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Read the posted article “Articulating Your Philosophy of Nursing”. Develop your own philosophy of nursing statement. Write your statement in a Word document
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EDITORIAL
Articulating Your Philosophy of Nursing
As the profession of nursing is dealing with rapid
changes in knowledge and practice, the specialty of
school nursing is attempting to articulate its value in
the educational setting. Both the profession and spe-
cialty are maturing, and along with this natural process, nurses are clarifying their roles and scope of practice. As nurses examine their practice, they also are
questioning what is fundamentally important to them
as nurses and as individuals-their values and beliefs.
This has become particularly critical as more and more
nurses in all settings are finding that changing demands and expectations of the role are greater than
the resources or number of hours in the day to accomplish what nurses would define as quality nursing
care. Such demands are pushing nurses to examine
their values and what drew them to the profession of
nursing in search of balance and meaning in the work
setting.
One
strategy nurses can use to affirm that their
practice is in harmony with their value system is to
write a personal philosophy statement. This might be
general in nature, such as a philosophy that relates to
life values; it could be a philosophy statement related
to beliefs about the profession of nursing; or it might
be a philosophy specific to school nursing. In each
case, this activity will encourage nurses to clarify their
values and then examine how their philosophy fits
with their professional practice. Articulating a philosophy statement is an intellectual activity that requires
careful thought, because values need to be identified,
clarified, and prioritized. Once these values are identified, putting them together into a short, cohesive
statement is a challenging process (Chitty, 2001).
The first part of the process is identifying general
values-values related to the nature of humankind
and society. These are the core values held by an individual, which are few in number but may evolve as
individuals mature and society changes. Examples of
these core values may relate to the dignity of man, the
sanctity of life, or values that give direction to our
journey of life. Personal values are influenced by family, culture, religious orientation, education, and the
choice of one’s life work. All of these factors contribute to who we are, what we believe, and more importantly, how we act.
Next, values that relate to the profession of nursing
delineated. Ideas may come from the American
Nurses’ Association’s code for nurses (American Nurses’ Association, 1985) or the Standards o f Professional
School Nursing Practice (National Association of School
Nurses, 1998) and may include such themes as caring,
are
confidentiality, integrity, accountability, competence,
and improving the quality of care. Other important
values of the nursing profession are altruism, ethics,
and professionalism. In addition, the roles nurses perform are often integrated into philosophy statements.
Examples are caregiver, advocate, collaborator, case
manager, health educator, counselor, leader, and researcher. Themes specific to school nursing relate to
the population served-children, families, and staffand the settings where care is delivered-the school
and the community. Specific goals of school nursing
may be articulated and include the prevention of disease, the promotion and maintenance of health, and
creation of an optimal environment for learning. Other important ideas are issues in today’s society related
to the allocation of resources and the delegation of
care.
Finally, the philosophy statement should end with
personal values articulate with
values about nursing. Concluding statements could relate to striving for balance and profession growth
through continued learning. Caring for oneself as well
as others is a critical issue for busy nurses, as is being
a good role model for health in our homes, schools,
a few sentences of how
and communities. The final statement often relates to
how you hope to make a difference-in yourself or in
your home, school, community, or the world.
My first experience in articulating a philosophy of
nursing was when I was completing a master’s degree
in nursing of children. A class assignment forced me
to synthesize my personal beliefs with what I had
learned about caring for children and families. Although the requirements were for a short statement,
the time taken to list these values and then organize
them into a cohesive whole was daunting. What resulted was a meaningful statement that I still share
with students today, 30 years later. This experience has
inspired me to challenge others to take the same step
and create their own personal philosophy of nursing.
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Through the years I have assigned graduate students in my nursing education and child health nursing classes to write their own philosophy of nursing
education or child health nursing. Most find this assignment a meaningful part of their professional
growth and an appropriate capstone experience at the
end of their master’s degree program. More recently, I
have been teaching a course on the Art and Science of
Nursing to beginning nursing students and have required them to write a philosophy of nursing. Their
enthusiasm and ability to capture the essence of nursing and the many roles nurses perform in today’s
health care system have been amazing, considering
the point where they are in their career. As they complete their baccalaureate program, students will have
an opportunity to update or rewrite their philosophy
as they enter the profession of nursing.
The box below has a short philosophy of life I recently created to provide students an example on how
to capture some personal beliefs on paper. It pulls together some of the priorities that influence both my
personal and professional life. Writing these down has
helped me refocus my energies on what is really important to me, especially at a time when competing
demands often overshadow important values and how
my time is used.
Readers, I encourage each of you to take some time
personal philosophy of nursing. Consider the ideas presented in this
editorial as a starting point in identifying what is important to you. Next, pull these ideas together in a
short statement that reflects your personal and professional values. Each philosophy statement will be
uniquely you. It may not be perfect or all inclusive,
but it is an effort to clarify what you believe. As you
as we enter a new year to create your
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review your philosophy, seriously consider how this
statement will guide your practice as a school nurse.
When you complete your philosophy, I encourage you
to send me a copy. If I have a good response, I will
share some of your ideas in a future editorial.
Like life, a statement of philosophy is a work in
progress. It is ever changing as we change and as the
world around us changes. Saving earlier versions provides evidence of our personal and professional
growth over the years. Making the effort to articulate
your values in a one-page statement is a valuable
learning strategy for nurses today as we strive to provide the best quality care to children and families. Frequently it gives us an opportunity to really examine
what we believe and how this fits with our personal
and professional lives. When there is not congruence
between one’s philosophy and one’s personal or professional life, it provides the motivation to reconcile
these differences. The development of a personal philosophy is an opportunity to explore what we believe.
It is an inspiring, growth-producing experience. A phi-
losophy statement expresses our unique values and
goals that ultimately guide our practice as professional
nurses.
REFERENCES
American Nurses’ Association. (1985). Code for nurses with interpretive statements. Washington, DC: Author.
Chitty, K. K. (2001). Professional nursing: Concepts and challenges
(3rd ed.). Philadelphia: WB Saunders.
National Association of School Nurses. (1998). Standards of professional school nursing practice. Scarborough, ME: Author.
Janice Denehy, RN, PhD, Executive Editor
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