Running head: PATIENT EMPOWERMENT 1

Personal Philosophy of Nursing: Patient Empowerment

Taylor Neuburg

Old Dominion University

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Personal Philosophy of Nursing: Patient Empowerment

Nursing is a broad field with numerous opportunities for professional growth and

development. It is crucial to understand the factors that construct beliefs and actions in

order to be an influential force as a nurse. Before further exploration, I need to first define

what it means to be a nurse. Nursing is defined 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”

(American Nurses Association, 2016). There are many aspects of nursing. It is important

to focus on all factors that impact patient health. It is hard to define nursing in one

universal definition. What it means to be a nurse is a personal belief and further

constructed by nursing philosophy. Nursing philosophy is important because it

unconsciously guides beliefs and actions. My personal philosophy of nursing is: I want to

empower patients to make critical healthcare decisions and accomplish goals through

effective therapeutic relationships and continuous patient advocacy. My nursing

philosophy is created from my purpose as a nurse, personal values and beliefs, and

incorporation of theoretical principles in professional practice.

Purpose of Nursing

Ever since I was little, I have had a passion for helping others. A career based on

the concept of helping others fueled my decision to become a nurse. While I have

identified what I want to do, the idea of helping others is vague. My personal nursing

philosophy further defines what I want to do as a nurse and how I plan to carry it out in

professional practice. I want to empower patients to make critical healthcare decisions

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and accomplish goals. I intend to do these things through effective therapeutic

relationships and continuous patient advocacy.

When I go to the doctor, I feel like I am rushed and not always listened to. I

typically leave with unanswered questions. If I was not in nursing school, I would not

always understand the importance of my treatment plan. When I am providing care as a

nurse, I do not want my patients to feel the way I do when I leave the doctor. I want to

use therapeutic communication to listen to patient concerns and build a trusting

relationship. I can then educate the patient using an individually constructed teaching

plan to make patient an expert on their condition and treatment options. With continuous

support and advocacy, I can empower my patients make critical healthcare decisions and

improve their overall quality of life. I want to treat patients with compassion.

Values and Beliefs

Personal values and beliefs influence behavior and actions. In order to empower

patients, I need to have a clear understanding of my personal values and beliefs. Self-

awareness is important because it provides insight on how my values and beliefs

outwardly influence professional practice. I have a high level of respect for people who

are honest, trustworthy, dependable, and compassionate. These values are important in

my life because I see them demonstrated by people who I respect. I want to be respected

as a nurse. Patients are more likely to have improved outcomes if they trust and respect

their healthcare team (Fiscella et. al., 2004). Trends reveal that patients experience

shorter hospital stays and more outpatient procedures. Since nurses have less time to

interact with patients, it is crucial to start every relationship with early implementation

and demonstration of core values. I strive to treat people the way I would want to be
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treated. Incorporation of honesty, trust, being dependable, and compassion in professional

practice helps build trust and respect- the foundation of empowering patients.

Theoretical Principles

My personal philosophy is further constructed by theoretical principles. Theory is

the scientific reason that guides my philosophy of empowering patients through effective

therapeutic relationships and continuous patient advocacy. My philosophy is strongly

influenced by person-centered care and application of hierarchy of needs.

Person-Centered Care

Person-centered care is an approach constructed from the work and research of

Carl Rogers. Person-centered care is described as “providing care that is respectful of and

responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensuring that patient

values guide all clinical decisions” (Institute of Medicine, 2001). Instead of applying a

basic care plan to every patient, person-centered care recognizes every patient as unique

and implements interventions based on individual need in efforts to achieve optimal

patient outcomes. The patient is provided the tools to make educated healthcare decisions

through the development of a therapeutic relationship and continuous patient advocacy.

Person-centered care empowers patients to make critical healthcare decisions and

accomplish goals instead of the nurse making the decisions for the patient.

I try to apply person-centered care in all aspects of my professional practice.

During one of my clinical rotations, I was assigned to work with an elderly patient who

had Dementia. The patient used to work as a nurse. The patient had a hard time sitting

still during quiet time and would often walk the perimeter of the floor and ask other

patients if they needed anything. I watched one of the nurses try to make her sit during
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quiet time. The patient got upset and very anxious. Instead of forcing her to sit during

quiet time, I helped her make her “rotations” around the floor. The plan of care provided

dignity and respect to something that was once such a large part of the patient’s life. I

was able to support the patient instead of increasing anxiety.

Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow was one of the most important contributors to humanistic

psychology. He developed the hierarchy of needs theory based on understanding human

behavior and motivation. Maslow “identified five levels of need, each building on the

other, from lowest to highest: physical needs, safety and security needs, belonging and

love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs” (Thielke et al., 2012). Lower

level needs need to be met first before any higher level needs can be achieved.

Understanding what motivates patients has a strong impact on my personal philosophy of

empowering patients because it focuses on building a therapeutic relationship.

In clinical, I was paired to work with a patient who had just had knee surgery. The

patient was crying from pain and wouldn’t let the nurse perform a physical assessment at

shift change. Instead of forcing the assessment, the nurse provided the patient with

ordered pain medication and helped reposition the patient to a position of comfort. After

pain-relieving measures had been implemented, the patient allowed the assessment and

was open to care. Addressing the patient’s primary need demonstrated to the patient that

the nurse and I put her needs first. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs incorporates person-

centered care and empowering the patient in working towards self-actualization.

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Conclusion

As a nurse, I want to empower patients to make critical healthcare decisions and

accomplish goals through effective therapeutic relationships and continuous patient

advocacy. My personal nursing philosophy guides both my beliefs and actions. My

philosophy is constructed from my idea of the purpose of nursing, identification of values

and beliefs, and application of theory. I have a strong desire to help others. I want to

empower patients and provide them with the resources necessary to made healthcare

decisions and accomplish goals. Empowerment is multifaceted. I strive to utilize my

strengths, stay true to my beliefs, view patients as individuals, and use best practice from

theories to provide optimal patient outcomes.

Reflection

Writing this paper has truly been one of the most difficult assignments I have ever

worked on. I was forced to delve into physical and personal realms to discover the

driving force behind my desire to be a nurse. Then, I had to apply my personal

philosophy to how it impacts clinical experiences. Even though this assignment has really

made me think, I am so thankful for the opportunity to organize the thought process

behind my actions. I learned what was passionate about and what I wanted to bring to the

professional field. I hope to live by my personal nursing philosophy and use it to

empower patients through my profession as a nurse.

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References

American Nurses Association (2016). What is Nursing? Retrieved from

http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-is-Nursing

Fiscella, K., Meldrum, S., Franks, P., Shields, G., Duberstein, P., Mcdaniel, H., &

Epstein, M. (2004). Patient trust: Is it related to patient-centered behavior of

primary care physicians? Medical Care, 42(11), 1049-1055.

doi:10.1097/00005650-200411000-00003

Institute of Medicine. Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st

Century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001.

Thielke, S., Harniss, M., Thompson, H., Patel, S., Demiris, G., & Johnson, K. (2012).

Maslow's hierarchy of human needs and the adoption of health-related

technologies for older adults. Ageing International, 37(4), 470-488.

doi:10.1007/s12126-011-9121-4
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