Paste your essay in here…Nursing encompasses many different definitions of what people believe to be true about the profession. People often have a narrow view and believe it is just a matter of caring for the patient’s illness and bedside care, but nursing is much more complex than that. Since starting nursing school, I have formed a belief that nursing is more of a lifestyle about caring and building a relationship with the patient, while also promoting health, preventing further illnesses, and provide support and protection.
Definition of Nursing
It is common for the average person to view nurses just as people who help out doctors and take care of the hygiene of the patient. I use to think that way also up until a little before and right at the beginning of starting my nursing school career. Now after beginning the semester, and participating in clinicals, I view nursing as much more than just a profession of bedside care. It encompasses compassion, patience, and critical thinking. My definition of nursing is the combination of building a relationship with the patient while providing emotional support and also implementing duties to promote health, treat illnesses, and protection of individuals.
The American Nurses Association (2018) defines nursing as the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response; and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations. (ANA, 2018)
The ANA definition and my own definition are similar in aspects of protection, promotion of health, and treating illness but mine differs slightly due to relating nursing to forming a close relationship and providing support emotionally to individuals. I believe that is a crucial part of nursing because the emotions and thoughts of the patients are an important part of their care and them improving.
Health and Illness
Health is a combination of physical, mental, and social well-being and can be influenced by many internal and external factors, whereas illness is the reaction to particular diseases (LeMone, Burke, Bauldoff, & Gubrud, 2015). Nurses play a vital role in promoting health in each of those categories. It is a nurse’s job to help the patient strive to achieve all aspects of their well-being and it is also their role to help take care of patients due to their illnesses or help prevent further illness. Before coming into nursing school, I will admit I did not realize how much nurses play a part in the prevention of illnesses and the patients emotional well-being, but now it has become very apparent. Doctors come in and out of the patient’s room in the hospital and are not as hands on, but nurses are with the patient through everything within those 12-hour shifts. I have come to realize prevention of further illnesses is an extremely important part of nursing. That is why nurses are always on their toes thinking of ways to prevent infections and more complications by cleaning equipment, keeping up with patients’ vitals and labs, and much more.
Nursing Profession
Although it has not always been considered one, nursing is a profession. There is a difference between an occupation and a profession. Occupation refers to regular activity to earn money. Whereas a profession requires extensive training, expertise in the field, and high degree of knowledge (Berman, Frandsen, & Snyder, 2016). There are several different levels of nursing and each requires education to become qualified. Every person who wants to become a registered nurse must pass the NCLEX, which shows that they have successfully been trained and are knowledgeable enough to be working with patients. Nursing is a profession also because it is service oriented, there is ongoing research to contribute to nursing practice, there is a code of ethics to ensure they always do what is morally right, it is autonomous because it regulates itself and sets standards, and they work within their professional organizations (Berman et al., 2016). I view nursing as a profession and value that nursing follows these criteria and is set to as such as a high standard as it is today. Nurses are such an important part of the healthcare system and without these standards patients would not receive as great of care as they do.
Nurse’s Role or Responsibility as an Advocate in Patient-Centered Care
Patient-centered care is care that is specifically responsive to the needs of that particular patient and adapts to provide the appropriate care for them. Studies have been done that have proven patient-centered care to improve care processes, health results, and survival of patients (Cherkin, Greene, Tuzzio, 2012). There are many different roles nurses take on when it comes to the competency of patient-centered care, one of the more important roles is being an advocate to the patient. Patient-centered advocacy is basically when the nurse acts as a representative for the patient, defends their rights, protects their interests, and also accompanies them with decision-making (Abbaszadeh, Ahmadi, Davoodvand, 2016). It as an important task for the nurse because patients do not always have the support or are not in the best state of mind due to their illness. Nurses are also the last line of defense for patients when administering their medicines, if there were a mistake in the dose or the medication itself is questionable it is the nurse’s job to take the right precaution. I believe patient-centered care is one of the most important competencies because as a nurse you should always be focused on safety for the patient, what is best for them and being aware of their needs and what is important to them.
Nursing Philosophy Comparison
The philosophy of nursing is constantly evolving but surprisingly there are still many similarities from long ago. According to Garneau (2018), the first nursing theorist, Florence Nightingale, saw nursing as “profession, a trade, a necessary occupation, something to fill and employ all my faculties, I have always felt essential to me, I have always longed for” (p. 171). She believed nursing was more than just taking care of the patient but a meaningful action that provides a safe environment and promotes patient’s health and well-being. She used advocacy early on and valued human rights which is what led us to value advocacy for our patients. My philosophy of nursing is extremely similar to Nightingale’s because I also believe that nursing is much more than just taking care of patient but about forming a relationship with the patient while also promoting health, preventing further illness and providing support for the patient’s overall well-being. Her passion for nursing and helping others is exactly the kind of nurse I strive to be.
Conclusion
From the beginning of nursing school this semester until now my view of nursing has been altered and has led me to form my philosophy of nursing. The nursing profession entails a wide variety of care for patients and their families. I now realize that nursing is much more than just taking care of a patient’s health, but forming that strong relationship with the patient while taking care of their illnesses. A strong relationship can help improve the patient’s view towards healthcare providers leading to improve their cooperation and help nurses to provide the best care possible.
References
American Nurses Association. (2018). Scope and Standards of Practice. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/scope-of-practice/
Berman, A., Frandsen, G., & Snyder, S. (2016). Historical and Contemporary Nursing Practice. In R. Klaas (Ed.), Kozier & Erb's fundamentals of nursing: Concepts, Process and Practice (10th ed., pp.7). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.
Abbaszadeh, A., & Ahmadi, F., Davoodvand, S. (2016). Patient advocacy from the clinical nurses' viewpoint: a qualitative study. Journal of medical ethics and history of medicine, 9(3), 5.
Garneau, A. (2018). Nursing theory. In J. Zerwekh & A. Z. Garneau (Eds.), Nursing today: Transition and trends (9th ed., pp.167-184). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.
Cherkin, D., Greene, S. M., & Tuzzio, L. (2012). A framework for making patient- centered care front and center. The Permanente journal, 16(3), 49-53.
Bauldoff, G., Burke, K. M., & Gubrud-Howe, P. M., LeMone, P. (2015). Health and Illness Care of Adults. In B. Price (Ed.), Medical-surgical nursing: clinical reasoning in patient care (6th ed., pp.28-35). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.