Kimberly Kidd

I have worked as a Registered Nurse for five years on numerous floors, including the Orthopedic-Surgical Telemetry Floor and Surgical-Trauma, Cardiac, Medical, COVID, and Neuro intensive care units.

I have been working as a travel nurse for three years. Through my work experiences, I have been allowed to work with a very diverse patient population. I have also learned how to become a professional nurse through skillful assessments, diagnosing, evaluations, outcome identification, planning, and implementation while learning time management. These experiences taught me how to work as a nursing team member and build relationships with doctors, nursing assistants, and other healthcare team members.

Before my nursing career, I worked in the ICU as a respiratory therapist for many years. My clinical skills, dedication to nursing and patient care, and willingness to learn and grow professionally will help me to transition into a future APRN role!

• American Association of Nurse Practitioners
• American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

ACLS-2025

BLS-2024

Self-Reflection

What motivates me in my practice?

I thought about why I chose to become a nurse initially, my plans when I became one, and now why I want to further my education to become an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP. I love to help, give, and serve others. As a child, I knew I would do something to impact or help someone else. I was raised by a family who helped others through service. As I continue to further my career, I want to continue to take the values I was raised on to continue impacting others through service.
What do I do best in my practice?

As an ICU nurse, I do my best to listen to my patients and be attentive to their needs. Even if the patient is intubated and sedated, I try to hone in on a patient’s vital signs, labs, and assessment to see what may be going on with them at the time.

Where do I get the most satisfaction in my practice?

I get the most satisfaction when my patient says thank you or that they appreciate what I have done for them. Although I rarely discharge a patient home from the ICU, it makes me feel better when they can go to a step-down unit after being intubated or unstable a few days before.

What am I most proud of about my practice?

I am happy with the nursing profession. I love that there are so many avenues that you can go into within the practice. I also love the respect nurses receive from the physicians, other healthcare clinicians, and most of all, the patients.

How might I attract a consumer or organization to pay for my skills?

I am a very hardworking and devoted nurse. I usually show people who I am through my actions, my dedication to the patients, my care, nurturing, and listening skills. I can attract a consumer through my resume and a conversation, but I know they will be able to see more of who I am through my actions, dialogue, and humor.

I have so many goals as it pertains to my future APRN career. My initial goals are to pass this first semester of NP school and then prayerfully graduate with an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner degree next year. After studying for some time, I hope to pass the board exam. I have plans to start my NP career serving, educating, and treating those in underserved communities. I plan to return to school to get a Psychiatric Mental Health certification within a year post-graduation

APRN Position

I want to work for a company or corporation that puts the patients first—where the patients feel heard, supported, and part of a family or a community. I would also like to work in an underserved area where trust, health education, communication, and patient-provider collaboration are at the forefront. I want to continue to work within this community after receiving a certification in psychiatric mental health.

As a new graduate Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner, the average salary in the United States is about $106, 566 as of January 26, 2024. The average range is from $98, 887 to 115, 771. Salary is usually based on education, certifications, skill set, and years in the profession. The average salary for North Carolina is $114, 450.

When I thought of developing my philosophy of advanced practice nursing, I thought about why I chose to become a nurse initially, what my plans were when I became one, and now why I want to further my education to become an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP.

As a child, I knew I would do something to impact or help someone else. I was raised by a family who helped others through service. As I continue to further my career, I want to continue to take the values I was raised on to continue impacting others through service.

My APRN Philosophy

“Advanced Practice Nurses must be able to provide unbiased care to an aging population. This care includes but is not limited to evidence-based practices that include education about disease processes and focuses on holistic healing in numerous physical and mental environments while working on the best healthcare outcomes according to each situation.”

Critique and Development of Nursing Practice Philosophy

By: Kimberly Kidd

NGR 5110: Theory Application & Advanced Role Development in Nursing

Introduction

What is the philosophy of nursing? What is a nursing philosophy used for, and how can it shape your career?

