Deslyn McKenzie's ePortfolio

My Nursing Philosophy

            I chose nursing as my profession because I like helping and caring for others. The Nursing profession is great but very challenging. To provide optimum care for your patients you have to have accrued clinical judgment and problem solving skills. Critical thinking and being able to analyze situations is essential in saving your patients lives. Another factor in nursing is integrity. Integrity is held up to the utmost regard. Since nursing is the most trusting profession throughout the world; therefore, we cannot have lack of integrity in our profession, this will allow distrust from the public.

            My philosophy as a nurse is to provide non-judgment care to my patients. To be responsible to the public in providing safe, holistic, and cultural sensitive care. As nurses we have to be able to treat our patients the way we are wanted to be treated or the way we want our families to be treated. We have a duty to our patients to provide the best care possible. We have to be teachers. We have to educate our patients and their families on their presenting diseases process, treatment plan, and healthy behaviors in order to improve their outcome.

We also have to allow our patients to take active role in their care. We have to empower them. There are times when some of our patients do not have a voice we have to acknowledge that and be that voice for our patients. Advocating for our patient is necessary especially when they are not getting the required treatment that they need. Throughout my career I have seen too many patients “fell through the cracks” this has to stop. We have to listen to our patients concerns and fear and guide them accordingly. As nurses we have to ensure that our patients are getting the proper treatment for the best possible outcome.

As nurses we must have a commitment to keep abreast or current with new knowledge and skills. We must seek self-enhancement through learning of what is new in nursing literature. Due to the complex health problems facing our aging population we have to be efficient in our knowledge and skills to meet the required protocol for the best health outcome for our patients. We have to be up to date with best practice for our patients.

My vision for myself is to continue seeking out new information to better serve my patients. Not only learning from textbooks or journals but also through my interactions with members of the healthcare team. I believe in learning from others, and helping others. Sharing of information is crucial in our environment. This profession is a helping one and we have to learn to share our resources to come up with the best possible treatment plan so our patients can have optimum wellness.

It is also imperative to share our knowledge and experiences to those new to the nursing profession.  It is important and necessary to guide our new nurses in the proper practices, so they can provide competent care. The phase “the old eat their young” is mentioned to often in nursing. Nurses have to stop being mean and condescending to each other.

My personal values and beliefs as an individual are honesty, kindness, and respecting others. I believe in treating my patients with respect and dignity regardless of their ethnicity, race, or spiritual beliefs. As a nurse it is essential for me to be compassionate, have empathy and provide the highest quality nursing care to my patients.