My Nursing Story

Nursing Philosophy

As I venture into becoming a nurse, I will be committed to providing compassionate and patient centered care. I believe that all individuals are entitled to respect, dignity and empathy regardless of their ethnicity, circumstances, and condition. I want to be a nurse who provides comfort to those in the best of times, as well as the worst of times by advocating, educating and empowering those I care for. My care will be towards my patients as well as comforting care to families as they go through these happy, stressful and sad times.

My values and beliefs

My values and beliefs are ones that are central in how I conduct my life as well as how I will work in my career as a nurse. My beliefs and values are how I will guide myself throughout my nursing education as well as my career.  These values are things that have become a part of who I am, gained through childhood from my family as well as those that are near and dear to me. I have four key values that are the most important to me. When I think of what my top values are, they are ones that I instil into my children as they grow into adults.  The values that are of most importance to me are empathy and compassion, accountability, confidentiality and trust and holistic care.

Empathy and compassion – I believe that all individuals are entitled to compassionate and empathetic care and treatment. I am one that feels the need to understand one’s needs and feelings to provide the best care. Everyone is different and may require slightly different care and comfort treatments during their healing process.  When faced with decision making for a patient, it should always be made in the best interest of the patient and to understand what would best suit the patient. I have always been an individual that has had empathy and compassion. I grew up wearing “my heart on my sleeve”, as my mom would say. I always wanted to help others, and ensure they were okay before myself. Sometimes this can backfire on myself, as I feel that I should also show myself the same empathy and compassion (one of my many faults), however since I am aware of this fault, I am able to catch myself when I am working against myself.

Accountability – All individuals should be accountable for their actions and decisions. As nurses, our daily work has an impact on the health of the patient. It is a vital element required to build trust between both the patients as well as the health care team. Individuals must take responsibility for their actions and to work together to achieve a shared outcome. As a mother of 3 children, I ensure that my children are held accountable when they make a mistake or make a wrong choice. This is a value that I did not actually learn as a child. I began to understand this value in my late twenties with the father of my children. I ensured that we were both accountable to the decisions and actions we made with each other and others. As an adult, this is a value that I ensure those in my personal circle adhere to. It is a value as a nurse, friend, mother that I am able to admit my mistakes, and take action to rectify them.

Confidentiality and Trust – This value is probably one of my most prized values. As a nurse, we are held responsible in knowing a patient’s full medical history, as well as personal information. By maintaining trust and confidentiality, we can provide an environment for that patient that is safe and where the patient can feel comfortable opening and confiding in times of needs.bThis value was one that I feel I developed over time. It is not something that I learned in my childhood, as I feel when I was a child, I was not able to fully trust those around me. When I entered my adult years, I found it very difficult to trust others. After years of working through my personal issues, I was able to find trust in other people, which made it a value that I find extremely important when developing personal and professional relationships. Without trust, you cannot have a relationship that is open to vulnerability and safety. I still struggle with finding trust in other people at times as I have had trust broken around me, however it is something that I pride myself on as I am one that will always hold trust and confidentiality close to me.

 Holistic care – I believe that everyone requires care that encompasses the entire individual. This includes their physical, spiritual and mental being. Care of an individual is not only that of what is evident in front of you but should include the entire individuals being in order to fully heal. I use this in my everyday care with my own children. For example, when they are injured, not only are they needing to be attended to medically, but they also may be scared and upset, which also needs attention. By using a holistic approach to care and healing, we are healing the entire individual, not just the immediate medical concerns. This is something that I also believe I learned over time. When I was a child, it was solely about healing the physical. I find that as I grow, I am beginning to realize that healing is more than just physical. It includes everything that makes as an individual.

After looking at my top values and beliefs, I realized that most of these values were learned and became a part of my everyday life in my personal and work life later in life. They are ways that I conduct my daily life as well as my life as a RPN and an RN student. These are values that I believe I most likely share with many nurses and other individuals who are close to me in my life. My children also have these core value, (although they may not know it yet, I have just engrained it within them!)

