My Nursing PhilosophyNursing, by definition, according to the online Merriam Webster dictionary (2013), is the job of taking care of people who are sick, injured, or old. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and other medical professionals in general are not the only ones who are nurses. Everyone is a nurse in some way. Whether it is a mother caring for her children, a man caring for his dog, or anyone else caring for themselves and the people in their lives, everyone participates in nursing others. Nursing is the act of caring for others to help them on the path to recovery or the path to living a longer and healthier life. I personally decided to enter into this field because I wanted to spend my life helping others. My aunt is a nurse and all my life she has been a second mother figure to me. I look up to her and all her accomplishments in life. I see the joy and satisfaction she gets out of being a nurse and helping others in a way that no one else may be able to. She is a wonderful role model, not only in my personal life, but also as a model nurse that incorporates patience and care into every aspect of her work. Before entering the nursing program, I was not well informed on the differences between doctors and nurses. In todays society, people view doctors as having a much higher importance than nurses. While it is true that becoming a doctor takes a great deal of responsibility, nurses deal first hand with the patients and are the final ones to make sure the doctors orders are appropriate and safe for each individual patient. I know now that the relationship between doctors and nurses is not so much about the doctor giving orders to the nurse but rather the doctor and the nurse working together to give their patients the best possible care. If someone were to ask me, what is nursing? or what does it mean to be a nurse? I would respond by explaining that a nurse is someone who cares for others. To be a nurse, one must care for others in need who come to the hospital for help; he or she must have a non-judgmental perspective when dealing with clients. Personal problems should not hinder a patients care in any way. A client should be able to trust his or her nurse and feel safe when the nurse speaks to him or her in an empathetic and appropriate manner. To be the absolute best nurse, one should want to make a difference in the lives of others and enjoy the satisfaction that he or she should receive from this career path rather than performing daily nursing tasks to receive a paycheck. Nurses should interact with clients in a way they can relate. Children and adults should receive different plans of care; people of differing origins may have varying cultures and values. Chronically ill patients and terminal patients should be cared for in a different way than those with acute and curable health issues. A nurse should know when to use humor in a nurse-client relationship and when to incorporate empathy or even silence. He or she should always be there for the patient and trust needs to be established within every relationship. A patient is anyone that comes to a hospital for any assistance. Whether the help needed is simple or life saving, the client needs something from the medical team. He or she may need more medication to go on living an independent lifestyle or he or she may need more demanding care that otherwise may not be obtained at home. A trusting relationship is two sided; the nurse must be open and make his or her patients the most comfortable they can possibly be. However, along with the nurse being respectful of the patient, the patient must also accept the fact that the nurse is trying his or her best to help the patient. This client-patient relationship is the key to good health. Health is the facilitation of a patients wellbeing and absence of illness. The wellbeing of the patient includes not only the physical wellbeing but also the emotional, social, and physiological wellness of the patient. The nurses role in the patients health is to help the client reach a peak personal health status. This includes incorporating the proper techniques of care within every interaction. The clients role is his or her health is to help the nurse to reach peak health. The patient must be honest with the nurse so that the nurse can understand where the patient is at with certain conditions, understandings of certain medications, or abilities to complete home care procedures that the patient may need to do independently. Many factors can influence the health of a patient, nurses, and the nurse client relationship. The environment is especially influential in the aspects of healthcare. A clients health can be influenced by the environment in a negative way if that individual lives in an area where certain diseases are commonly acquired by its inhabitants. If the client lives in an area where there are many people who live in close quarters then it puts a person at an increased risk for developing an illness. For example, homeless clients occupying homeless shelters in tight spaces are at a higher risk for acquiring tuberculosis. A client can be influenced by his or her environment because if he or she does not feel safe or comfortable then he or she may not be able to address certain problems. For example, if a woman does not feel comfortable talking to a nurse because the nurse is a male, then that womens problems may not be addressed effectively and her care would not be fully beneficial. The environment can also influence the nurse because if the nurse is new to a certain hospital then his or her work may be slower and he or she may not get as much done during a shift because of lack of adjustment to the new hospital. Finally, a specific environment may also influence the nurse-client interaction, if there are certain family members in the room with the nurse and the patient, the patient may not express his or her problems to its full extent. The nurse may not be able to get to the root of a problem if a certain family member is incorporating his or her own thoughts and opinions about the situation. Other than the environment, other factors can influence healthcare. Moral and ethical dilemmas can hinder an individuals plan of care. To guide me as a nurse, I will always follow three specific moral precepts. The first moral I will adhere to is, I will never let my personal opinions or beliefs get in the way of a patients wishes. Another principle I will follow is, I will always promote the health of my patients while also making sure to avoid any medical errors and prevent harm within my plan of care for the patient. Finally, I will treat each patient with equality while also incorporating the importance of equity into my practice. Nursing has a different meaning to everyone. The main purpose of any professional or non-labeled nurse, such as a mother, is to care for his or her patients. This care must be given judgment free without the incorporation of personal problems or beliefs that may influence the client in a negative way. Many factors can affect the way that nurses and patients interact but it is the nurses job to make sure that everyone receives the best possible care to reach their peak level of health.

Works CitedNursing. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nursing