Professional Goals in Nursing Essay

Motivated to care: Holistic Nursing

Nurses are an important part of nursing care and more intricate than is perceived. Understanding what motivates and drives most nursing careers will open a new world of understanding of the core values that drive the profession. Nurses draw inspiration from mentors such as family members, friends, educators and those great people such as Florence Nightingale whose passion for nursing care has made nursing the revered career it is today. Building off these values as a nurse is very important because nursing is always revolving, and it is important to have personal values and beliefs which drive one’s career to ensure that we are impacting the nursing field positively. Nursing care should involve a more wholesome approach to ensure that patients are empowered to get better and live the best life they possibly can and as nurses, we can grow in our careers while enriching our careers as we have, the lives of many we have touched.

Choice of Nursing

Growing up in a major city in Nigeria, West Africa was very shielding for me and my siblings. We were privileged to have parents who protected us from the harsh realities of growing up in a third-world economy. We had access to what we assumed was basic healthcare. Most families back home do not go to the hospital unless someone is actively dying. Hospitals were the last resort as they would rather run to churches to pray for healing than spend the little left for food on healthcare. Whenever I go to the hospital as a little girl, I see these young ladies dressed in their white uniforms trying to keep up with crying babies, worried mothers, and roaring fathers trying to get attention for their loved ones. I was impressed with how they kept their cool to manage such chaos and more especially keep their white uniform sparkling clean at the end of the day’s work.

As years goes by, I understood the passion that goes into nursing is what I witnessed as a little girl. I went into nursing because I am passionate about caring for others and helping them obtain a better quality of life by being healthy. By playing a positive role in people’s lives and, in my community, and peoples life’s daily, I am improving my skill as a nurse and giving my patients an improved quality of care that they deserve. Nursing gives you a rare privilege to serve while enjoying a rewarding career. It is also flexible thereby finding a balance between work and family.

Essence of Nursing

Nursing is as broad as any career can be and has been in existence for a very long time. It involves caring for patients compassionately. This has remained true over the years and should be the core value of every nursing practice. This exemplary attitude is what motivated Florence Nightingale and other great contributors to the nursing practice. Another great influencer of the nursing practice was Virginia Henderson. Her nursing career which spans the 20th century described the nurse’s role as that of a substitute for the patient, a helper to the patient, or a partner with the patient (Chitty& Black 2011). Providing nursing care is getting more complicated, therefore, it is important that nurses keep abreast of current changes, and without compassion, it is difficult to carry on with the changes that go on with nursing roles

With the advances in technology, it is important to understand that machines cannot replace the professional role nurses play in nurturing patients with compassion and dignity. According to (Friberg & Creasia 2016), “Service to society has remained a central value of nursing, and nursing’s consistent provision of service to benefit the public has earned the public trust”. This is where the American Nurses Association comes in as they provide a structure for participation and empower nurses to engage in the advancement of nursing and improve healthcare to the public”. (Friberg & Creasier 2016)

Beliefs and Values

Patients are the center of nursing practice as they fuel the trend for nursing care. Understanding that patients come into the hospital in their most vulnerable state will help us as nurses to better take care of them. Patients want to be treated with compassion, respect, and dignity and whenever they are treated as such, they will always choose where they got exceptional service for their healthcare needs. With many patients serviced being baby boomers, the role of nurses has evolved from just taking care of their bedside needs to just comforting patients as they exist this life with dignity. We as nurses have been trained to understand patients and help them overcome any negative effect the illness may have on their development, health, and family. The way we respond to our patient's illness behavior will help the patient open up to us more and help to gather the proper information to coordinate their healthcare needs.

The patient’s family is an invaluable resource of information and support for the patient. It is important to know that when a patient is sick, it can have a strong impact on their immediate family if it is well managed. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the patient’s support system and look for ways to include them in the patient's care. It is also important to evaluate the family to ensure that the primary care given to the patient is not experiencing caregiver role strain. Therefore, it is important as nurses to include a holistic method of taking care of patients to find loopholes that can have an impact on patients and their families.

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To achieve holistic care for patients, it is important to work as a term with other healthcare providers. An interdisciplinary approach to taking care of patients’ issues will help to improve communication about patient needs. To work effectively with others for the good of the patient, it is important that effective communication methods are used. Treat each coworker with respect and look for proper channels to sort out grievances to ensure that members are working together as a team.

Being healthy is very important to me as I cannot meet my daily obligations if I am not in a good place. Therefore, I strive to maintain optimum health by eating right, engaging in moderate exercise, and proper rest. I also have periodic physical exams to ensure that the body is working at its optimum. I also believe that a lot of illnesses are genetic, consequently being an African American female exposes me to several diseases, therefore it is important to have these health screens regularly.

Vision for the Future

My goal in the next two years would be to improve my skills as I am a new nurse. Acquiring these skills will build my confidence as a nurse and would enable me to provide the kind of care my patients deserve. It will also enable me to move to an intensive care unit which is my goal. I also want to achieve my bachelor’s degree in two years and know it is a tough task to combine a nursing career, family, and education; but I have a wonderful support system that has enabled me to come this far.

I would like to specialize in a nursing field which would enable achieve a long-term goal of mine. I would pursue an advanced degree as a midwife in five years. This would help me to be equipped to take care of pregnant women and their babies. I love to work with that population later in my career and I had such wonderful experiences with amazing midwives when I had my kids. They created the drive to go into nursing and care for others.

My ten-year plan is to relocate back home to Nigeria after graduating as a midwife. Nigeria has the second highest maternal mortality rate. This is so true as I have lost family members to the scourge. Lack of proper education for nurses and no standardization of the medical practice would be the culprit. My goal is the use the knowledge I will acquire over the years to improve my community’s outcome in the healthcare of mothers and babies. I also want to train other nurses to improve their nursing skills.

Summary

I have surmounted many obstacles to get to where I am today. Being a nurse is one of the greatest rewards of my life, but it was one of the biggest challenges I have had to face yet. What has helped me is my tenaciousness while using my strengths of strategizing and arranging to improvise ways to ensure that I excel at nursing school. Nothing has changed my perspective about hard work and the resultant effect. I have perfected these strengths of mine and I am sure I will achieve my professional goal.

The major limitation I would need to overcome is work, school, and life balance. Our society is so fast-paced these days that sometimes you must be superhuman to achieve everything you have lined up for the day. Also, financial constraints can affect my achieving my goal as the cost of living in America continue to increase daily. But notwithstanding all these challenges, I have an understanding spouse that has helped me throughout my nursing career and continues to support me, and together we will achieve our different goals.

Reference

1. Houghton, P. M., Houghton, T. J., & Pratt, M. M. (2009). APA: The easy way! Flint, MI: Baker College.
2. Friberg, E. E., & Creasia, J. L. (2016). Conceptual foundations: The bridge to professional nursing practice. Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier/Mosby. DOI: https://ereserves.uta.edu/APcourse/NURS3645BOY003.pdf
3. Chitty, K. K., & Black, B. P. (2011). Professional nursing: Concepts & challenges. Maryland Heights, MO: Saunders Elsevier. DOI: https://ereserves.uta.edu/APcourse/NURS3645BOY002.pdf