My personal nursing philosophy is in accord with the model of Chinn & Kramer (1999) which characterizes nursing as both a scientific discipline and an art. The art consists of the nurse's understanding of the meaning of a holistic health-illness experience and the perception of the moral and ethical significance of care, as well as the integration of technical skill with relevant theory. As a science, I view nursing as an application of the body of theoretical nursing knowledge, behavioral and natural science, the humanities, and the arts·all of which are employed in a caring, respectful manner. The goal of nursing is to utilize my knowledge, competencies and skills toward helping patients achieve quality of life, health, well-being or peaceful death.
Wellness, disability, family and collaboration are four important elements in my nursing philosophy. Regarding wellness, I see this as separate from a state of health in that it is more holistic and refers not only to the health of bodily functions and processes, but also to cognitive and spiritual health. I view both wellness and illness as socially and individually defined concepts and conceptualize both as associated with the degree of variation in the client and the client-system's ability to alter or adjust to its environment.
Collaboration and wellness are related in my philosophy of nursing. I think that in order for clients to achieve both health and wellness, a nurse must collaborate with both the client, his family system, and the hospital or other institution providing care to the patient. This collaboration should involve the design, implementation and evaluation of client-centered interventions for the promotion and maintenance of well-being, the restoration of human functioning, and the prevention of illness. I also think that there is a still higher level of collaboration among nurses in which they engage in research and consultation with one another as well as o...