NURS 8114: Theoretical and Scientific Foundations of Nursing
Writing a Philosophy of Nursing Practice
Your philosophy should articulate your mission and beliefs and include your role as an advocate of social change.
As you prepare your written philosophy, research and reflect to clarify your mission and beliefs within the broad realm of nursing. Consider these perspectives:
• Nursing is a practice discipline that integrates knowledge from a nursing perspective. Nursing is concerned with the laws and principles that govern the life processes, well-being, and optimal functioning of human beings; the human behavioral responses to disease; and the processes by which positive health status is affected. (Donaldson & Crowley, 1978) (AACN DNP Essential I)
• “There is a need for nurses at all levels of preparation to articulate with clarity the nature of nursing knowledge and what nurses contribute to health in all realms—individual, family, local, community and global” (Rogers, 2018, p. 21).
In developing your philosophy of nursing practice, or refining your existing philosophy, focus on how your philosophy will reflect your expanded awareness of practice issues as a DNP.
As a DNP-prepared nurse, your nursing practice also encompasses essential responsibilities. Consider how these fundamental requirements of a DNP will influence the mission and beliefs that you articulate within a philosophy of nursing practice:
o Assume leadership roles to represent the discipline and profession of nursing and to discuss the expertise and advanced knowledge needed by those who practice nursing at the doctoral level.
o Collaborate with researchers in a multidisciplinary approach to identify needs for research and innovations that add to the knowledge base of nursing.
o Implement new knowledge for the improvement of healthcare access and delivery by translating evidence into practice.
Ultimately, each nurse must identify what underlies their practice by answering three questions (Widenbach, 1970):
What needs to be accomplished?
How will it be accomplished?
In which context will it be done?
Keep these questions in mind and how you answer each, at this specific time or looking further ahead in your career, in crafting your written philosophy of nursing practice as a DNP.
References
Note: In considering the nature of nursing, the older resources in this list are seminal.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced nursing practice. AACN.
Donaldson, S. K., & Crowley, D. M. (1978). The discipline of nursing. Nursing Outlook, 26(2), 113–120.
Rogers, B. L. (2018). The evolution of nursing science. In J. B Butts & K. L. Rich (Eds.), Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (p. 21). Jones & Bartlett.
Widenbach, E. (1970). Nurses’ wisdom in nursing theory. American Journal of Nursing, 70(3), 1057–1062.
