Impact of Nursing Philosophies on One's Beliefs and Views - Essay Example

? WEEK APPLICATION 8110: Philosophy of Nursing Introduction Philosophy of Nursing The philosophy of nursing is founded on the beliefs and views of the nursing care educators and care providers, based on health, families, and the environment. The idea behind the nursing philosophy is to try to harmonize the various perceptions of individuals so that we can come up with unified approaches that focus on possible health care service to all people, prevention of diseases and illness management. For most nursing institutions, the philosophy of nursing is based on the notion that when dealing with people a nurse needs to recognize that individuals have to be cared for emotionally, physically and socially. The general idea is to develop high levels of wellness maintaining comfort and dignity. This paper tries to relate the close relationship between the overall nursing philosophies and their impact on my beliefs and views. The paper also elaborates on the relationship that exists between philosophy and knowledge development in the context of the nursing practice. My personal philosophical influences in relation to this week’s readings Personally, I have always considered nursing as an opportunity to develop high levels of wellbeing by providing care and assistance to groups, families, and individuals. With this in mind, the aspects of my nursing philosophy are influenced by respect, knowledge, time management, skills, honesty, caring, and compassion. My main philosophical power to maintaining all these values relies on the belief that nursing is a discipline that requires both formal knowledge and life experience. The readings on nursing philosophy offer a broad spectrum of information, which has a significant impact on my views. The opinions expressed in the articles and course tends to correlate to my beliefs and views of the nursing practice. Take for example, the ideas expressed by Chou and Lee, (2007) they more or less develop on my general thoughts of philosophy when put in the context of nursing by indicating, “Philosophy reflects belief and presents ideas, expressed through an individual thought and behavior”. After reading Porte r’s (2001) article, I was also able to understand how my thoughts and contributions can be a foundation for great discoveries and change for the greater good in the health care system. This is after I went through Nightingale’s philosophies that stirred up some significant research, which leads us to the current nursing philosophies that are adopted by a large number of people. One other significant revelation that reshaped my views is the link between nursing science and philosophy. This was brought out by Grove, Burns, and Gray, (2013), whose text places an emphasis on the importance to appraise research and use of evidence based practice. A point that was clarified by Isaacs, Ploeg, and Tompkins, (2009) nursing science, which is accompanied by research, needs guidance from a philosophical basis. I still believe that neglecting the philosophy of nursing places the discipline as risk, and there is a need for scientific methods to coexist alongside philosophical inquiry (Pesut & Johnson, 2008). Nursing philosophical foundations influence on my nursing practice The American Nursing Association describes nursing as, “promotion, protection, and ability to prevent disease and injury. Further, it alleviates suffering through diagnosis and treatment of humans… in the care of communities, populations, individuals, and families” (American Nurses Association, 2004). From this description, it is common for most people to engage in the nursing career with the idea of helping or caring for families, individuals, and groups experiencing health related problems. It is around these views that the Nursing philosophical foundations build upon, for example, to achieve the nursing objectives nurses need to utilize the nursing opportunities, and methods in using evidence-based practice to develop high levels of wellness. As I had indicated earlier, nursing is a discipline that utilizes both formal and skill based knowledge. I have to study and expand on my experiential knowledge while still having an open mind to new ideas that I experience both professionally and outside my profession. My decision for changing from an RN nurse to becoming a nurse educator by through further studies has mostly been due to the philosophical influences of the nursing profession. An example of such influences includes the desire to expand my knowledge base and contribute in providing the best health care environment to the larger community rather than my individual patients. In Chou and Lee’s, (2007) research, they established three developmental categories of the nursing philosophy, among the three there is “professional ambition choice”. The category is characterized by the willingness, to care for others and concern for career development. In Sellman’s (2009) definition of philosophy of nursing, it focuses on three key areas of inquiry these are care, persons, and knowledge. I worked as charge nurse for several years, and during that time, three things defined my daily routines, and they included patients, the best care, and extensive use of information. This gives an example of how philosophical influences identify the nursing practice to be systematically aligned to the use of evidence-based practices towards patient care. Relationship between philosophy and knowledge development Historically, research and philosophy developed separately as far as nursing was concerned. The earliest form of research in nursing was during Florence Nightingale’s theoretical propositions using research. In modern times, research without philosophy has been attributed to incomplete information that hinders knowledge accumulation in many disciplines including nursing. According to Pesut and Johnson, (2008) philosophical inquiry is based upon the capacity of ones thinking and reason. Knowledge development requires a series of scientific research and formation of the hypothesis that are proven