Professional Philosophy of Nursing Leadership
Philosophy of nursing is a statement declaring beliefs, values, together with ethics in care as well as treatment while in the profession of nursing. The statement is informed by the need to offer competent and optimal care to patients as well as communities (Meehan, 2012). While the philosophy may appear to be too academic for practical application, it remains a critical approach in nursing if applied appropriately. Nursing involves the protection, as well as optimization of health and abilities, illness and injury prevention, healing facilitation, use of diagnosis and treatment to alleviate suffering and advocating for patients and other groups affected by care. The role of a nurse in caregiving is to promote healing from illnesses using acquired skills and knowledge. A personal nursing philosophy is beneficial in the life of a nurse as well as the people that receive care and their families.
My Philosophy of Nursing
My primary values and beliefs about nursing include integrity, hard work, collaboration, compassion, understanding, and honesty towards achieving common goals. I make much effort to keep the values and beliefs to inform my decision making and care provision for my patients. I choose the nursing profession because I always wanted to help sick people heal, ease pain, and share in their suffering. In my compassion, I help patients in various ways, including care provision, availing medications, and understand their emotional, social, and physical needs. Also, in my hard work, dedication, and honesty, I strive to work with other nurses to ensure that my patients, alongside their families, receive the best possible care. I am a good listener, and always to understand and perceive the situations of the patients and family members. It is never lost to me that I am handling people in pain, and whose family members could be suffering. Therefore, I pay not only the utmost attention but also offer a listening year to whatever they have to say in order to alleviate their anxieties or pain or both. Moreover, nursing requires continuous learning on caregiving, especially in this era of technological advancements. Therefore, as a professional in the nursing profession, I am committed to lifetime learning as well as practical experience to become a better professional.
My Professional Nursing Leadership Philosophy
Professionally, I strive to be a responsible nurse by assuring safe, holistic, and patient-focused care. I appreciate that my patients are not merely room members, but individuals who deserve individualized attention alongside care. Therefore, as a professional nurse, my clinical judgment plays a significant role in meeting patient needs. Also, as an advocate for patients, I have a professional responsibility of empowering patients through encouragement so that they can participate actively in their care and involve their care. Similarly, my professional role involves working together with patients to set their goals. Besides, I am aware of my professional role in ensuring the confidentiality of patient information, except when the law mandates reporting. I am of my professional duty to ensure that clinical data is not shared because that violates the right of the patient for privacy. Moreover, as a knowledgeable professional, I have to educate patients alongside their families on diseases, treatments, as well as healthy behaviors to improve care outcomes. I am inclined to use my professional knowledge to model patients to positive, healthy behaviors for better care.
As a nurse, I am committed to keep and acquire new knowledge, skills, and strive for self-enhancement by promoting constant learning. I believe that through knowledge acquisition, I will not stagnate on my belief, preferably, evolve professionally using evidence-based practice as well as through technological advancements. I will keep learning through practical experience, books, journals, and interactions with other practitioners and families of patients. I am focusing on learning daily to improve my skills continually.
How My Philosophy of Nursing Relate To My Professional Nursing Leadership Philosophy
Some of my philosophy of nursing principles includes honesty, lifetime learning, kindness, and hard work, among others. The values and beliefs inform personal decisions and every aspect of life. I believe that my work as a nurse should lead to patient healing, empowerment, safety, and engagement. Therefore, I believe that my professional and personal philosophies on nursing are matching since the values cover my core motives for nursing. The qualities of a good nurse do not end with the end of the shifts but form part of the individual as a person. Therefore, I always ensure that I carry them at all times. Living my philosophies, I have to continually remember that even when I try my level best, I cannot change the fact that I am a human being with imperfections. Whenever things fail to work the way I expected, I have to assess the situation and learn from it, because in that way I can become better. I take time to reflect on my actions and track the best practices in nursing.
Besides, I never stop upholding personal as well as professional, ethical standards all the time. Whenever I realize that my personal beliefs are conflicting with those of my patients, I look for mentors to guide me through the conflicts to find a suitable solution, both for the benefits of my patients and myself. I am accountable for my actions and also consider professional colleagues as significant resources. I believe professional colleagues in health care deserve respect as well as recognition for hard work, knowledge, and reliability. I believe in collaboration to maximize patient outcomes on a continuum of health issues. I am working with other nurses to improve the nursing profession’s image through ethical work, community service, and political involvement through policy advocacy. These are strategies that I believe should work together to improve healthcare locally, as well as globally.
Characteristics of Someone (My Mentor) Who Exemplifies My Vision of Professional Nursing Leadership
The person who exemplifies my vision for professional nursing is my mentor. I look forward to being like her because of the strong nursing leadership characters. I have observed some of the characteristics that demonstrate how I want my professional nursing leadership to be.
One of the characteristics that the person demonstrates is decision-making. I have seen my mentor apply skills for decision making to advocate for the patients. Identifying problems along with the areas that contribute to wastage, creating and implementing improvement plans, and adjusting appropriately to meet goals require decision-making skills (Dyess et al., 2016). The responsibilities require someone with the capacity to analyze problems, develop a bigger picture, and then devise appropriate solutions.
The other characteristic that I am learning from my mentor is a commitment to lifetime learning. Going to a nursing school is one aspect of skills and knowledge learning (Thoms & Duffield, 2012). I want to study at the highest levels, just like her and through experience. I acknowledge the changing nature of the healthcare environment, which requires someone who keeps pace and is ready to learn continually.
Third, the individual is a team member. I have seen my mentor work alongside other members of the healthcare team, consulting, and guiding where necessary. Effective care requires collaboration between and among healthcare professionals (Stanley, Cuthbertson & Latimer, 2012). Importantly, nurses who work in teams help mentor or are mentored by others and create friendships.
Last, the individual has developed conflict resolution skills in the place of work. My mentor always works to come up with solutions in the team, especially when there are disagreements and misunderstandings. Knowing how to confront conflicts as well as offer positive criticisms helps to maintain respect (Sherman, 2018). A good leader creates a strong team that works in the most active state.
References
Dyess, S., Sherman, R., Pratt, B., & Chiang-Hanisko, L. (2016). Growing nurse leaders: Their perspectives on nursing leadership and today’s practice environment. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(1). DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol21No01PPT04
Meehan, T. (2012). The careful nursing philosophy and professional practice model. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21, 2905-2916.
Thoms, D., & Duffield, C. (2012). Clinical leadership. In: Chang, E, Daly, J (eds) Transitions in Nursing, Chatswood, Australia: Elsevier, pp. 225–234.
Stanley, D., Cuthbertson, J., & Latimer, K. (2012). Perceptions of clinical leadership in the St John Ambulance Service in WA. Response 39(1), 3137.
Sherman, R.O. (2018). Leadership influence, and power. Nurse Leader, 6-7. https://www.nurseleader.com/action/showPdf?pii=S1541-4612%2817%2930295-1
