Nursing Philosophy Paper 1

Nursing Philosophy Paper

Sarah Pitman

Delaware Technical Community College

NUR 300-201

Ms. Pini

February 16th, 2024

In week two we went over the different nursing theories and had to choose one that we

most related to. I chose Benner’s theory of which there are 7 domains of this theory which

include the helping-role, teaching-coaching, diagnostic and patient monitoring, effective

management of rapidly changing situations, administering and monitoring interventions and

regimens, monitoring and ensuring quality of practices and work role competencies (Masters et

al., 2023).

Lifelong learning is something that you hear about consistently in nursing whether it be

in class or in the workplace. For me right now that means obtaining my BSN, this impacts my

career because it opens doors to different job opportunities that an ADN degree wouldn’t, and

this relates to Benners’s theory and my own personal nursing theory because of the domain of

ensuring quality of practices and work role competencies. This means that constant bettering of

my practice and my role will help ensure improvement in the quality of care that I provide my

patients, which is a top priority. Getting my BSN will also help me to gain a new perspective and

education on certain things that I wasn’t taught through my ADN, and it can also build on that,

for example going into more depth into topics such as workplace conflict and nursing theories. I

think that having a nursing theory that I have read a lot about and taken all of the parts and

picked it apart has helped me in my own lifelong learning because I am able to take all of the

good parts and use them to guide me in my own personal theories. For right now I am committed

to my current lifelong learning journey right now of obtaining my BSN.

The main goals of my own personal nursing theory, which are taken mostly from

Benner’s theory as well as some from Virginia Hendersons theory. The most important things in
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healthcare and patient care to me are safety, teaching, interventions, being skilled in your work,

patients’ personal wellbeing, as well as the basic human functions. Safety is always the first

priority as this must be met first or you are unable to complete any of the other areas. Safety for

me as an orthopedic nurse means that I am following all the precautions and regulations set in

place by the surgeons and the hospital. Making sure to know the weight bearing status of all my

patients and who is and is not cleared by therapy to get up. Also, for a lot of hip replacement

patients they have very strict instructions on how they move so that they don’t pop that brand

new hip out. Teaching is weaved throughout all the care in nursing, whether it be teaching my

patient the safe way to ambulate or how to properly use a walker. Also, with all the different

types of dressings teaching the patients what do to when they get home and how to take care of

this new wound or teaching them about new equipment that they are going to have to use at

home. Teaching in healthcare is there whether you want it to be or not as a nurse you are going to

be a teacher and a guide to your patients, and I think that is something very special. As far as

interventions, it could be monitoring the patient and helping to get their pain medications

readjusted to something that works for them specifically and helps to manage post operative

pain. It could also be reaching out to the doctors when a patient has not had a bowel movement

for a couple of days, and they must go to rehab. It is also about being able to stay vigilant and

intervene when necessary for your patients and advocate for them. Being skilled in my work to

me is demonstrated by all of the above stated things like knowing all the dressing changes, and

all of the safety precautions, as well as when to intervene with a patients plan of care when

needed. My patients well being is a top priority for me because if they don’t feel motivated or are

just overall feeling sick they are not able to complete their goals during the stay such as getting

up to the chair for breakfast the day after surgery or simply ambulating to the bathroom. A lot of
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the patients I encounter have a lot of fear around getting up and walking post operatively so

being there and being able to be their personal cheerleader is a great thing for the patient but also

for the nurse. The final aspect of my theory related to basic human functions which I have taken

from Virginia Hendersons theory. In a lot of cases patients who are admitted with fractures and

are unable to move often feel upset because they are unable to assist staff with helping to turn

while in bed or with help getting changed or repositioned, but these are all apart of the basic

human rights and each patient should be able to receive the same care regardless.

So how does a nursing theory play into my own personal wellbeing? Well as previously

stated, the main goals of my nursing theory are safety, teaching, interventions, being skilled in

your work, patients’ personal wellbeing, as well as the basic human functions. As far as safety is

concerned, in my own personal wellness I think that it relates to my health plans and being able

to be healthy helps to ensure my personal safety. My physical wellness plan is to lose about 10

lbs. I planned on doing this by doing things like cutting out soda and by walking daily and

running either on a treadmill or outside 2x a week. Teaching is shown in my plan through me

trying to learn Spanish through Duolingo and keeping my daily streak going and sitting down

and learning for at least 5min a day. It is also shown in my wellness plans as going to new skills

labs at work and by me going back to school for my BSN. Personal wellness and having a plan to

keep yourself on track with your goals is important in any career but especially in nursing.

