I Believe in Nursing

I believe that everyone has a passion of caring. But not everyone responds to that calling. My college professor once told me that we, Nurses are the Angels of the sick room. Being a religious person, I become drawn to that phrase that I can be someone who will uplift anyone with my passion and dedication. Thus, I decided to be a Nurse. A nurse that can be a role model that everyone respects and acknowledge. I am now following my dream and that is to serve and care for people. My philosophy of nursing continues to widen thorough the years. My beliefs to help in the prevention of illness, promotion of health and holistic treatment of the care.
Being a nurse for almost 8 year in the Philippines, I learned to embrace every endeavour, hardship and sacrifices that a public health nurse endures. As a nurse, it is my duty to promote awareness of health and diseases prevention in every health care. My role to address the health care need of the environment and the community as a whole. I believed in the simultaneity paradigm that views person as a continuous multi directional evolutionary health process that considers the society with its own definition of wellness and illness (Medical Dictionary, 2009 Farlex and Partners).
In this paradigm, I was inspired by the works of Jean Watson Theory of caring and transpersonal relationship.

She defined that caring is an integral part of nursing process, which focuses not only in the disease but in the consciousness, healing and wholeness of a person (Intranet.tdmu.edu.ua, 2020). I believe that to be an effective nurse, we should understand the client mind, body and soul, to nurture and develop a healing and trusting environment. With this theory, she also propose the need to take care of ourselves first as the motivator and provider.
The need to focus on my own needs and re-center myself to enhanced my ability to be connected with my patient, my workplace and also to be responsible of my actions. I am responsible to the society as a whole because we live in a multi-cultural society. We should respect every culture, religious beliefs and abide with their ethics. As we encountered many people in our lives, and this can be physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting, we must be ready to face every challenges that our professions entails and confidently upholds the spirit within us.
I remember my experience as a community health nurse. Being a nurse to a small barangay with 3800 population. I need to be a responsible and to adjust my roles as a health care provider. I become a caregiver, performing house to house visit to many disabled clients. a communicator, addressing the community immediate needs and relaying it to the government/doctors for an action, an educator like for performing a family planning awareness program, a leader, change agent and counsellor.
Philippines being heavily populated are seeking for many methods to prevent overpopulation. We started educating couples and women in reproductive age to the tradition and modern family planning methods that are readily available in every health center and maternity facilities. We also conduct health teaching regarding alcohol and drug abuse prevention and rehabilitations. By helping the community and the government. We are promoting and educating the community to change the unhealthy lifestyle and habits and take an active role in sustaining people with proper knowledge. Overall, my duty was to serve them with truthfulness, compassion, care, courage, commitment with respect and dignity that everybody deserves whatever their life status is throughout the society.
For me, nursing is a noble profession that values human dignity. We all know that ill patient has low self-esteem and tend to be introvert of their feelings so I make them feel important and conscious in a sense that they feel like they deserve to be respected and honoured throughout their health journey. Valuing patient’s confidentiality, faithfulness and being responsible to their needs are the key to my effective therapeutic relationship. I need to be responsible not only in the nursing practice but in every way spiritually, holistically and emotionally because this will reflect how the people view me as a professional.
My vision for nursing care was based on providing positive outcome for my client’s health. Focusing on their individualized patient care, attending their needs and a hope to gain their trust. Not every patient has the same so I need to adjust and be realistic in my treatment of care. I will always be a patient advocate, I must fight for the right of the patient and encourage them to be an active partner of their own health. They must be educated about their disease as well as the family to help with patient’s recovery. I believe in the right to make informed decision for the patient’s care. It must be accurate, complete and relevant to their actual needs. We also need to be knowledgeable in our ethical behaviours that involves accountability, confidentiality, truthfulness, fidelity, and justice.
Nurses doesn’t stop when we received our professional license, that mean we are ready to face a huge responsibility for a continuous lifelong learning that involves research, lots of reading, seminars, workshops and evident based practices. Updating our knowledge and skills can make a difference in maintaining patient’s safety. Throughout the years, nurse’s practice continues to evolve in every health care setting. We need to keep up to the booming technology that is nowadays used in providing care for the patient.
My personal vision was to increase my knowledge and be updated to the evolution of medical techniques and to perform my duty as a nurse without violating any laws of College of Nurses of Ontario. Philippines is far different from what Canada’s medical equipment’s and practices has. My personal goal is to be a competent nurse and be an internationally educated nurse that will more enhanced my knowledge and skills.