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Kaelii's Nursing Philosophy

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                                                                                        Personal Nursing Philosophy

                                                                                                 Kaelii Cunningham
                                              Department of Nursing, Delaware Technical Community College
                                                                                    NUR 300: RN to BSN Transition
                                                                                 Professor: Pam McEvoy MSN, RN
                                                                                                              July 28, 2024




          Nurses are not just professionals but also caring, intuitive, intelligent, adaptable, philosophical, experimental, resourceful, confident, brave, empathetic, self-reflecting, advocating, inspiring, and altruistic leaders in the healthcare system. Our philosophy of nursing and leadership skills are not just acquired, but they evolve through continued education, experiences, and self-reflection. Nursing has evolved over the years and will continue to grow as we, nurses, become more relied upon to be leaders, whether formally or informally. Throughout my journey to continuing my education in nursing, I have discovered that my personal nursing philosophy and leadership types are based on my experiences and personality. But one key element that stands out is empathy. My personal philosophy of nursing is closely related to Watson’s nursing theory in that nursing is altruistic, holistic, innovative, dynamic, virtuous, and centered around caring, with empathy at its core.

          Watson’s nursing theory is centered around caring holistically, which includes not only oneself but also others. The theory of holistic caring goes beyond the medical system, and its focus is relatively spiritual, as it describes a healing journey between a nurse and patient that is deeper than any wound can go. This spiritual aspect of the theory is what truly connects us as nurses and patients, fostering a deeper understanding and empathy. Watson’s nursing theory includes ten key ideas: embrace, inspire, trust, nurture, forgive, deepen, balance, co-create, minister, and open. This goes beyond tasks and into the unconscious level of human experience and human caring. Watson defines human caring as “the practice of loving-kindness and equanimity. It involves authentic presence, a deep belief in others, and cultivating one’s spiritual practice toward wholeness of mind/body/spirit.” (Ghanbari-Afra et al., 2022). Human caring is the basis for Watson’s theory and what most medical professionals strive for in patient care. According to an article from PubMed, “this type of care respects an individual’s identity and values, supports the individual’s uniqueness and independence, and helps people reach their maximum capacity” (Ghanbari-Afra et al., 2022). Here, Watson explains that by connecting to a patient or person using their nursing theory, one can better understand the individual and themselves, resulting in better care for all parties.
         My personal nursing theory correlates with Watson’s theory as it identifies everyone as unique and assesses the patient’s overall health in mind, body, and spirit. I believe that by treating each patient uniquely, I can better assess the situation both on the physical and spiritual levels. It allows me to develop a better overall picture of the patient’s health and provide care to the underlying issues that are not always present on the surface. By assessing a patient this way, I am more equipped to treat them to the best of my ability. However, first, we must understand and achieve equanimity to provide care to this level.
         As nurses and caregivers, we must be able to enter a situation judgment-free and with a clear mind to provide the best for our patients. We can achieve this through equanimity, which is the ability to have an even mind, which includes impartiality and control over thoughts and emotions. With a clear mind and control over our emotions, we as nurses and caregivers can care for our patients on the level that Watson’s theory envisions. This transformative power of equanimity in nursing care inspires us to provide the best care possible. To help one achieve equanimity, we should self-assess ourselves periodically by creating a wellness plan. Creating a wellness plan allows individuals to assess themselves using the five components of wellness: physical, spiritual, social, emotional, and intellectual.
          My personal wellness plan identified the physical and emotional components as areas of concern. These areas are shared areas of concern for people in the medical field due in part to the stressful and demanding hours we face. In working through our areas of concern, one will begin a self-reflecting and healing journey for yourself. The overall goal of your wellness plan is to be balanced in all the categories while identifying areas of concern and creating a healing journey of your own. Our healing journey will be unique to us but includes typically keeping a diary, being mindful of our actions, taking corrective measures, and reflecting on ourselves. This mindfulness of ourselves is essential in our growth; as PubMed explains, “Mindfulness emphasizes the ability to remain consciously aware of what is happening in the field of experience, while equanimity allows awareness to be even and unbiased by facilitating an attitude of non-attachment and non-resistance.” (Desbordes et al., 2014). This, in combination with a nursing philosophy, sets the foundation for leadership.
