My Nursing Philosophy

The very moment you meet your patient upon admission, your plan is to provide the best care possible. The feeling of seeing your patient discharged in good health due to your care is the absolute best feeling in the world. Nursing theorist Virginia Henderson believed nurses should help a client regain as much independence as quickly as possible with a holistic approach (Duncan & Depew, 2011). My nursing philosophy is to always have the patient involved and given a role in his or her own recovery.

Henderson (1966) stated the following:

The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge. And to do this in such a way as to help him gain independence as rapidly as possible. (p. 15) She believed that providing patient independence and helping them obtain the planned goals, could help them care for themselves outside of the nurses care. Her knowledge and love for nursing is quite remarkable due to the fact that she wanted to know the exact needs of each patient. Because everyone has a different situation, personality, and plan of care, she made it very important to address each person individually and to not view them as a whole.

Meaning, a patient should be innocent of all other irrelevant topics. A nurse is to provide comfort and care, rather than expose the patient to stress or uncomfortable situations. Florence Nightingale knew the ‘in’s and out’s’ of nursing from the level of care a patient should have, to the ideal environment to keeping them comfortable. The philosophy of Henderson ties into those of Nightingales by being aware of what the patient needs. If sleep and rest is what the patient needs, then we should be able to consider