GEORGIA BAPTIST COLLEGE OF NURSING OF
MERCER UNIVERSITY
Philosophy of Nursing Paper Guidelines
The purpose of the philosophy of nursing paper is to provide an
opportunity for the student to explore, clarify and explain a personal belief system
as it relates to the practice of professional nursing. In order to provide adequate
background as foundation for the personal philosophy of nursing, the student
should utilize scholarly resources from nursing, psychology, philosophy and/or
theology. Utilizing these resources, the student must include the following in the
paper:
1.
2.
3.
4.
A statement regarding health and healthcare delivery
A discussion of personal philosophy of nursing
A clear explanation of personal thoughts on caring for others
A synthesis of thoughts on health, healthcare, nursing and caring.
In addition to the above, the paper should explore the ideas of Milton
Mayeroff in his classic book, On caring (1971). In his introduction to the book,
Mayeroff states that "Caring is the antitheses of simply using the other person to
satisfy one's own needs" (p.1). He goes on in the book to discuss his idea that it
is possible to care too much for another. In the personal philosophy paper, the
student should discuss Mayeroff’s ideas, develop and support a position of
agreement or disagreement with Mayeroff’s ideas, and explain logically reasons
for taking this position.
In formulation a personal philosophy of nursing, the student should
consider the following components:
I.
II.
Ill.
Health and Healthcare
A.
What is my philosophy of life?
B.
How does this philosophy of life affect my attitudes toward
health, healthcare, life and death, and my responsibility to
others?
Nursing
A.
What ethical values do I believe are basic to nursing?
B.
How do I define nursing in terms of responsibility?
C.
What do I believe are the major concepts basic to good
nursing care?
D.
How do I expect society to benefit by my nursing career?
Caring
A.
What do I view as the essential components of caring?
B.
Is it possible to care too much'?
C.
In caring for someone else, how should one share the other
person's responsibilities?
Instructions for writing the paper:
1.
The text of the paper should be between 3-5 typed pages in length.
2.
A minimum of three professional references (in addition to Mayeroff's
book) should be utilized. Note: Webster's dictionary is NOT considered
an appropriate resource for a college-level paper.
3.
The paper MUST adhere to proper formatting according to the guidelines
published by the American Psychological Association (APA Style, 5th
edition). Any paper not adhering to APA style will be returned to the
writer for proper formatting.
4.
The paper may be written in either first person (i.e.: I believe, my
philosophy) or the third person (i.e.: the student believes, the authors
philosophy). Whichever is chosen should be utilized consistently
throughout the paper.
5.
No more than three direct quotations should be used in the paper.
6.
The paper will be graded by the clinical instructor. Feel free to utilize this
instructor for assistance and clarification as the paper is planned and
written.
7.
Turn in 2 copies of the paper with the grading sheet included (see next
page).
8.
The paper is due BEFORE CLASS TIME on the date noted on the course
calendar.
Rev.: SNS
Evaluation Tool
Personal Philosophy of Nursing Paper
Criteria
Introduction
Purpose, introduce main
objectives of paper.
Personal Philosophy of Nursing
Statement concerning health &
healthcare
Statement concerning caring
Statement concerning nursing
Integration of health, caring, & nursing
statements
Possible
Points
10
Assigned Points
Comments
10
10
10
5
Mayeroff’s statement: agreement or
disagreement
Logical thinking in student’s position
Support for position
Coherence with student’s philosophy of
nursing
Use of references
Minimum of three besides Mayeroff
Sentence unity and coherence; grammar,
style
Conclusion
Review points covered
APA style
0-2 errors = 0 points deducted
3-4 errors = 1 point deducted
5-6 errors = 2 points deducted
7-8 errors = 3 points deducted
9-10 errors = 4 points deducted
> 10 errors = 5 points deducted
Final Score
20
5
15
10
5
100
Note:
Five points/day will be deducted for papers turned in after 1:00 pm on the due
date.
Failure to adhere to page limit may result in a 5 point deduction.
Any paper receiving a grade of less than 75, will be read and scored by a second
faculty member. Students will receive the higher of the two grades.
“Philosop”
Revised 3/97 JR, 12/00 GM