or dismissed. The interaction between knowledge development and philosophy is based on the hypothesis of theory development stage. To have an evidence based practice and improved health care system, we need to back up our thinking and reasoning through research and data. In a study carried out by Joan, Nancy, and Geri, (2004) “integration of philosophy in classes enhanced students’ understanding of philosophy, and the impact that philosophical approaches have on research questions and methodology”. The general idea is to understand that philosophy plays a key role in knowledge development; philosophy is responsible for designing the research question, analyzing the results, and offering interpretation towards knowledge development. Evidence in my practice In my nursing philosophy, information is one of the essential factors that contribute success to the profession. To offer the best service to patients, I have to have the best understanding of diseases and disease processes. Information in this case does not only apply to sitting for exams and passing, but the application of the same knowledge in a real setting. This calls for holistic thinking and priority for the health care problems in accordance to each patient within my responsibility. Now that I am a nurse educator, I have to use philosophical beliefs and views I developed during my practice, to carryout relevant study and pass the information to my students. In so doing, I have to use clinical research to come up with evidence-based practice that improves the health care system as a whole while at the same time equipping my students with current and justifiable nursing philosophies. Positivism and post positivism influence over approaches to nursing sciences, nursing practice and my personal philosophy Before the mid-20th Century, Positivism portrayed science as a means to attain the truth. In so doing, scientist back then believed that science was the best tool to understanding the world, and as a result, it would be easier for them to predict and control the world (Trochim,2008). Post-positivism, on the other hand, is more recent and is in total disagreement with positivism. Post-positivist have been known to be constructivists with the belief that individual have their own views of the world based on their own perceptions. Observation and perception have been taken as fallible, therefore, making our constructions imperfect (Para. 6). These views, together with trying to avoid individuals having their own worldview, a solution to achieving objectivity is to work within a larger contentious community with a large number of scientist who are able to criticize each other. With the above brief view of positivism and post-positivism, I would conclude that the current nursing science and nursing practice are more related to the post-positivism. Today’s nursing science incorporates the philosophy as an aspect that relates it to the post-positivism perspective where, theories provide a foundation for research and the results always leave room for continued study. The nursing practice on the other is also inclined to post-positivism oriented. This is depicted by the ever-changing methodologies and theories that are continuously being formulated. There are more theories in the nursing practice because of people’s different understanding and the lack of a general solution or final answer to the questions that arise in the profession. My personal philosophy regarding knowledge development is that the future always comes up different better solution that we currently have at our disposal. This, however, does not mean that the current practice lacks the appropriate tools and knowledge but rather, what we have suits the current beliefs and problems. Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that the philosophy of nursing focuses on three essential elements, these are people, care, and expertise. Besides these three components, we also need to understand the involvement of the health care environment as it plays a major role in nursing science and nursing practice. From the available readings on nursing philosophy, we get to understand that philosophy varies according to the circumstances. Nurses operate in different conditions and locations, taking post positivism view of ideas and beliefs, it is agreeable that nursing philosophies cannot be similar to each other and cannot suit all the nursing situations. We therefore, need to adjust most nursing philosophies to meet the requirements of each nursing situation, and that is how theory and research play a primary role in the nursing discipline. References American Nurses Association. (2004). Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice. Washington DC : The Publishing Program of ANA. Chou, M., & Lee, L. (2007). Initial formation of nursing philosophies following fundamental clinical practice: The experience of male nursing students . Journal of Nursing Research, 127-137. Grove, S., Burns, N., & Gray, J. (2013). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence. St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier. Isaacs, S., Ploeg, J., & Tompkins, C. (2009). How can Rorty help nursing science in the development of a philosophical ‘foundation’? Nursing Philosophy, 81-90. Joan, E., Nancy, M., & Geri, M. (2004, December 4). PhD Students’ Perceptions of the Relationship between Philosophy and Research: A Qualitative Investigation. Retrieved from NOVA: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR9-4/efinger.pdf Pesut, B., & Johnson, J. (2008). Reinstating the 'Queen': Understanding philosophical inquiry in nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 115-121. Porter, S. (2001). Nightingale’s realist philosophy of science. Nursing Philosophy,, 14-25. Sellman, D. (2009). Practical wisdom in health and social care: teaching for professional phronesis. Learning in Health and Social Care, 84–91. Trochim, W. (2008, October 20). Research Methods Knowledge Base: Positivism & Post-Positivism. Retrieved from Social Research Methods: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/positvsm.php Read More