My teaching philosophy:
Teaching can be a rewarding experience for both the educator and the student. I believe that all knowledge is worth having. I have always had a fervor for education, and I have spent a significant amount of my adult life pursuing education in one form or another. I have been a student in nearly every type of nursing school, nursing assistant, practical nurse, associates, bachelors, and master’s level nursing degree. My instructors for my practical nursing program made an impact that steered me to the road that I am on today. They lectured and told stories to put the information into context. They frequently created classroom discussions on the material utilizing Socratic questioning among other methods. Their method of instruction created a classroom where I felt safe asking questions and scrutinizing the material. If they didn’t know the answer to a question, they didn’t lie or skirt around it. They admitted that they didn’t know and made it a mission to find out the answer whether that be independent, with the entire class, or with the student that asked the question. Since then, I have had many instructors that have had an impact on my perception of education and the teacher learner dynamic. I feel that as an educator it is my duty to inspire and cultivate a thirst for knowledge in my students.
I believe that nurse educators should exemplify the core values of nurses; caring, integrity, inclusion, and excellence (NLN, 2022). As nurses, we uphold these standards for our patients. Likewise, nurse educators should uphold these values for students. My philosophy is grounded in the principles of patient-centered care, lifelong learning, and holistic development. Through a combination of evidence-based practice, compassionate teaching, and mentorship, I strive to empower nursing students to become competent, compassionate, and confident practitioners who are committed to excellence in patient care.
Educators are responsible for imparting knowledge to an audience that is typically naïve in a subject, and must therefore be not only knowledgeable, but nurture a healthy and honest relationship with their students. Instructors should care for their students, taking time to evaluate individual students' academic performance, influencing factors on their performance, and how to help encourage the student for their educational success. I aim to be accessible and nonjudgmental, creating an environment that welcomes questions and a safe space to explore content. Reciprocal constructive criticism and feedback are a necessary part of the development of a relationship that encourages accountability and fairness. This type of student-teacher relationship opens avenues of communication and creates a relaxed learning environment resulting in students being more inclined to ask questions and solidify their knowledge. Developing this kind of communication with my students is key to ensuring the virtue of the classroom, so that both the students and I are responsible for their success.
References
National League for Nursing (NLN). (2024). Core values. Default. https://www.nln.org/about/about/core-values
My Nursing philosophy:
Merriam-Webster (2019) defines philosophy as the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group. The ICN (2019) considers nursing to be the care of all persons in sickness and health in any setting, the promotion of the safety and wellbeing of the patient, involvement in policy development and advancement of knowledge related to the care of patients. I define the philosophy of nursing as the beliefs and standards that influence my patient care technique and utilization of current evidence-based practice.
The idea that nursing is just knowledge or just compassion is archaic. Nursing is both knowledge and heart, the philosophy of nursing is the joining of education and heart. Another way to look at this, nursing philosophy could be considered the how to behind the what and why of nursing. My personal nursing philosophy is multifaceted with influences from my personal view of myself, my standards, values, and current nursing theories I resonate with.
Self-Concept: I am an extroverted, competent, honest, empathetic, and compassionate woman with a strong foundation in family. I feel that my personal accountability and honesty enables me to own my mistakes and facilitates my impeccability with speech. I implore my patients to do the same, to ensure proper care they need to be honest and admit when they did not follow treatment as ordered. I have had patients that did not want to admit that they have not been checking their blood sugars and giving insulin as they are supposed to resulting in a readmittance to the hospital. If these patients had been honest with me or the doctor there are other measures to be taken such as an insulin pump. I feel that taking ownership of personal choices is essential in health maintenance.
Intelligence is another characteristic I feel I possess. I can catch on to ideas and mimic techniques with minimal effort. On the other hand, I find that I am unsure of my decisions and find that I frequently ask colleagues for verification of my decision processes. Such as a patient that requires titration with a propofol drip and the parameters to change the drip are subjective. I find that I ask a fellow nurse to confirm my justification in titrating the patient’s intravenous drip. Many times, I will admit that I do not know the answer to the problem being presented, for instance an actively laboring woman presented to the emergency room. And I am by no means a labor and delivery nurse, but she was to be my patient. My limited knowledge in labor and delivery nursing required me to depend on seasoned nurses to help with her delivery. I feel that the ability to know that the problem is beyond my knowledge base is more valuable than a nurse that overestimates their ability.
Values: I was raised with a strong sense of family and parents that pushed me to follow my own heart and ideas. My father taught me to be truthful and responsible, and I continue to uphold those fundamentals to steer my moral compass. Whether at work or at home I strive to say what I mean to say and remain autonomous. I believe that knowing personal limitations while pushing one’s self to be and do the best they can is of utmost importance. As with myself I implore my patients to continually push themselves to do the therapy or the treatment, that may not be comfortable and they may not want to do, so that their overall health returns and perhaps surpasses their baseline. Compassion and empathy are also a very prominent part of my nursing philosophy. Even though I strive for the best sometimes all a patient needs are kind words, a caring heart, and maybe a hug or two. No person is just what you see on the outside, the outside is just the tip of the iceberg. Patients are people and deserve to be treated as such and not just a disease process.
