Values are the desirable rational conceptions and standards that guide behaviour. Personal values are internalized from the society or culture in which one lives. People need societal values to feel accepted, and they need personal values to have a sense of individuality (Kumar, 2018). The three most important personal values in my life are accountability, empathy, and compassion. Accountability refers to being liable and answerable to all your actions and decisions (Schloßberger, 2019). I believe that always being accountable in my life decisions empowers me with control over my actions in life. In addition to this, having accountability as a value is also important in my profession as a nurse. In nursing, the nurses are required to be accountable for the judgments they make regarding the patient’s care, and with this, they can provide quality care to all patients.
Empathy as a value refers to the ability to emotionally sense or understand what other people feel and imagine how you will feel in a similar situation by trying to see through their point of view. Empathy is a very vital aspect of daily life. Having empathy as a personal value has always enabled me to create good relationships with friends and family. In addition to this, empathy is an important value to have, especially in nursing. Furthermore, empathy helps to build strong and trusting connections between the nurse and the patient (Schloßberger, 2019). The other important value in my life is compassion. Compassion refers to the ability to understand others and oneself better. With compassion in life, one is always willing to be kind, caring, and supportive to others. Having compassion as a value has always made me more concerned about other people’s wellbeing. In my nursing career, compassion plays a major role since, as a nurse, one is supposed to care about the patient’s wellbeing.
Additionally, nursing has its unique professional values like any other profession. Thus nurses need to acquire these values since they play a major in the day-to-day decision-making at the workplace. These professional nursing values include social justice, human dignity, autonomy, and altruism (Monroe, 2019). However, from these values, I feel like altruism and autonomy are very important; also, they align with my values. Autonomy refers to making professional decisions without external pressures from employers, clients, and non-professionals. Nurses can make critical decisions regarding their patient’s welfare by abiding by the principle of autonomy (Monroe, 2019). However, they are encouraged to consult in cases where they are not sure the final decisions must serve the patient’s best interest in case of conflicting interests from external parties. Thus nurses need to acquire autonomy as a value since they are always in situations where they have to make decisions that affect patients’ health outcomes.
The other important value is altruism which is the ability to be selfless and dedicate one’s life to the wellbeing of others. The nursing profession demands the practitioners to provide love and show kindness to all concerned parties. A nursing professional must further maintain calmness when with a patient to support and provide security fully (Monroe, 2019). Additionally, altruism enables nurses to unlock their compassion and empathy, which are crucial elements of the nursing profession. Furthermore, there is a strong association and alignment between my values and the nursing professional values. For instance, to acquire altruism as a value, one must be able to show empathy and compassion to the patients. In addition to this, autonomy as a professional value obligates the nurse to make judgments in the patient’s best interest. Therefore with accountability as a personal value, it will be easy to make the best decisions since, in the end, you will be accountable for all the decisions. Thus it is evident that one’s values also play a major role in their profession.
The nursing theory that resonates with my personal beliefs is Madeline Leininger’s transcultural theory. According to Madeline, the nursing profession aims to provide care while appreciating the differences in society (McFarland & Wehbe-Alamah, 2019). Therefore, nurses are required to understand all cultures’ health beliefs, cultural beliefs, values, and lifestyles. By doing this, nurses can provide care equally without discriminating against patients with different cultural beliefs from their own. In conclusion, with my personal and professional values, I will be able to provide holistic care to my patients at all times. It will benefit both my patients and their families because they will receive empathic and culturally aware care. Furthermore, the values will drive me towards the provision of quality care to all the patients.
References
Kumar, S. (2018). Individual personal values as mediators during behavioral perception and transference. Interpersona: An International Journal on Personal Relationships, 12(1), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.5964/ijpr.v12i1.221
McFarland, M. R., & Wehbe-Alamah, H. B. (2019). Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality: An Overview With a Historical Retrospective and a View Toward the Future. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 30(6), 540–557. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659619867134
Monroe, H. A. (2019). Nurses’ professional values: Influences of experience and ethics education. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(9–10), 2009–2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14806
Schloßberger, M. (2019). Beyond Empathy: Compassion and the Reality of Others. Topoi, 39(4), 771–778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-019-09636-7
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