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VALUES CLARIFICATION

Values Clarification Assignment

Patrick N. Ryan

College of Nursing, University of South Florida

NUR3825: Intro to Nursing

Dr. Candace Burns

November 20, 2022

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VALUES CLARIFICATION
Values Clarification and Nursing Practice

Nursing is a profession that ties in professional hands-on skills, intellectual skills, and

communication skills that draw on learned knowledge in school but also leans on personal values

as it effects healthcare rendered. Because nurses come from all different backgrounds, and their

patients do as well, it important to recognize your own values and beliefs, as well as do a values

assessment of your patient to render the best care possible. It is imperative to stay mindful of

these varying beliefs, and even check some of your more personal or controversial beliefs “at the

door” and focus on providing exceptional patient care for the purpose of the greater good.

Within this paper, there will be an in depth look at the top three values I value the most

within my life of the 10 values generated from my Personal Value Assessment. I will show how

these values play out into my personal and professional life, why they are important to me, how

they affect my behavior in the hospital, and how nursing can sometimes challenge my values but

nevertheless make me a better nurse. All of this allows me to provide better patient care.

Value #1: Making a Difference

The first value that is important to me is making a difference. Undoubtedly, when people

search out a career or even ask themselves the meaning of life, they are looking for purpose and

fulfillment. When it comes to nursing, my overall goal is to end up in the emergency room or

Intensive Care Unit (ICU) because that’s where I feel I can make the biggest difference by

saving someone’s life right then and right there. The outcome of your work is right in front of

you. I think this value impacts my nursing practice in a positive way by allowing me to seek out

ways to make the biggest difference, which as I mentioned before is through the ER or ICU, and

is a testament to my complementary personality type. The employment of competent patient care

with empathetic concern for the wellbeing and outcomes of your patient, is the hallmark of
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VALUES CLARIFICATION
making a difference (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2021). Despite these

aspirations, I recognize that nursing can challenge this value when I want to make a difference

but due to a variety of factors outside of my control, I am simply unable to. Examples of this

would be things outside of my scope of practice, terminal illnesses, or patients refusing care.

Value #2: Leadership

The second value that is important to me is leadership. Leadership is important to me

because of my time spent in the military as a medic, where I thoroughly enjoyed leading other

soldiers and teaching them new things so they can be the best medic they can be, or in this

scenario, I look forward to teaching and mentoring new grad nurses when the time comes. This

value impacts my nursing practice by allowing me to strive to be a charge nurse eventually, and

further my education to not only become a better nurse for my patients, but also to train the

whole unit to the best of my abilities so all patients on my unit get exceptional care (American

Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2021). Nursing may at times challenge my leadership

abilities when I’m put in new situations I haven’t been in before or am dealing with staff of

unique backgrounds that require me to communicate differently, or potentially in situations when

I am dealing with co-workers who simply do not want to be led. There are also times that despite

being the charge nurse, it is important to recognize the experience other nurses bring to the table

that may come from different hospitals and maintaining a collaborative mindset instead of an

authoritarian mindset.

Value #3: Well-Being

Lastly, well-being is a value near and dear to my heart because I have seen in my own

life during my military experience as a medic, how not taking care of yourself can lead to subpar

patient care in return. Seeing this value within myself and my fellow soldiers in the military
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VALUES CLARIFICATION
played out greatly when self-care and maintenance of well-being wasn’t properly managed. The

first question we must ask is “how can I take care of others if I can’t take care of myself,” and,

“how can I expect my patients to listen to my medical advice if I can’t follow my own?”. This

value plays into my nursing practice by holding myself accountable and eating nutritious foods,

exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and getting proper sleep to start; which all aligns with

The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education (American Association

of Colleges of Nursing, 2021). This way I can not only be a role model for my patients, but also

gain a deeper understanding of what I am teaching them by seeing what it really means and

entails in my everyday life. Despite my best efforts, nursing can challenge my well-being due to

the high stress environment, long hours, little sleep, and short staffing that is common in nursing.

Nevertheless, through better time management, mental resilience, and organization; I can still get

the sleep I want, exercise, and eat nutritiously to better take care of my patients.

Conclusion. Making a difference, leadership, and well-being are the three values that

mean the most to me which can best serve myself as a nurse, help my co-workers, and provide

my patients the best care possible (Personal values assessment (PVA) 2021). I have lived up

them before as an Army Medic, I live them in my personal life, and I strive to sustain and

improve upon them as a nurse in the future. Each nurse brings various values to the table, and the

ones I possess can be incorporated by anyone for the greater good. For as long as nurses take

care of future generation of nurses through leadership by mentorship and teaching, strive to make

a difference every day, and also practice taking care of their own well-being so they can continue

to take care of others, they can live by values that will benefit everyone in the healthcare setting.
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References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core Competencies for

Professional Nursing Education. Retrieved 2022, from

https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/42/AcademicNursing/pdf/Essentials-2021.pdf.

Barrett Values Centre. (2021, September 22). Personal values assessment (PVA). Barrett Values

Centre. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.valuescentre.com/tools-

assessments/pva/

Blais, K., & Hayes, J. S. (2016). Professional Nursing Practice: Concepts and perspectives.

Prentice Hall.