Culture: As a health care professional, I must admit that I am a bit ethnocentric, along with most professionals. Professionals are educated to know their own discipline very well judging and often unable to relate to someone who does not have their specific knowledge base. As a nursing professional, I am my patients advocate. I feel that I need to present my nursing care and myself as the most accepting nonjudgmental person available to them. Which in turn enhances my patient’s trust, allowing an environment of safety and security to truly express themselves enabling their optimal care. The ability of medical professionals to change and accept multiple cultures and any manner of life is crucial to the patients’ health and treatment plan. We need to be able to treat each patient individually without bias from the most derelict up to the president. Bending ourselves to be what the patient needs not what our personal opinions would dictate. Holistic nursing care based on Florence Nightingale's work requires that as nurses we treat and understand every facet of a patient, a “mind-body-spirit-emotion-environment” approach (Klebanoff, 2017).
Nursing Model and Framework: Roger's science of unitary human beings’ states that the theory of nursing is to foster health potential. Using three key concepts; unitary human being, unified energy field, and mutual process. Rogers suggests that "man is a unified whole processing his own integrity and manifesting characteristics that are more than and different from the sum of his parts''(as cited in Hood, 2018, p. 149). This theory is continually applied to my personal practice as a nurse. I must look at my patients, including their environment and their own personal perceptions of their health. Their overall health and recovery from whatever acute process brought them to the hospital initially is contingent on this unitary theory.
I have treated patients whose entire disease process was caused from environmental factors and the patients need to keep valuable information a secret hindering their medical care. I had a patient with pneumonia in late winter when it was quite frigid outdoors. I learned through conversation that this patient did not have heat at home and was indeed near homeless living in a shack that only had running water from a garden hose from a neighbor. After learning of this, I relayed it to my social worker who in turn found a reason for the patient to be admitted to an assisted care facility with coverage from Medicaid. Another example being a diabetic patient who has frequent trips to the hospital for hyperglycemia. The patient states that it doesn't matter what he eats he just needs to keep his blood sugar from getting low by eating. During his admission myself and the other nurses caring for him notice that he does not adhere to the diet and has no clue why he needs his medications. Through the course of his stay we learned that he is illiterate and previously had been given written instructions on treatment of diabetes and the reason for each medication. After a long conversation with this patient and a thorough education the patient who previously could not identify his medications and the treatment of his diabetes is able to do both now.
Through the concept of unified human beings, we are able as nurses to identify other factors related to patient health. A successful treatment requires the nurse to identify not only patient limitations and education needs, but environmental and personal factors that can either enhance or inhibit treatment outcomes. We must see the patient and environment as well as develop a repertoire with the patent to foster the security the patient needs to fully participate in their recovery, trusting the nurse with secrets and shames that could hinder the treatment.
Application into Practice: As a practicing nurse I treat every patient equally, pushing for them to reach their goals, establishing a repertoire to enhance communication and the ability to educate on their treatment and causes of their diagnosis regardless of the financial status of the patient. While adhering to these standards I also feel it is vital to be knowledgeable about the background and environment of my patient and is essential to patient outcome. Currently there is a movement toward individualized medicine, with research and development will have the ability to treat patients based on genomic markers. Driving home the idea that everything matters when treating a patient.
Conclusion: Nursing practice is a balance between knowledge and compassion, knowing how to care for patients while admitting shortcomings and adapting to ensure optimal patient outcomes. I believe nursing care and treatment of the patient must be holistic. The nurse is to be honest and precise with their language and compassionate with their actions. Ever nurturing a trusting relationship with the patient and bearing in mind all aspects of the patient’s life. The patient is not just a patient but a mom or a son, a person outside of the health care setting. And just as a patient is not just a patient, a nurse is an individual as well. A nurse’s philosophy is made from experiences, personality traits, and interests. All of this comes together to form each nurse’s personal philosophy.
References
Hood, L. J. (2018). Leddy & Peppers professional nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
Klebanoff, N. A. (2017, November 06). Holistic nursing: Focusing on the whole person. Retrieved July 17, 2019, from https://www.americannursetoday.com/holistic-nursing-focusing-on-the-whole-person/
Nursing Definitions. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2019, from https://www.icn.ch/nursing-policy/nursing-definitions
Philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/philosophy
Williams, J. S., Walker, R. J., & Egede, L. E. (2016, January). Achieving Equity in an Evolving Healthcare System: Opportunities and Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4724388/
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