My philosophy of nursing is that nursing should be predominantly focused on the care and comfort of patients. I further believe that caring for patients’ should entail providing the most comfortable care, especially if the patient is in a terminal state. With this in mind, several ethical principles are of extreme importance to me, the most prominent being, “do no harm.”

With my belief that nursing should focus on the care and comfort of the patient, I strongly believe that the above mentioned principle should be given extreme consideration with respect to the terminally ill patient. I believe that it is wrong to exert painful and futile attempts to sustain life. I feel this way because a person’s life should be based on quality and integrity, not quantity if it means living in a deplorable state. This is why I place so much value on the Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA). This document is extremely important in nursing, and makes it clear what the patient wants should they become incapacitated.

Feeling as I do, this is why my personal philosophy of nursing is that the patient should at all times receive good and safe care. Such care gives patients a feeling of comfort, and in their last hour, a sense of peace and calm.