Belief Statement
I believe that trusting therapeutic relationships between healthcare providers and clients are at the center of healthcare and greatly influence patient care, satisfaction and most importantly, health outcomes. By anchoring my practice as a nursing student in my values of empathy, open-mindedness, compassion and dependability, I can foster meaningful therapeutic relationships with patients to promote all domains of patient wellbeing. I believe that when patients enter a healthcare setting to address a health issue, they are looking both for support for their health complaint as well as emotional support. Providing emotional support promotes all domains of health (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) and as such promotes better patient outcomes. My values will allow me to build trusting relationships with patients and help me prioritize a holistic patient-centred approach in my practice and I believe this will help me continuously improve the quality of care I can provide.
Values
Empathy:
Empathy is, according to the CNO (2006), “The expression of understanding, validating and resonating with the meaning that the health care experience holds for the client” (pp. 3-4). To empathize with someone is to show them that you understand what they are going through and how it is affecting them emotionally. It involves putting oneself in the shoes of another to understand a situation from their perspective, and validate that their experience and emotions. Empathy has always been important to me as it is a critical component of providing emotional support to others in personal relationships, as well as in professional relationships in the healthcare setting. Listening to someone and providing reassurance, validation and understanding of their perception of a situation helps provide comfort, support and can help them process how they are feeling. The CNO (2006) has identified empathy as one of five elements of a nurse-client relationship. Empathy in a care setting can help build trust between the nurse and the client. Fostering a therapeutic environment helps the client feel safe and comfortable sharing relevant health information, which allows the healthcare team to create the best possible care and treatment plan for that particular patient. As a result, empathy in nursing will improve patient health outcomes, as well as promote client emotional and mental wellbeing by providing support within professional boundaries.
Open-Mindedness:
To me, open-mindedness goes hand-in-hand with acceptance. To be open-minded is to allow yourself to consider the opinions and ideas of others that may differ from yours before passing judgement. I think it is important to try and understand why someone may think what they think, or why someone may feel the way they feel. Of course, people will most often not see eye-to-eye on everything, but I think it is important to consider the ideas of others to promote self-reflection and personal growth. Considerin