SMART goals

As I venture into my RN nursing education, it is important to recognize that goals should be set along the way. By setting goals, I am ensuring that I am on the right track. It also helps align my education with any gaps that I may be missing along the way. Goals are an important way for myself to understand where I am at any particular point, and where I am heading over a period of time. Below are two goals that I have chosen to focus on for the next semester.

1. Master Pharmacology concepts – By the end of my second semester, I would like to have a better understanding of some pharmacology concepts and medications that I will be using. As a current RPN, I have a basic knowledge of medications but would like to have a more in dept knowledge of how the medications work. This goal is a SMART goal as per the following:

Specific – I would like to achieve a grade of 80% of better in my pharmacology class.

Measurable – Ensure that my weekly studying and quizzes are above 80%, and if they are not, ensure I am reviewing material that I am struggling with

Achievable – I would like to dedicate at least 4 – 6 hours of my weekly studies to pharmacology to gain a better knowledge.

Relevant – Pharmacology concepts are mandatory for administering medication safety and effectively.

Time – Bound: Complete this goal by the end of semester 2.

2. Refresh on my patient assessments – Although I have been a nurse for two years, I would like to master performing and refresh on doing a proper head to toe assessment on my patients. This goal is SMART as per the following:

Specific – Perform complete head-to-toe assessments on my patients in clinical as well as practice on my friends/family to get more experience.

Measurable – Receive feedback from my clinical instructor

Achievable – Practice during each clinical

Relevant – This is an essential part of nursing care

Time – Bound: By the end of clinical placement in second semester.

 Reflection on Nursing

I am currently a registered practical nurse and work full time at PRHC. This transition from being an RPN into full time school to become an RN is very exciting, challenging and daunting. It will require me to be very organized (as a mom of 3 kids). It will allow me to develop professionally and will allow me to further my knowledge and skills. I currently have the hands-on skills needed to bean RPN, however am seeking a more in-depth knowledge of the nursing profession. This is why I have chosen to return to complete my RN designation at Trent University. I look forward to gaining more knowledge in theory so that I can become a nurse who has more knowledge to care for my patients. It will be important for myself to review the entry to practice competencies for registered nurses. These competencies are imperative to beginning practice as a registered nurse in Ontario (CNO, 2020) Throughout the next 28 months, these competencies will become more relevant and evident in my student practice. They will be used for me to become a registered nurse and to enter the field as an entry level RN.

Nursing is a lifelong learning journey, and it is very important to reflect daily on our experiences and learning needs. According to the CNO, it is crucial to engage in daily reflection about your experiences as a nurse, as well as to ensure that education and learning goals are maintained. (CNO, 2019) As an RPN, I currently learn something new every day. When I first began nursing school at Fleming College for my RPN, I never truly understood how I could still be learning skills and information even as a practicing nurse. The skills learned while in school are those that allow me to safely enter the nursing profession. Learning does not stop once you become registered, it allows us to learn more. According to Benner’s “Novice to Expert” nursing theory, a novice nurse will always start their career with basic and limited knowledge and over time will progress to become more advanced through education ad experience. (Benner, 1984) Theory classes are something that I really enjoy in school. I find as I learn theory, I don’t quite understand the concept until I am able to apply this theory in practice. This is something that I feel is eye opening in nursing school. Reading from a text book or from power point slides is one side of the learning curve, however actually applying what you have learned in real life makes everything seem to come together. It is important as a nurse to move through the different phases of learning from starting as a novice to becoming an expert. I do not believe that any nurse becomes an expert, as it is a journey of learning throughout your career. The profession of nursing is ever evolving with new medications, technology and new ways of taking care of patients. I am excited to expand my commitment to a lifetime of learning in my career.

Artefacts/Evidence

As I embark on my learning journey to become an RN I will post some pictures, files, assignments that I think will be interesting to look back on.

One picture is myself on the beginning of my journey to becoming an RPN. The other picture is myself once I graduated from Fleming College as an RPN.

REFERENCES

College of Nurses of Ontario (2020). Entry-to-practice competencies for registered nurses. http://www.cno.org/globalassets/dogs/reg/41037-entry-to-practice-competencies-2020.pdf

College of Nurses of Ontario (2019). Quality assurance program. http://www.cno.org/en/myqa/

Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison-Wesley.