What is Nursing Philosophy - Assignment Example

Running Head: Nursing Philosophy Nursing Philosophy BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL HERE HERE Nursing Philosophy What is nursing? Nursing is a practice in the health care industry that is actually a conglomerate of different obligations and professional behaviors, especially surrounding issues of improving patient emotional and physical well-being. As a nurse, it is the responsibility to not only ensure adherence to different safety protocols mandated by government or other regulatory bodies, it is about providing a stable and rewarding organizational culture for both the patient and other practicing nurses and physicians. As a representative of any health care organization, the role of the nurse is to provide professionalism and expertise in their chosen field to any regulatory agency or hospital administrator that will either examine or perhaps scrutinize their behaviors when dealing with patients. Part of this role is to be able to provide information to physicians and patients (along with administration) that reflects competency and also illustrates an understanding of hospital procedures. Since the nurse is usually the most visible person on staff for the patient as their frontline advocate (Wu, 2008), failure to illustrate these strengths could lead to lost revenues when patients perceive a poor hospital experience or visit to the health care clinic. Nursing is surely the delivery of both standardized and innovative health care administration, including performance of basic duties such as comforting the patient or administering their physician-mandated dosages of medication. It is about having the educational credentials necessary to understand basic examination procedures and being able to apply them in a way that provides emotional support to patients. Nursing, then, represents a blend of medical knowledge and presentation of human support systems that give patients a sense of security about their decision to visit a particular clinic or receive care in a hospital environment. Manipulating the Environment for Better Health Delivery In the role of practicing nurse, once the generic obligations of treatment have been administered, relating to a diverse patient load becomes a primary goal. Nurses work with people of many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, with each patient or family structure consisting of certain expectations related to medical care or how they wish to be respected as human beings. “Showing respect by active listening will contribute to quality of life for patients and their family members, making them feel less stressed and more comfortable” (Wu, 2008, p.5). Because of these patient differences that are quite common in daily nursing practice, it is the responsibility of the nurse to manipulate the environment to better-suit it to the needs of diverse patients. This can be accomplished with simple greetings and smiles that show legitimate emotional concern for the patient and their health care situation or simply allowing the patient to express their many concerns so that they can build a positive relationship with their caretaker. Active listening involves understanding that patients can be terrified of the different procedures they are experiencing or perhaps they do not have a family support system to make their hospital stay more enjoyable and need someone to vent their frustrations. Simple environmental changes, such as expressing interest in opening/closing curtains, reducing television volume, or offering of different snacks or beverages can assist greatly in providing a more stable and rewarding environment for patients. Manipulating the environment can also include working toward improving the relationships between different nurses and physicians on the staff. How staff members interact with one another is going to leave a lasting impression on patients, especially if there is visible division or lack of unity being expressed between caretakers. In an organizational environment where this type of friction is common and staff members cannot get along, a competent nurse looks for the causes of these divisions or lack of agreement and tries to smooth relationships so as to provide less transparency to the patient. This could involve reinforcing physician competence, rather than open criticism of their treatment philosophy or through suggesting more staff meetings so that these issues can be ironed out in private sessions for better relationship-building among peers. Manipulating the environment could also include taking extra time to help the patient find information about how to assist them in certain self-diagnoses, if appropriate. “If healthcare professionals can encourage people to learn how to look after themselves, showing them how to recognize symptoms and how to find additional help, this will build patient confidence to take responsibility for their health care” (Richards, 2009, p.27). This could involve taking the time to browse through different hospital literature about the illnesses being faced by the patient and providing one-on-one counseling so that the patient is equipped with knowledge about their condition and can better communicate with nurses and other practicing physicians on staff. It is rather common knowledge that sometimes physicians tend to provide patients with very clinical-sounding information about their conditions which can frustrate patients with little knowledge or education. By being this advocate for the patient and informing them about the ins and outs of their condition, it is likely the patient will respond better and feel more comfortable about their health care providers and the environment they have chosen for health administration. Who Does the Nurse Care For? As identified, patients in most health care environments come from very different cultural backgrounds and have different needs at the emotional and physical level. A nurse in these environments cares for children, adults, and their associated family and friends that frequent the environment to provide support or encouragement. Based on simple observation or through active listening, a competent nurse should be able to recognize certain social cues that help the nurse better relate at the cultural level. As one example, when dealing with older patients, there is a social stereotype known as ageism that involves social prejudice or even discrimination against older citizens from their younger counterparts (Henslin, 2003). This stereotype often makes people consider older people to be less capable of further learning and often gives them a perception of disrespect. A nurse caring for older people should be sensitive to these issues and try not to talk down to older patients or automatically assume that they have less cognitive capabilities to understand their condition or situation. Caring for people that fit this category involves first assessing the patient’s cognitive abilities or emotional stability and then avoiding stereotypical treatments that would fit the ageism profile. A qualified nurse is also caring for the organization in which they work, looking for situations of medical fraud, sexism in medicine, or any other conflict of interest that could pose a serious risk for the reputation or revenues of the hospital. Most health organizations have many stakeholders, not just the patient, that should be monitored to ensure they are following hospital policy and satisfying ethical obligations related to patient care. Because of the increase in situations that bring lawsuits, such as malpractice or medical incompetence, as the frontline caretaker who deals regularly with patient issues the nurse has a responsibility to care for the well-being of the hospital or health care clinic. In the event that these situations occur, a nurse should be willing to blow the proverbial whistle on these activities as, if they are allowed to continue without this action, there are potential outcomes to the nurse in areas of job loss or being accused of supporting these unethical behaviors. As a professional representative of the organization, the nurse has more exposure to the activities of their peers and should be aware when another staff member might be putting the patient or the hospital at risk financially. Conclusion A nurse that understands all of their obligations, both to the patient and to the hospital in which they are employed, will work to ensure a rewarding environment for everyone involved in the health care process. Minimizing risks and showing professionalism, along with emotional competence, is the key success factor in this job role. It is the responsibility to stablize the unstable work environment through simple manipulation tools that provide better health care overall. References Henslin, J.M. (2003). Sociology: A down to earth approach, 6th ed. Boston: A&B Publishing. Morrison, Eileen. (2007). “Therapies: What are the Ethics Challenges for Kansas Nurses?”, Kansas Nurse, 82(5). Richards, Sara. (2009). “Self-Care in Practice”, Practice Nurse, Sutton. 37(11), pp.26-29. Wu, S. X. (2008). “My Nursing Philosophy as Viewed through Nursing’s Metaparadigm”, Illuminations, 17(2), pp.5-8. Read More