A nursing philosophy can be a statement or approach used to express one’s beliefs, care thoughts, values, holistic approach, ethics, and even theories behind how and why one practices nursing (Mass, 2018). This philosophy can be used as a basis for how one practices daily on their job. This philosophy can be used as a reminder of why you chose the nursing profession and can also be used as a guide to shape your nursing career continually.

The following is an example of a philosophy of nursing:

“Nurses provide quality nursing based on holistic care principles. Core nursing values include advocacy, compassion, and evidence-based practice. Patients are partners in their care when a patient-centered care approach is used to produce the best healthcare outcomes.”

I like this statement. It covers a lot in just a few short sentences. For those who become a nurse, you want to change a person’s life; you are willing to help an individual improve their health and feel better through education, medication, conversation, and a healing touch. This statement shows what the core of nursing should be about. Nurses are seen as advocates for their patients, stepping in when things don’t look right or the patient’s needs must be reevaluated. We are supposed to be compassionate when caring for individuals while using the most up-to-date evidence-based practices.

Patients should also be partners in their care when able. Sometimes, situations and conditions do not allow this to occur. Still, we should check whether the patient agrees to or consents to any procedure, medication, or treatment plan. Patient-centered care has improved patient outcomes by making them aware of their disease process and feel heard, respected, knowledgeable, and understood (Epstein, 2011).

The above philosophy hits many points, but what else can we focus on to continually improve patient outcomes?

My Philosophy of Advanced Practice Nursing

When I thought of developing my philosophy of advanced practice nursing, I thought about why I chose to become a nurse initially, what my plans were when I became one, and now why I want to further my education to become an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP.

As a child, I knew I would do something to impact or help someone else. I was raised by a family who helped others through service. As I continue to further my career, I want to continue to take the values I was raised on to continue impacting others through service.

What should I be basing my philosophy on? Well, there are four fundamental bases or concepts that I can use as a framework for my future APN career. These four metaparadigms, theories, or ideas provide a structure for the nursing discipline while shaping the profession, which is based on the person, environment, health, and nursing.

The person in the metaparadigm is defined as the patient or individual receiving care. While giving this care, I must remember that each situation and circumstance differs. I want to remember to treat each patient individually while respecting their core values and beliefs, preferences, and overall needs.

The health of a person focuses on the patient’s whole being. This includes but is not limited to, an individual’s physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being.

The environment can be referred to as the location of care. This environment can include an individual’s home, the hospital, a skilled nursing facility or rehab, or even care at a clinic. Not only is the physical location involved in patient care, but cultural and social environments can also play a huge role.

Nursing encompasses so many aspects. Nurses must have compassion, be caring and empathetic, and be willing to listen to their patients while advocating for their well-being. Nurses must also continue learning through continuing education classes or competencies while using evidenced-based practices to maintain their licensure (AACN, 2008).

While considering all the above, I came up with this philosophy of Advance Practice Nursing for an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner:

“Advanced Practice Nurses must be able to provide unbiased care to an aging population. This care includes but is not limited to evidence-based practices that include education about disease processes and focuses on holistic healing in numerous physical and mental environments while working on the best healthcare outcomes according to each situation.”

My philosophy as it applies to…

My APN philosophy touches on each of the nursing metaparadigms. The aging population is all of us. As we continue to live, we continue to age. The population that I will be caring for as an APN is the Adult-Gerontology population (person). I will be caring for patients from the age of 18 until death. Each generation faces many health issues, but they all share a commonality of aging.

I also spoke on the APN’s role (nursing) and how they should approach this aging population, and that is with an unbiased eye. I know this is sometimes impossible, but as practitioners, we should try our best in each situation. While practicing as an RN, I treat each patient as if they were my family member or one of my friends. What would I say to my mom, or how would I treat my aunt or uncle? I also try this approach when caring for others’ family members.

My philosophy included holistic healing in any environment that will promote the best health outcome for the patient. I found an article that talked about this. The article spoke on holistic care, the patient’s various needs, and how an in-depth understanding can improve a patient’s overall outcome. It also stated that addressing a person’s general emotional state and physical, spiritual, and social needs can help restore a patient while assisting them to deal with their illness better (Jasemi, 2017).

