TO TREAT EACH PERSON AS A UNIQUE ENTITY 1

To treat each person as a unique entity

Maria E Paley

Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing

Professor Karen Schultz

NUR 3208

February 19th, 2017

Honor Code I Pledge

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Many would argue that nursing is a science and in order to practice as a nurse you have to

know the science behind the tasks you are performing. As much as nursing is a science it is also a

holistic and caring practice and in order to achieve the best outcome for each patient more than

just science is involved.

Creating a nursing philosophy is comprised of ideas and beliefs from experience, nursing

theorists, teachers and patients (Masters, 2017). To describe my nursing philosophy; nursing is

holistic in nature, empathetic with each word and touch, and treating each patient as a unique

entity. Nursing should be holistic in that we treat the whole person, the mind, body and spirit. As

a nurse most shifts are very eventful and we are treating the body with medicines and different

treatments but we have to remember that the mind and spirit has to be treated and healed at the

same time. To accomplish holistic nursing, a relationship has to be formed; a patient has to feel

important. Empathy is a powerful attribute to have, as a nurse we more than likely have never

experienced what our patients are experiencing but to have the ability to understand and

communicate with patients and families is essential to healing the mind and spirit. Each patient

all though exhibiting the symptoms or diagnosis as many other patients that have come before

does not mean they should be treated the same; that patient is a person with their own heart,

beliefs, attitudes and they should be treated as an individual and not comparable to someone else.

Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring is similar to my philosophy as it respects humans

in their individuality and mind/body/spirit wholeness ( Santos, 2014). Watson believed that as a

nurse we care, and caring is focused on interpersonal relationships; Watson created ten caritas to

explain her theory. My philosophy relates is many ways with Watsons, there are however a

couple of caritas that I strongly consider and can relate too. Watson believed in assisting with
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basic physical, emotional and spiritual human needs, develop trusting and caring relationships,

and be sensitive to individuals beliefs and practices (Santos, 2014). Her theory was written on

creating relationships and caring for each patient individually which I strongly believe is the

foundation in which nursing should be practiced. We also work each day and practice the values

that Bon Secours believes in.

Compassion is a value that is comparable to my philosophy. Bon Secours believes that

we experience and express empathy with the life situations of others (Bon Secours, 2017).

According to my philosophy in order to practice as a holistic nurse we must be empathetic with

the patients life and path that they have chosen for themselves. Another value is innovation,

which Bon Secours believes is looking for new ways to meet peoples needs and to improve our

service in any way (Bon Secours, 2017). Innovation in relation to my philosophy is treating each

person as an individual and finding ways to serve them. Nursing is continuously finding

innovative ways to care for patients and we have to be comfortable with change and what the

future will bring. Experience with patients, the medical team and new-evidenced based practice

is how we come to create our own philosophies.

There are a handful of patient encounters that would be great examples of how my

nursing philosophy came together over the last few years but one in particular represents how I

want to practice as a nurse. This particular patient had a horrific car accident that left them a

quadriplegic at the age of eight; now at the age of seventeen they have learnt to communicate

through blinking and smiling. Now my first encounter I treated them with respect and gave them

the best care I knew how at the time but it wasnt until I had time to reflect on this patient that I

changed the way I practiced as a nurse. I soon realized that this patient didnt just communicate

by blinking his eyes or by smiling, his whole mind, body and spirit was behind his blinking and
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that was when I realized I was empathizing with them for the first time. This patient was

considered a total care patient, they were turned every two hours, constant respiratory therapy

was needed, and physical therapy was also performed around the clock. This patient could have

very easily given up but he is the unique entity that I base my philosophy on. He was unique just

from his diagnosis and prognosis but he deserved to be treated as in individual and not because

he was one but because he deserved the holistic care to meet his needs, and to heal his spirit.

When caring for my patients now I can come across four patients in the same week who

were diagnosed with RSV, not as rare as my quadriplegic patient but those four patients have to

be treated in their own unique way. Their course of treatment could be and should be very

different and not just because the science behind their treatment says so but because each of

those four patients have their own mind, their own body and their own spirit, they are their own

unique entity.
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Reference Page

Bon Secours International. (2017). Our Mission: Values. Retrieved from

bonsecours.com

Santos, M.R., Bousso, R.S., Vendramim, P., Baliza, M.F., Misko, M.D., Silva, L. (2014).

The Practice of Nurses Caring for Families of Pediatric Inpatients in Light of

Jean Watson. 48(Esp): 80-86: doi 10.1590/S0080-623420140000600012.

Watson, M. (2017). Role Development in Professional Nursing Practice. Boston, MA:

Jones & Bartlett Learning.