Developing a Personal Nursing Philosophy
Formulating and Presenting My Personal Philosophy of Nursing When contemplating a philosophical viewpoint within a particular discipline it is essential to understand its relationship to current issues in the field (DeKeyser & Medoff-Cooper, 2009; Schlotfeldt, 2006). Articulation of a personal nursing philosophy involves contemplation of one’s beliefs, principles and values which direct practice (p. 65, Uys & Smit, 1994 as cited in DeKeyser & Medoff-Cooper, 2009). My personal nursing philosophy began with attempting to answer the questions, “what does nursing mean to me” and “what is guiding my practice”? My philosophy is based on personal reflections, values and beliefs and is connected to the current body of nursing literature; it incorporates my understanding of the traditional nursing metaparadigm that includes person, environment, nursing and health (Monti & Tingen, 2006) and the concept of social justice proposed by Schim, Benkert, Bell, Walker and D