Holistic Care and Nursing How to Care for the Whole Person Essay

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Personal Philosophy of Nursing

Introduction

Having a personal philosophy of nursing is important because it provides the nurse with an understanding of the framework that will be applied in the nurse’s own career of caring for patients. Personal understanding is the bedrock of growth and development. So it is appropriate to stop and consider how one’s own philosophy of nursing aligns with one’s view of the nursing metaparadigm. This paper will identify the factors that have influenced my development of my personal nursing philosophy. It will also discuss my thoughts regarding the nursing metaparadigm. Finally, it will examine the nursing theory that is most compatible with my personal philosophy.

Factors Influencing the Development of My Personal Nursing Philosophy

Factors that have influenced the development of my personal nursing philosophy are 1) my education, and 2) my own experience and understanding of nursing. My education has taught me the basics of nursing and the need to deliver quality care to patients. However, what it means to deliver quality care is different for different people. My own experience is related to how I have seen nurses conduct themselves with my loved ones in the hospital. I have always admired those nurses who do not even seem like they are “nurse professionals”—rather when they enter the room they seem like an old friend. The type of nurse I have always admired is the one who knows everything she needs to know to meet the needs of the patient, and yet her personality, the way she engages with the patient, the support she gives, the comfort she brings, and the assistance she provides—she acts as a true friend would act. I find that type of nursing to be most excellent. I have had many loved ones in the hospital over the years and whenever that type of nurse would come into the room, you could just feel it—everyone would light up and feel happier that this person was here. That is one of the biggest factors that has influenced my personal nursing philosophy because it is that type of nurse that I would like to be.

Definition, Description and Explanation of Personal Thoughts Regarding the Nursing Metaparadigm

Person/Client

The most consistent philosophic component of the idea of the person is the dimension of wholeness or holism. Holism means that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: The whole cannot be reduced to its parts without losing something in the process (Erickson, 2007; Rajabpour & Rayyani, 2019). In terms of health care and providing care to the person, it means that it is not sufficient for a nurse to simply treat symptoms.

My personal understanding of this concept is that all elements of the individual patient need to be considered. In other words, the nursing care provided should involve the whole patient, not just a single illness or health concern.

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For instance, every person has different needs and therefore requires a different, personalized plan of care. I may be caring for a patient that has a particular health condition, and although I may be following the physician’s orders to treat that specific condition I also have to consider many other factors in order to provide the most optimum care for the patient. These other factors can vary from patient to patient as far as the specific needs of the patient go, but in general I would consider such factors as culture, emotion, education, continuing care, family, co-morbidities; the point is that there are many other facets of a patient’s life to…

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…Health is a holistic concept that integrates body, mind and soul, as Erickson (2007) argues. The nursing process theory is compatible with my view of health because Orlando’s theory is rooted in the holistic approach to health and sees health as something deeper and greater than simply addressing the immediate needs or wants by treating them as they arise. The nursing process theory and my personal philosophy are compatible on the subject of nursing as well. I view nursing as the act of providing quality care to those in need. Nurses are trained to identify health problems the way mechanics are trained to identify car problems: the driver of the car may hear a rattle but may not realize there are several underlying issues that need to be addressed as well. The same goes for the patient: he may recognize a symptom, but the full scope of the health issue may be beyond his understanding, and this is where nursing process theory comes into play in my view of nursing. If preventive medicine can be applied or the patient’s health literacy increased, it is all the better for the patient (McCormack, Thomas, Lewis & Rudd, 2017).

Summary and Conclusion

Nursing process theory posits that the patient may express a need, but the expression may not encompass the whole need. So my job as a nurse is to explore the deeper or wider health needs of the patient with the patient, holistically bringing health to the patient by applying nursing process theory, as articulated by Orlando (Faust, 2002). To provide quality care, the nurse should help bring awareness to the patient so that he understands all the whole picture of his health. The patient should be educated, uplifted, and given support in a preventive way via preventive health. Treating a….....

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