Beliefs
What do I believe?
Philosophy of Nursing
I believe that nursing is a journey. I believe that nursing is a dynamic profession, and that nursing will continue to evolve and grow as I go through my career as a nurse. To me, nursing is caring for people, and providing the support and health care knowledge to patients in order for them to return to their full potential for health. Nursing is teaching-- teaching patients to be healthy, teaching other staff new information, teaching students how to become nurses, and teaching ourselves how to be better people. Nursing is knowledge-- knowing the rights of the patient and of the nurse, and advocating for both the patient and yourself. Nursing to me means making a difference to others, and treating the people, not diseases. Nursing to me means creating a welcoming, care-filled environment for patients to feel comfortable and safe in.
Why I Am Becoming A Nurse
I decided to become a nurse so that I could care for patients, and so that eventually I could teach nursing students how to become better nurses and leaders in the nursing world. I decided to become a nurse because I want to make a difference in the lives of others. Through my career as a nurse, I want to incorporate my values of honesty, teamwork, respect and exploration to develop as a person and as a professional, and also to make the lives of others around me better.
I feel like I will enjoy the different interactions with patients as a nurse. I also think that I will enjoy working as a team with the members of the healthcare team that I will be a part of, and learning from them. I think that I will enjoy sharing experiences with patients, and making them more comfortable in their surroundings. I know that I will enjoy providing care to the patients, and teaching them about different health-related issues that they may be having.
Nursing offers a challenging and dynamic career for me. It offers me the opportunity to develop as a person, and to truly test the values that I believe in. Nursing offers me the chance to work with a team, and to bring care to patients as a team. Nursing offers me the opportunity to grow as an individual, and to change the lives of others around me. I believe that nursing will be a satisfying career for me because it will allow me to tie my passions of caring and teaching together, and through this, I know that I will love my job.
I believe that nursing requires someone who is compassionate about others, a quality which I possess. I also believe that nursing needs passionate, advocating individuals, which is someone that I feel that I am on my way to becoming. Nursing requires people who are determined, hard working, and honest, qualities that were instilled in me from my incredible parents, and qualities that I pass onto others as often as I can.
I believe that nurses make a difference. I believe that I am extremely fortunate to be able to be on my way in this journey of nursing, and I know that I won't take one second of it for granted. I feel extremely thankful for the chance to be able to become a nursing professional, and to be able to influence the lives of so many others, and also to learn from so many other people. I believe that I will push myself to become the best nurse that I can be, and that I will be proud to call myself a nurse at the end of this university program.
Future
When discussing future plans in my career as a nurse, I am often skeptical in my responses, as I am still learning about the different areas of nursing. In two years I will almost be done my undergraduate nursing education at Trent University, and will be in my final semester placement. In five years, I hope to be working in northern Canada, at an emergency or pediatric ward of a hospital. I also see myself in five years working as a nurse with underprivileged northern populations, such as the Aboriginal Canadians that inhabit the Yukon and North West Territories.
My end goal is to become a nursing educator, either at the college or university level. However, before I can pursue a Master's degree, I need numerous hours of nursing experience. For this experience, I wish to work in many different parts of Canada, fulfilling my value of exploration.
Concluding Belief Statement About Nursing
To me, nursing is providing safe, ethical care for all patients, regardless of the situation. Nursing is caring, teaching, and being knowledgeable in order to make informed decisions. In the next six months, my goals are to be able to build confidence in my lifting and transferring skills, and to compete a well-written patient history and a confident interview with the patient in the NURS 1020 placement.