Ontological

To develop a personal philosophy of nursing: one must focus on the central concerns of the discipline. This would include, for example, the nature of human beings and the life process. From the perspective of nursing, attempt to answer the following questions which reflect the fundamental elements of nursing and any others you may choose to incorporate: a. What is society – of whom is it composed, and what is the nature of the relationships among its constituents including self in the role of the nurse? Where do you, as a professional nurse, fit into the picture and landscape of community? b. What are your central beliefs about the individual person, and that individual’s potential? The individual’s ability to learn, change, and heal? The family? The community? Your role as a professional nurse in these processes and relationships? c. What constitutes the environment? How do human beings and the environment interact? What contextual importance does it have for the focus of the discipline of nursing. d. What is your view(s) of health? Is it a continuum? A unidirectional phenomenon? A state? A process? Achieved/maintained alone or in unison with others? e. How do illness and wellness relate to health? f. What is the central reason for the existence of nursing and your calling to it?