for them. I think that

if you follow this philosophy, you will always be able to leave each shift feeling satisfied that

you did your best for your patients. This philosophy of nursing is probably very similar to the

personal views of most nurses. Florence Nightingale herself stated that nursing means caring for

other people in need of help (Karlsson & Pennbrant, 2020). I think that this is the essence of

nursing. Being a nurse is a lot more complicated than just helping people in need, but I think that

is the underlying core value of the profession.

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References

Fernandez, A. V. & Zahavi, D. (2020). Basic empathy: Developing the concept of empathy from

the ground up. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 110.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103695

Cockerham, M., Beier, M. E., Branson, S., & Boss, L. (2022). Nurse adaptability and post-

traumatic stress disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: The effects of

family and perceived organizational support. Frontiers in Psychology, 4(12).

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.749763

Goh, P. Q. L., Ser T. F., Cooper, S., Cheng, L. J., & Liaw, S. Y. (2020). Nursing teamwork in

general ward settings: A mixed-methods exploratory study among enrolled and registered

nurses. Journal Clinical Nursing, 29(19-20). 3802-3811.

https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15410

Ibrahimoglu, O., Mersin, S., & Caglar, M. (2021). Patience, acceptance of diversity, and

compassionate love in nursing care. Izmir Katip Celebi Universitesi Saglik Bilimleri

Fakultesi Dergisi, 6(2). 99-107.

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ikcusbfd/issue/62599/840792

Kardong-Edgren, S., Oermann, M. H., & Rizzolo, M. A. (2019). Emerging theories influencing

the teaching of clinical nursing skills. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing,

50(6). 257-262. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20190516-05

Karlsson, M., & Pennbrant, S. (2020). Ideas of caring in nursing practice. Nursing Philosophy,

21. https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12325
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Lotfi, M., Zamanzadeh, V., Valizadeh, L., & Khajehgoodari, M. (2019). Assessment of nurse-

patient communication and patient satisfaction from nursing care. Nursing Open, 6. 1189-

1196. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.316