Self Reflective Journal

Jessica Te
11/3/2020
NUR 460
Nursing Philosophy
Throughout the BSN program I felt like I was able to grow as a nurse, especially being a
newly graduate nurse. When I first started NUR 300, we were told to create a nursing
philosophy, my philosophy focused on being able to provide care to an individual as whole and
that includes being able to provide care for patients of different backgrounds and being able to
understand where my patients come from because I believe that it allows us nurses to be able to
provide the best care possible. My philosophy also includes life learning and how important it
was for me to continue with my personal education and wanting to finish up with the BSN
program and get started with a master’s program. The purpose of developing my philosophy was
to help me shape myself into a better nurse and having the opportunity to treat my patients for
who they are and not just for their illnesses and making sure my patient’s care is my priority but
also keeping in mind of my own well-being.
While I’m nearing the end of the BSN program I felt like I have grown and learned a lot
as a new nurse. When I first created my nursing philosophy I was a newly graduated nurse who
just started my first job in an outpatient dialysis unit and feeling extremely excited and nervous
at the same time and hoping to be able to make changes to my patient’s life. My perceptive in the
beginning of NUR 300 and my new job were the same; I wanted to be a really good nurse,
extremely eager to learn and wanted to make sure my patient is getting the best care. But, I felt
like I started to stray away from the philosophy that I created; I started to realize that being a
dialysis nurse was something that I did not like and couldn’t keep doing it, the stress from the job
was too much for me to handle but I found myself not taking care of myself and forcing myself
to keep doing it but it started to affect my mental health and the care to my patients, the care that
was provided was very minimal and it was just enough to “get by” and that is not the kind of
nurse I wanted to be. I told myself I did not want to keep doing this because I was not
progressing the way I wanted to be as a nurse, I eventually left the job and got a new job on a
medsurg unit at Union Hospital.
Starting this new job made me come back to the nurse I wanted to be when I started NUR
300, I felt like I had an opportunity to be help my patients and get them the treatment they
needed. I remembered the philosophy I created back in the class and remembered how I was
going to keep this belief with me throughout the program, and as I advanced through my BSN
course I kept my philosophy in my mind and with each course I took I tried to incorporate it in
my work. For example, on my unit we get a lot of patients who are usually the lower class so
sometimes getting health care and being compliant with care can be challenging so they are
usually often readmitted frequently due to the lack of resources once they leave the hospital or
just due to the lack of education as well. What I have learned is that working with these patient’s
it is really important to understand where they come from and that includes getting to know their
cultural backgrounds, beliefs, values, and even what kind living environment they are in.
Gathering this kind of information was beneficial in my patient’t care plan, the patients would
express to me their concerns about following up with care once they been discharged and what
needs to be done once they leave. I knew that this is where my nursing education would play an
important role, I began by getting case management involved in my patient’s care and that allow
them to see where my patients were coming from and seeing what can be done from the time of
admission to time of discharge. Once after discharge planning has been resolved, it was my role
to start educating my patient on the discharge plan and what needs to be done and that includes
following up with appointments outpatient, medication educations, and educating on self care at
home.
I do believe that I have kept up with my nursing philosophy, but I know in the beginning
it was difficult because of the stress and fear of being a new nurse, but once I got more
comfortable with being a nurse and getting more experience it helped me gain the confidence
that I needed to be a good nurse and continuing to follow and listen to the nursing philosophy I
started back in NUR 300. It was hard, but now it is worth it and it feels good knowing that I am
able to provide the best care possible to my patient with the new confidence that I have gained.
Also, I felt like I kept up with my life learning, every time I work on unit it has always been a
new learning experience, I’m constantly learning something new everyday and not just at work
but also by finishing up my BSN program and hopefully starting my Master’s program sometime
in the future.

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Jessica Te

also keeping in mind of my own well-being.

medsurg unit at Union Hospital.

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