Self Awareness In Nursing

Superior Essays
A nursing philosophy coincides with self-awareness. Self-awareness, in short, is knowledge of one 's self, feelings, motives, and desires. I believe empathy, integrity, genuineness, and compassion are all important attributes of a nurse. Empathy shows an attempt to understand from the patients’ perspective. Integrity shows honesty. Genuineness prevents bias by recognizing self-awareness of feelings as they present in the patient-nurse relationship. Compassion shows sympathy and concern for the patients’ well-being. As a future nurse it is important that I continue to recognize my own self-awareness so I can continue to build onto my beliefs and values of the nursing profession. In this paper I will discuss why I chose the nursing profession, …show more content…
Henderson also believes that patients require assistance from the nurse to either achieve health and independence, or a peaceful death (Lazenby, 2013). According to Henderson, the nurses’ role is to help the patient become as independent as possible. The more independent the client becomes the further they are from illness and the closer they are to being healthy. This means the most basic human need activities patients can complete, without assistance; the closer they are to being healthy (Lazenby, 2013). Henderson states that the individual, environment, health, and nursing are all important concepts of this theory ("Henderson 's need theory," …show more content…
My self-awareness has provided me with a better understanding of what is fundamentally important to me as a future nurse. I believe Orem’s theory of self-care deficit, stated by McQuiston and Webb, 1995, that people seek health care due to their inability to care for themselves and Henderson’s theory of patient need are fundamentally important in nursing. As a professional nurse it will be my responsibility to practice compassion, respect, and genuineness for every patient I encounter. I have discussed the reasons I have chosen the nursing profession, my beliefs and values, and what I feel is fundamentally important in the nursing profession. All of these aspects have formed my nursing philosophy. Caring for people has always been something I am very compassionate about. I may not be able to make a difference in every patient’s life, but if I’m able to make a difference in one person’s life, whether big or small, it will make being a nurse so much more gratifying. Being a nurse will give me this

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