Introduction

Nursing as a multifaceted healthcare area is a complex field with various functions, responsibilities, and principles of work that those involved have to follow. The analysis of this sphere can help determine its key goals and objectives and obtain a picture of the fundamental conditions of junior medical staff’s practice. This work aims to define nursing, introduce its major domains, discuss assumptions or underlying beliefs, and offer my vision of challenges and opportunities on the way to professional development.

Definition of Nursing

It is possible to define nursing from the perspective of different positions and branches that require distinctive approaches to work. However, the wording that the World Health Organization (2020) offers may be relevant – “autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups, and communities, sick or well and in all settings” (para. 1). This is a general definition that offers the basic principles of work in this area.

Assumptions or Underlying Beliefs

For employees involved in nursing, there are special fundamental beliefs that determine the image of the profession and its importance. For instance, Pickles et al. (2019) note that caring for those in need and self-sacrifice are the integral elements of this occupation. Regarding assumptions, the culture of competent behavior and an individual approach should be promoted, but these qualities are acquired during the work process.

Major Domains of Nursing

The nursing theory implies dividing this field of healthcare into several key domains. Branch et al. (2016) define these four aspects of work – “person, health, environment, and nursing” (p. 123). The first of them target the patient as a key recipient of care services, for instance, nurses’ assistance in fulfilling a person’s daily needs. The health domain is associated with the quality of care, which affects patients’ well-being in either outpatient or inpatient settings. The environment domain includes factors affecting care regimes, for instance, patients’ cultural backgrounds. Finally, nursing implies applying skills and knowledge in a caring environment, taking into account various situations requiring the participation of staff, for instance, the implementation of productive interventions.

Personal Summary

Based on the aforementioned definitions, nursing is a complex medical area. The domains are connected and form a single mechanism that allows providing comprehensive and effective assistance to the population. None of the four aspects can be implemented separately from the others. In order to create optimal conditions for care, both the environment is to be taken into account and appropriate skills should be applied to address patients’ needs and, in particular, their health. From my point of view, in the future, nursing will be advanced due to new technologies and dynamic approaches to care. I intend to utilize all available resources in order to provide comprehensive assistance to those who need it, and the constant appearance of new developments in medicine may contribute to this goal.

When discussing potential challenges that I may face in the future, I can note the difficulty of individual interaction with a large number of patients due to their distinctive cultural backgrounds. Also, communication with families can be a challenging task since some patients’ relatives are often not ready to accept the principles of care promoted in a particular clinical environment. Nevertheless, I set myself the goals of continuous professional training and interaction with colleagues to extract valuable experience and gain new knowledge about the principles of the nursing profession.

Conclusion

Defining nursing, describing key beliefs and assumptions, and analyzing the basic domains of this industry allows me to present my personal vision of this occupation. The interaction of all the components of the work is mandatory to create optimal conditions for care. I believe that nursing will develop, and despite potential challenges, I will be able to realize my professional potential due to constant training and communication with experienced colleagues.

References

Branch, C., Deak, H., Hiner, C., & Holzwart, T. (2016). Four nursing metaparadigms. IU South Bend Undergraduate Research Journal, 16, 123-132.

Pickles, D., Lacey, S. D., & King, L. (2019). Conflict between nursing student’s personal beliefs and professional nursing values. Nursing Ethics, 26(4), 1087-1100.

World Health Organization. (2020). Nursing. Web.