Reflection on Nursing Philosophy

As I strive to revolve my career path around the nursing profession, the importance of continuing education has become a very significant part of who I am not only as a future nurse but also as an individual in general. Once I received my associate's degree from nursing school, I felt confident in my abilities to obtain an entry-level job, however, the roles and responsibilities of a nurse go far beyond minimal competence. My purpose in life is to learn through my own experiences, whether positive or negative, in order to work toward a never-ending journey of self-improvement. Only through bettering myself can I ensure that I have the capacity to drastically improve the lives of others through exercising core values intended to nurture those that I come into contact with at any given moment. I have every intention of becoming a manager at one point or another in the future, and my goal as a genuine leader is to assist the fellow nurses that consider me a personal role model, educator, and friend. The RN-BSN program has without a doubt been a supportive anchor to reaching my self-imposed expectations.

Present Practices and Attitudes

My responsibilities as a nurse involve caring for patients and making sure that they are on the road to proper healing, both physiological and psychological wise. I treat my patients with respect, dignity, and love so that they are comfortable and feel that they can place a great deal of trust in me. As a psychiatric and home health nurse, I encounter all sorts of individuals with various personalities and attitudes, which results in different needs. Although some patients are easier to handle than others, I ensure that I remain professionally grounded no matter the situation; I make sure that each one of my patients has access to required resources whether they fall under equipment, medications, or simpler pleasures, such as books and magazines or meals and snacks. In these realms of the nursing world, I must communicate with patients, but also with physicians and other nurses that will be responsible for caring for my patients when I am not available to do so.

2-Year Career Plan: Prior to enrolling in the RN-BSN program, I had been offered the position of the shift supervisor. Although I felt honored to be receiving such an opportunity, I did not feel that the confidence that I had placed in myself at the time was high enough to accept the promotion. Within the next two years, I have no doubt that I will be able to once again receive another offer to climb the promotional ladder; I have every intention of earning the title of a Nurse Practioner. I hope to implement my qualifications within a community that experiences high poverty levels and lacks appropriate health care. As a result of the RN-BSN program, I have become much more educated on the concept of personal bias and have improved on my attitude involving subjective observations within patients as this can directly impact medical decisions. According to Carlisle (2013): "there is value in expanding our knowledge base with new research on unfamiliar and possibly sensitive topics" (para. 8) and that "providing the most comprehensive, unbiased care possible" (para. 9) no matter what the patient's lifestyle or beliefs are is the responsibility of a professional associated with patient care. I very much agree with this view and have already taken measures to make sure that I follow this advice.

5-Year Career Plan: In five years, after I have successfully contributed to my community as a nurse practitioner, I can see myself working on the higher ends of nurse management. With my determination to continue my education for as long as I can and my communication abilities, I believe that I would make an excellent leader that any nursing staff could count on. As a result of the RN-BSN program, I have been able to further embrace the facts that I am open to change and discoveries and am extremely self-sufficient. I feel as if the program has positively boosted my self-esteem in the greatest manner possible, and that is another reason why I make a great leader; the way that this program has assisted me is how I would like to assist others dependent on my guidance and support. 

10-Year Career Plan: The reassurance that I have the ability to lead has also assisted in coping with stressful situations. A nurse is always on the go, and I can most definitely vouch for this claim. Balance is a vital factor in this profession, especially as I tackle both school and my career simultaneously. As a result of the RN-BSN program, I am more sufficient when it comes to task prioritization and routine schedules; time management is absolutely necessary for higher held positions. The RN-BSN program encourages "community education, nurse management, and leadership, patient education, clinical and scientific decision making, as well as humanistic skills (Nurse Journal, n.d., para. 2). After receiving an expansive education, I feel that in ten years from now, I would be able to take on the role of a nursing director. My career is something that I have put much effort into and I plan to stick to this field for the rest of my life until I retire as I am passionate enough to work towards this goal.

Life-Long Learning

Educational courses that are directed towards nursing are meant to improve all aspects of one's life even if it focuses on a career. The AACN (2010) argues that the competency of life-long learning stems from "a value embraced by the broad community of health professional" and as "a behavior advocated by health professional organizations and adopted by many individual health professionals" (p. 27). Many individuals may assume that because they have taken a certain amount of classes (perhaps they have taken all of the classes that are available to them) that they will forever be up-to-date with the trends, including healthcare informatics, and events circulating in the industry, but this is simply not the case. As this paper is intending to do, reflecting on experiences and aspects of our lives is a habit that every individual capable of cognitive thought should be doing. This gives us the opportunity to learn about ourselves through ways that were always present, however, were not perceived. The idea of critical thinking and evaluation goes a long way, especially as a professional of any field, and taking refresher courses are always a great idea to contemplate. Reflective thoughts help us become better people, thus, a better and loving society.

As I stated before, communication is an important part of my job, and this program has improved my skills and efficiency in technical writing. Simple and straight to the point communication is clear and should be easily understood by anyone, and now that I make sure that I am doing just that when I am communicating with other co-workers and patients, my life has been much easier. This idea seems like common sense, but this program really helped in defining the nature of it. Another important aspect of my job that the program aided with is in-hospital monitoring and management. This area of improvement is directly associated with my change in attitude towards co-workers and patients. Since I have learned how to better manage my stress, I take the time to tell myself that if I feel overwhelmed, imagine how others that are involved in the same situation must also feel. Empathy is a strong emotion that is necessary for the nursing profession.

Conclusion

As I have previously mentioned, the experience is an essential aspect of learning, and through the program, I have seen a great improvement in my skills as a nurse as I am provided with direct hands-on experience. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is extremely adamant in providing "experiences including activities that support health and/or provide care, interacting with a variety of providers and/or with patients and cannot be completed solely by a student in isolation" (n.d., p. 2) to the baccalaureate curriculum. Nurses are expected to constantly develop throughout their career in the health care field in order to remain updated with current methods and technology. If I am to provide quality care to my patients that are highly depending on my qualifications and skills, the advice that the American Nurses Association suggests regarding continuous education is important to me. I take great pride in expanding my education as "professional nurses remain ultimately responsible for their ongoing professional development" (ANA, n.d. para. 1) and no one but myself is expecting this of me.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (2010). Lifelong learning in medicine and nursing: Final conference report. 1-101. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/education-resources/MacyReport.pdf

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). (n.d.). White paper: Expectations for practice experiences in the RN to Baccalaureate curriculum. 1-9. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/aacn-publications/white-papers/RN-BSN-White-Paper.pdf

American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). Continuing education for nurses. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org

Carlisle, R. (2013). Suspending personal bias from patient care. Clinical Advisor. Retrieved from http://www.clinicaladvisor.com/the-waiting-room/suspending-personal-bias-from-patient-care/article/296436/

Nurse Journal. (n.d.). 10 reasons why RN’s should pursue their BSN fegree. Retrieved from http://nursejournal.org/nursing-practice/10-reasons-why-rns-should-pursue-their-bsn-degree/