          There are several types of nursing leadership, per a blog by Relias: “The American Nurses Association recognizes the following seven nursing leadership styles: 1. Laissez-fair, 2. Autocratic, 3. Servant, 4. Democratic, 5. Situational, 6. Transactional, 7. Transformational” (Sadler, 2023). There have been multiple studies on leadership and its effect on the health care system. The health care setting is chaotic and unpredictable, per PubMed Central, it “is critical to ensuring the delivery of safe, evidence-based care necessary to positively impact the overall patient experience.” (Bush et al., 2020). Due to this ever-changing environment that we work in, it is important that our leaders are constantly adapting and learning. Great leaders are born with the persona to lead and become extraordinary by refining skills through firsthand experience and higher education.
          Transformational leadership is a type of leadership that inspires, engages in teamwork, and empowers innovation. This leadership type correlates with my nursing philosophy and personality type, ENFJ-A. As an ENFJ-A, my characteristics “feel called to serve a greater purpose in life, thoughtful and idealistic; ENFJs strive to have a positive impact on other people and the world around them. These personalities rarely shy away from an opportunity to do the right thing, even when doing so is far from easy.” (16 Personalities, 2024) People with this personality type are receptive, dependable, enthusiastic, altruistic, and charismatic. ENFJ-A’s have characteristics that fit well with the role of a transformational leader, as they have natural leadership skills and love helping others. We excel at leadership by mentoring others to learn, grow, and become more confident in themselves. We are creative and often meet challenges with innovation while never losing sight of our core values and overall goal. ENFJ-A thrive in a team atmosphere as they see their team as individuals and the unique traits they bring to the team. Most transformational leaders collaborate with their constituents in the trenches, allowing them to gain trust and empower them to strive for the best care they can provide.
          This allows a foundation for an interdisciplinary team to create an individualized plan that the patient can understand and fits their holistic needs. However, workload and leadership are crucial for the caregiver to be present and establish an interpersonal relationship to utilize Watson's theory truly. Leadership is imperative in facilitating a human caring environment for their employees, multi-disciplinary teams, and patients. There are two principles in Watson’s Caring Science:
     1. The caregiver must care for himself or herself to be available to patients and families and 2.          Caring occurs at the point in time when two individuals can make a heart-to-heart connection, one that impacts both participants in such a way that each is changed as a result of interaction. (Foss-Durant, 2014, p. 12).
This combination of factors partnered with the QSEN competencies allows for the best possible outcome for our patients.
          QSEN competencies include patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, safety, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics. Implementing QSEN competencies together with the above-described practices allows a nurse or caretaker to provide a deep connection with a patient and create a care plan that all parties are equally invested in for success. This is the core of creating a safe patient-centered care plan that focuses on quality improvements backed by evidence-based practices that all collaborating parties agree with. This is the foundation for better patient outcomes within the healthcare system.
         We, as nurses, are there formally and informally willing to help no matter where we are, what personal things are going on in our lives, or the situation we were placed in; we balance our emotions and remain present in every moment to allow our nursing intuition to guide us in caring holistically. We not only care for our patients but also care for our families, our communities, and most importantly ourselves. By caring for ourselves, we begin to understand ourselves, become mindful, and practice equanimity. We transcend a turbulent, dynamic, and overwhelmed medical system with our nursing philosophy and leadership skills. We develop our nursing philosophy through experiences, continued learning, and unique personalities. Ultimately, we practice nursing with the nursing philosophy that is altruistic, holistic, innovative, dynamic, virtuous, and centered around caring.




                                                                                                    References

  • Bush, S., Michalek, D., & Francis, L. (2020). Perceived Leadership Styles, Outcomes of Leadership,      and Self-Efficacy Among Nurse Leaders: Nurse Leader, 19(4), 390–394.            https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2020.07.010

 

  • Desbordes, G., Gard, T., Hoge, E. A., Hölzel, B. K., Kerr, C., Lazar, S. W., Olendzki, A., & Vago, D. R. (2014). Moving Beyond Mindfulness: Defining Equanimity as an Outcome Measure in Meditation and Contemplative Research. Mindfulness, 6(2), 356–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-013-0269-8

 

 

 

 

 

As a nurse, I believe in providing holistic care that addresses physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs I empower patients to take an active role in their own through education and preventative measures.

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