Introduction
The basic notions of personal nursing philosophy were discussed previously, but this paper aims to evaluate these beliefs in more detail. The main principle was the desire to provide top-quality care and great connections with patients. In this respect, it is important to provide inclusive practice, free of any prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. In addition, the great role plays the continuous learning process, allowing to maintain the best evidence-based practices available to registered nurses. Lastly, although it may seem uncertain to someone, proper care of oneself is highly important because it directly influences the quality of care provided to others. In this essay, some new questions will help elaborate on the meaning of personal nursing philosophy.
Development of Personal Nursing Philosophy
In general, the heavy influence on the development of feasible nursing philosophy was from reading philosophical texts that are not directly related to medicine. Many problems associated with the nursing practice may be analyzed through prisms of moral philosophy, metaphysics, and epistemology (Reed, 2018). For example, the difference between the key premises of Bentham’s utilitarianism and Kant’s deontology may determine the way how personal nursing philosophy will develop. From another perspective, some practices with mentally-ill patients may cause metaphysical considerations which move beyond mere physical conditions. Therefore, the evolution of personal philosophy requires a great reliance on scholarship from the sciences and arts.
Ideas that have Challenged Personal Values or Assumptions
One research area that has had a striking effect on philosophy formation is about a different curriculum for communicating with relatives around sensitive topics. Some difficult topics, such as cancer care and HIV infection, will certainly require a planned conversation with parents and families. At the same time, nursing research focuses on patient care, while external communication issues may be under-researched (Wittenberg et al., 2018). These ideas transformed my nursing philosophy by increasing attention to the importance of these communications.
Dispositions in a Critical Manner
In my opinion, there could be the influence of prejudice and personal irrationalities that may cause personal conflict. For instance, some bad experiences with people of some nations may cause fallacious generalizations to the entire nation. However, there should be some internal force that should deconstruct these biases and redirect practice to that acceptable by nursing philosophy. This ability to overcome some mental irritation should also be a part of nursing philosophy.
Actions that Illustrate Personal Nursing Philosophy
The main peculiarity of nursing philosophy is its applied nature. One should always guide one’s actions through the prism of established philosophy. In my practice, the ideas of cultural competencies influence the way of communicating with minorities. It helps to determine what topics are best not to bring up in a conversation, what can offend a person, and what aspects of health are the most important. For example, the practice with a Romani diaspora representative showed how important relatives’ opinion about the treatment trajectories is for this nationality.
Definition of the Concepts Involving the Meta-paradigm of Nursing
At my stage of learning, it seems ambitious to develop personal definitions of meta-paradigms. It is more productive to rely on established conceptualizations because of their wide applicability in the field. Then, as Bender (2018) points out, “what exists for the nursing discipline is not already-demarcated domains of nursing, person, health, and environment, but rather interdependent relations that constitute people, including nurses” (p. 6). In this understanding, the environment is a space of human social experience, the interventions of health that contribute to the increase of wellness. It means that any definition of meta-paradigms in nursing should be explained through the notions of other paradigms because of evident interdependence. In another case, nursing practice in the treatment of socially vulnerable segments of the population has demonstrated how tactfully it is necessary to discuss the issue of payment for services. The problem of social determinants of health is extremely relevant in the United States, so nursing philosophy must also consider this fact.
In general, the first written philosophy of nursing incorporated my deep core beliefs about this practice. These convictions are hard to change, so it seems that even further research cannot entirely alter these principles. However, the range of suggested questions provoked some new thoughts to slightly detail my understanding of nursing philosophy. Firstly, I fully realized the possibility that some critical junctures in patient care may become the reasons for some clarifications of nursing philosophy. As was mentioned about family communication, my literature review forced me to incorporate support for families as an important part of written philosophy. Secondly, the question about personal conflict with nursing philosophy has also emphasized the importance of being consistent with initial values.
Conclusion
To conclude, the outlook on the suggested question effectively reconsidered the initially written nursing philosophy. It showed some context-specific scenarios that may put them in danger or clarify some beliefs about treating patients properly. The underpinnings of academic philosophy should guide nursing philosophy. One should be committed to entrenched principles and not alter them by the influence of personal biases. The understanding of meta-paradigms of nursing needs to be multidimensional and based on the interdependence of nursing, the environment, human beings, and health.
References
Bender, M. (2018). Re‐conceptualizing the nursing metaparadigm: Articulating the philosophical ontology of the nursing discipline that orients inquiry and practice. Nursing Inquiry, 25(3), 1-9.
Reed, P. G. (2018). Philosophical issues and nursing science. Nursing Science Quarterly, 31(1), 31-35.
Wittenberg, E., Reb, A., & Kanter, E. (2018). Communicating with patients and families around difficult topics in cancer care using the COMFORT communication curriculum. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 34(3), 264-273.