I agree with the above wholeheartedly! You can care for a person by looking at what they need overall. We tend to focus too much on what we want for them versus what they may need to help them feel whole. As a future nurse practitioner, I would like to focus on the patient and what it may take to feel like an individual again, not just a patient with an illness. I would like, within reason, to provide something other than medications and focus on treatment plans to reduce further risks. I want to focus on how the patient may have gotten to that point in their disease process and how we can change the trajectory, whether focusing on a person’s mental well-being or the lack of resources, education, and understanding.

To do the above, I need to continue to focus on what it takes to become an ANP and what all the APRN entails. According to the APRN consensus model, I need to continue to build on my knowledge base as a professional, continue working on my assessment skills, find the diagnoses, and then focus on both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions (AACN, 2008).

Middle Range Theory of Nursing

What is the definition of a middle-range theory of nursing? According to the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee Research Library, a middle-range nursing theory can be defined as a framework of a more specific or concrete theory that tends to be less abstract than a grand theory would be. A middle-range theory can explain, describe, or even share a prediction of an event or situation tested or tried in a clinical practice setting (UWM, 2014).

The middle-range theory that I found similar to my APN philosophy was The Theory of Comfort by Dr. Katharine Kolcaba. Dr. Kolcaba is a retired associate professor who taught at the University of Akron. She founded and coordinated a parish nurse program in an underserved inner-city neighborhood. Dr. Kolcaba has been working with a Ph.D.-prepared pediatric nurse practitioner, Dr. April Bice-Braswell, to promote this Comfort Theory.

The Conceptual Framework for Katharine’s Comfort Theory includes the healthcare needs of the patient and their family, comforting interventions, and intervening variables to make a giant bubble that focuses on the enhanced comfort of the patient. This improved comfort can go back and forth between health-seeking behaviors that tie internal and external behaviors versus peaceful death while instituting institutional integrity, best practices, and best policies. I am including an image to show how her framework is aligned. (fig 1., Kolcaba, 2024)

Fig.1

Her Comfort Theory is like mine in that she focuses on the patient’s well-being. Dr. Kolbaca’s Comfort Theory focuses on the patient and not so much on a patient with a disease process. Her theory comes from an approach to treating the patient’s overall needs by focusing on comfort interventions, including family in the care where needed, and the intervening variables to enhance the patient’s comfort during the healing or dying phase of life. Her Comfort Theory encompasses all four nursing metaparadigms: the nurse, person, health, and environment, in some form throughout her theory.

Summary and Conclusion

As I continue my education and learn new things that align with my philosophy of advanced nursing, I am sure this philosophy will change numerous times. I wish this class would continue through some of my clinical time this summer. Still, even though it doesn’t, I look forward to taking things I learn from those clinical experiences, adding or subtracting from my philosophy, and implementing this into my professional career as an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.

Thank you for your time!

References

Mass Medical Staffing. (2018). How A Personal Philosophy of Nursing Can Help Your Career. Mass Medical Staffing. https://www.masmedicalstaffing.com/2018/03/15/personal-philosophy-of-nursing/

Epstein, R. M., & Street, R. L., Jr (2011). The Values and Value of Patient-Centered Care. Annals of Family Medicine, 9(2), 100–103. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.1239

Jasemi, M., Valizadeh, L., Zamanzadeh, V., & Keogh, B. (2017). A Concept Analysis of Holistic Care by Hybrid Model. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 23(1), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.197960

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2008). The Essentials of Master’s Education for Advanced Practice Nursing Education. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/MastersEssentials11.pdf

UMW.(2014). Nursing Theory. University of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. https://guides.library.uwm.edu/nursingTheory

Kolcaba, K., Bice-Braswell, A. (2023.). The Middle-Range of Holistic Comfort by Katharine Kolcaba. The Comfort Line. https://www.thecomfortline.com/