How Various Aspects Have Shaped My Personal Values - Assignment Example

? How Various Aspects Have Shaped My Personal Values May 29th, Personal Values Values are meaningful and important to an individual due to the vital role they play in a person’s life. Each person has their own set of values, which they embrace, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and these vary among various individuals. This variance is because of the varying life experiences of individuals. Therefore, a person’s life experience is important, as this shapes their values and perceptions about life. The environment in which a person grows up, as well as the family they are raised in, are other important factors, which shape and develop an individual’s set of values. Therefore, they determine the kind of behavior a person will exhibit, and serve as guidance to an individual throughout their life. Values are important to individuals, as they act as a reflection of a person’s moral standards in society. The world comprises different types of people and cultures, and no person can live independently of others. Similarly, the values a person acquires will have a considerable impact on the people around them, whether directly or indirectly. I believe that high moral standards will have a positive impact in society, while low moral standards will have negative effects. My personal value system comprises different core values, which I uphold because of the benefits they have on me, my family, the other people around me, and the society as a whole. First, I highly uphold the value of respect. When I was still growing up, my parents taught my siblings and me the importance of respect. At an early age, I learned the value of respect for the elderly people. Therefore, I respect other people and myself too. I acknowledge other people; I listen to them and their opinions, and treat them the way I would also like to be treated. Secondly, I highly value hard work. I also learned this from my parents, who emphasized the importance of hard work. I observed and imitated them, thus letting them serve as my role models, as they worked hard to ensure that my siblings and I pursued our education. Therefore, I have grown up with a high regard for hard work. My life is characterized by moments of diligent work. I work hard in all areas of life, including my education. Religious Values The presence or absence of religion and faith influences an individual’s values system. With regard to religion, I am a Christian and believe in the Christian values. My Christian background has laid a strong foundation for my values. In Christianity, it is believed that values are Godly; therefore, it is important to uphold values in life. Since the time while I was in high school, Christianity has influenced and shaped my value system to a great length. As a Christian, I believe and accept all the concepts of the Christian ideology and do not differ on even one. This is because of the conviction that I have in the existence of a supernatural being. In addition, my relationship with God has helped me to come up with appropriate decisions whenever I am faced with spiritual choices, thus proving my convictions. Nonetheless, the Christian values, which I highly regard, include love, kindness, caring, and patience. All these are based on Christian teachings, whose teachings learned a long time ago. Cultural Values Culture of an individual plays a dominant role in determining and shaping their values. I believe that in my case, culture played a role in my early years. I grew up and studied in Taiwan before moving to the United States for my higher education. In Taiwan, I was raised in my family, and as a matter of fact, the family is an important unit of any culture. Therefore, having been raised in a family, I grew up with the notion that a family is an integral unit in society. Nonetheless, today, I respect and value the family unit, as it is my family who socialized me in the culture I was born. Through my mother, I also learned the value of family and the position of a woman in the family. A woman in society should practice good housekeeping and be a good mother to the children. On the other side, men should provide and sustain their families. I learned these values about the family and gender roles while still in Taiwan. However, since moving to the USA, some of my cultural perspectives on things have undergone a considerable transformation. This is for the major reason that my cultural perspectives from the Taiwan culture could not apply in the USA, considering this is a highly multicultural region. Today, I am an independent person, with no perspectives that are inclined toward a specific culture, but I have embraced universalism. Therefore, I value communication, as it is key in interacting with people from various cultures. I also embrace the value of personal freedom and personal rights, which requires every individual to be free to make their own decisions. Individual Experiences Individual experiences also have a big influence on an individual’s value system. In my life, I have had many personal experiences, and they are the strongholds on which my profession and values rest on. Today, I owe my high level of compassion to the much volunteer work in which I have engaged in the previous years. For instance, while in college, I volunteered in an orphanage alternately every month. In addition, I developed empathy after a major accident in my life. This forced me to study Chinese medicine and led me to practice acupuncture. Nonetheless, this made me feel and understand pain, thus I am in a position to know what patients have to endure. I joined a group of medics, with whom I would go to Mexico once a year to address the medical needs of illegal immigrants. My empathy wants me to help the people in poor countries with medical needs. For this reason, despite my age, I wish to join Peace Corps after my degree and volunteer my nursing skills to those people with medical needs. Nonetheless, my individual experiences have generally shown and communicated to me my call of nursing, and this is the path I am embarked on to pursue today. Professional Values So far, I have acquired considerable nursing values through the socialization and interactions I have had with my instructors and colleagues, experiences as well as the knowledge I have gained from reading the nursing code of ethics. In the nursing practice, there is a standard which guides the practice of nurses and specific values which are expected of all nurses (Nursing World, 2010). Personally, I have come to appreciate the value of dignity, which every nurse is expected to uphold in their practice. This involves the recognition of the intrinsic worth of every individual. Secondly, I value health promotion, which is also expected of every nurse in their practice. This mainly involves assisting communities, families, and individuals in attaining wellness. Social justice and equity, which require nurses to promote human rights and fairness, are aspects in nursing which I hold in esteem. Collaboration in order to ensure safe and competent care to patients is also required by nurses, and I value this as it ensures effectiveness in the nursing practice. I respect all the values in the nursing ethics and consider them all desirable since nursing is a sensitive practice, which deals with the health and life of individuals, and I revere life and health. I consider my personal values to have a close relationship with the nursing values. Therefore, in my nursing practice, I will have no problem adhering to the nursing ethics since my personal values are in alignment with the nursing values. First, with regard to the nursing value of respect, I consider that my personal value of respect will make it easy for me to embrace dignity, thus avoiding a conflict between my personal values and nursing values. My personal value of hard work will help me to be dedicated to my work, thus ensuring a high-quality practice. Compassion and empathy will enable me to ensure health promotion and wellness since I will want to see my patients get well and out of pain. Professional nurses have an ethical responsibility to perform. This is dictated in the nursing code of ethics, which must be adhered to by every nurse, whether or not their personal values contradict the code of ethics. This code of ethics in nursing, therefore guides the nursing practice. Being in the field of nursing, I understand that a professional nurse should act in a manner that shows their reverence to the nursing ethics. First, I am charged with protecting the privacy of my patients. As a nurse, I will handle the medical information of patients, and these are sensitive records, so I have to avoid disclosure to unauthorized parties. Second, patient autonomy is to be ensured. This means I should not coerce them into any medical procedure without their consent. Additionally, I will be charged with ensuring quality health care to my patients. This is one way of promoting health and wellness, as well as a way of showing dedication to my practice. Nonetheless, I will align my personal values with the nursing ones, but where a dilemma arises, I will give priority to the nursing values. References Nursing World. (2010). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf. Read More