Nursing has a very high incidence of burnout and turnover in the hospital setting. Benners theory

looks at the person as living in the world and that the person does not come into the world pre-

defined but gets defined in the course of living a life (Masters et al., 2023). This viewpoint is

very positive and beneficial, especially relating to personal wellness and self-improvement. It
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gets rid of the idea that you are set in your ways but instead states that you make your own

destiny and gives you the idea you can do anything you put your mind to.

After finding out that my personality type is Defender or ISFJ. I learned that the strengths

of ISFJ are supportive, reliable, observant, enthusiastic, hardworking, and good practical skills.

These strengths are all very useful tools in nursing, being a support system for patients and a

person to vent to or being observant and noticing changes with a patient’s condition. The

weaknesses are overly humble, taking things personally, repressing their feelings, reluctant to

change, and being too altruistic. Change in the healthcare setting is constant so working on this

weakness and being aware that it is a part of my personality type is important. Taking things

personally is a tough trait to have a nurse because although most patients and coworkers are kind

and understanding there are those people just like in any setting that are unkind. My conflict

management assessment revealed that my conflict style was compromising. The pros of this are

that it is useful in complex issues and that all parties are equal in power. The cons are that no one

is ever really satisfied. My personality type of ISFJ goes hand and hand with Benners theory

because one of the 7 domains is diagnostic and patient monitoring, which the observant trait is

imperative for. The flip side of this is the domain of rapidly changing situations, which as stated

above change is a weakness of the ISFJ defender personality.

After completing a QSEN case study earlier in this class I understood more of what the

QSEN competencies were and what each one really meant. The competencies include patient-

centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement,

safety, and informatics. This ties in with my personal nursing theory as I also put safety and
Nursing Philosophy Paper 6

patient-centered care at the core. Another part of my theory was interventions, and this relates to

the competency teamwork and collaboration by asking for help when its needed or by

collaborating with the entire interdisciplinary team to come up with interventions for a patient.

Evidence based practice can be shown in my theory through being skilled in your work, for

example knowing all the rules and regulations for orthopedic specific patients. The informatics

QSEN competency “brings nursing and technology together. We use technology to manage and

communicate a patient’s healthcare information, aid in making decisions, and reduce errors.”

(Team, Qsen competencies: Set the tone of your shift 2022). In my personal experience at my

workplace, we utilize a cell phone each shift that has a secured messaging system, which is in

my opinion very efficient because it allows the nurse to communicate the entire issue to the

physician with text and be able to have all of the information in front of you.

Leadership and multiple levels of hierarchy are present within nursing and there are many

different leadership styles. The style that I feel most relates to my theory is the democratic

leadership style. This type of style allows a team to feel comfortable and willing to voice

concerns, opinions, and ideas. (Felicia Sadler, 7 leadership styles in nursing - which is yours?

2024). This style relates to my theory through interventions and personal wellbeing.

Interventions in this format means implementing and adjusting leadership style if needed and by

taking the staff’s concerns and implementing changes. Personal wellbeing is demonstrated

through the staff and allowing them to feel comfortable voicing concerns and a sense of

contribution in their workplace.

In conclusion my personal nursing theory involves safety, teaching, interventions, being

skilled in your work, patients’ personal wellbeing, as well as the basic human functions. All of

these domains tie directly into lifelong learning, personal wellness, conflict management, QSEN

competencies, and leadership. As a nurse it is important to be able to look at the entire picture

and take ideas from multiple sources to be able to provide safe and competent care.
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Felicia Sadler, M. (2024, February 9). 7 leadership styles in nursing - which is yours?. Relias.

https://www.relias.com/blog/7-leadership-styles-in-nursing

Masters, K. (2023). Frameworks for Professional Nursing Practice. In Role development in

professional nursing practice (pp. 61–62). essay, Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Team, N. N. and C. (2022, July 8). Qsen competencies: Set the tone of your shift. Nursing CE

Central. https://nursingcecentral.com/qsen-competencies/