Nursing Values and Beliefs
- Hello world! - October 21, 2020
The worldview of any individual affects his or her personal and professional life to a large degree. People’s values and beliefs can determine multiple choices that they are going to make in their life. As my primary goal is to become a nurse, I am aware that particular beliefs and values would also affect my career in the medical field. So far, I can identify two beliefs about nursing and two values, which will be exhibited in this work.
My first belief about nursing consists in the idea that the patient should be the top priority to any medical provider. Often nurses are the ones who spend a lot of time with the patients before, during, and after treatment procedures. Some medical manipulations are not pleasant, and some of them are painful and cause much pain. Nurses should be ready to invest their time and efforts into the patients. Sometimes is it is not easy as it may seem. Staying in the clinic or a hospital is stressful to people even if they have to be there not for a long time (Garner, 2011). Stress forces people to become irritable. Under such circumstances, patients may lose their temper and be rude to the medical personnel. Still, nurses should treat them with respect and always be willing to assist.
My second belief related to the future career is that nurses cannot hurt anybody. It implies harm of all kinds, be it physical or emotional. Based on what I know about cultural differences, it is easy to offend a patient from a different culture unintentionally. For example, I have heard that Spanish people value privacy much (Parker-Pope, 2009). For that reason, nurses should be careful not to violate the privacy of such patient in the hospital setting. It is but one example of not causing harm to patients. Apart from that, nurses should be attentive not to do physical health damage to their patients. On the contrary, they should be the strongest advocates of their patients’ rights and health.
My first nursing value is accountability. I am convinced that medical attendants are responsible for the care that they provide to patients on the daily basis. The first precondition to accountability is readiness to make important decisions about the delegation of service and performing other tasks ensuring the best care possible (Gokenbach, 2012). Only those individuals that are responsible for their actions can become good nurses. I exhibit this value by learning to accept my mistakes. If one thinks the opposite, a nurse who is not accountable for her action is a dangerous and unreliable medical worker. Therefore, accountability is the top value to me so far.
My second nursing value is professionalism. Modern world presents many challenges to employees in many fields. It is all because of the rapid development of modern technologies. The same can be said about the healthcare industry (Jayanthi, 2014). New advancements in treatments, medical equipment, and procedures require willingness to obtain new knowledge from the nurses’ part. Therefore, each medical representative should take time to develop his or her professionalism. Thus, nurses should not limit themselves to the knowledge they have obtained during their education and training. Instead, they have a duty to pursue continued professional growth. I exhibit that value by constant learning and reading about the progressive medical research.
To conclude, one’s beliefs and values determine the choices the person is likely to make in the future. As a potential nurse, I am going to work according to my beliefs and values. My first belief relates to the patient as the top priority of the medical care. My second belief is that avoiding causing harm to patients. Apart from that, the two values guiding my professional behavior are accountability and professionalism. I exhibit them by trying to deal with my mistakes and constant learning. I hope my values and beliefs will help me to become a good nurse in the future.
References
Garner, C. (2011, November 17). The Visitor / Reducing stress in a hospital stay. Huffington
Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-garner/the-visitor-reducing-
stre_b_576360.html
Gokenbach, V. (2012, November 19). Nursing as the most honored profession. Retrieved from
http://www.nursetogether.com/nursing-most-honored-profession
Jayanthi, A. (2014, January 28). 10 biggest technological advancements for healthcare in the last
decade. Retrieved from http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-
technology/10-biggest-technological-advancements-for-healthcare-in-the-last-
decade.html
Parker-Pope, T. (2009, July 16). How cultural background affects health. The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/how-cultural-background-impacts-health/