Discussion: Analysis And Personal Inventory
Discussion: Analysis And Personal Inventory
Based on the required topic study materials, write a reflection about worldview and respond to following:
Worldviews have a significant influence on the practice of nursing. It influences the decisions that nurses make when providing care to those in need. Often, factors such as environmental exposures and religion shape our worldviews. It also influences the manner in which we respond to situations in our environments. Therefore, this essay examines various aspects of worldview that informs my practice.
of the Nature of Spirituality and Ethics in Contrast to the Perspective of Postmodern Relativism within Health Care
Christianity entails the belief in the existence of God. According to Christians, God is considered the father of all, the son, as well as the Holy Spirit. God is also a supernatural being that has control over all the things that happen on earth. They also believe that God exists in different forms. He is described using terms such as being omnipresent, omnipotent, and transcendent. These descriptions imply that the existence of God is beyond the understanding of the human beings. Christians also believe that God created human beings. Despite this belief, Christians also hold to the fact that science is important for the health and wellbeing of human beings (Choi, 2016). They consider science to be important in assisting people understand reality. They also consider it a source of knowledge that can be used to understand better the creations of God. In relation to health, Christians believe that God heals people from their . However, this is made possible with the use of faith as well as science (Kyle, 2015). Therefore, health and religion are inseparable.
Post-modern relativism questions the existence of reality. According to it, human beings exist in environments where there is no certainty. In this respect, everything that happens in the universe is in a continuous state of flux. Therefore, the values, beliefs, practices, and traditions that human beings hold to be determinants of their wellbeing change over time. The assumptions guiding post-modern relatives imply that the truth in something lies on one’s subjective or objective assessment of the circumstances surrounding it. As a result, something that appears to be morally and ethically right for one person might not be the same for the other (Kyle, 2015). Consequently, the practice of nursing should focus on ensuring that individual’s or patient’s worldview is incorporated into the plan of care.
Scientism and Arguments against it
Scientism entails a belief or philosophical holding that everything that occurs in nature can be explained by science. According to people holding this belief, the occurrence of events is not due to chance but rationale. Often, things happen due to exposure to circumstances that change the manner in which events traditionally occur. Scientism also holds that science is the only source of knowledge. In this case, knowledge is developed through observable events that are influenced by specific or generalized variables (Clarke, 2016). Therefore, rather than relying on assumptions and beliefs, scientism advocates the utilization of knowledge in science through experimentation. Further, scientism asserts that human beings can only be understood through observing their beliefs and behavior. An example of scientism belief is the lack of life after death. According to it, death is an occurrence due to loss of physiological functioning. Since the focus is on observable things and variables, there is no afterlife following death. Consequently, the focus of scientism on facts often contradicts those held by religions such as Christianity.
One of the arguments against scientism is that there is life after death. According to Christianity, a supernatural being will resurrect people from death. This belief has been transferred over generations through the biblical teachings. As a result, science should try to incorporate the religious underpinnings into their worldview to understand human existence in the universe. The other argument against science is that it is emotive rather than being conceptual (Puca, 2018). In this case, science holds factual knowledge to be absolute truth in our lives. By doing this, it underscores the role of philosophy, religion, and or literature in shaping our understanding and experiences. Therefore, scientism in itself does not account for the influences of these aspects on human behaviors in their environments.
Ultimate Reality
According to my understanding, ultimate reality is something that is final, supreme and powerful in determining our reality. My ultimate reality is that God has control over the things that happen in our lives. I believe that while science is important, God is supreme since he guides the scientists in their innovations. I believe that God is the creator as well as the determinant of when our lives end. Therefore, we should always strive towards ensuring that we live in ways that align with his teachings in the Holy Bible (Wildman, 2017). I also believe that the provision of nursing care should take into consideration the different philosophical beliefs of the patients. Consequently, holism in care is only achieved when care that addresses the spiritual, physical, and psychological needs of the patients is provided.
Nature of the Universe
I believe that God determines the things that happen in the universe. According to God’s teaching, human beings should protect their universe. The relationship between human beings and their universe is symbiotic in nature. Human beings should also utilize the resources in their environments to promote social good. I also believe that God has control over the contents of the universe. This includes control over the things that happen in the day and night. According to my philosophical view, God made most of the resources scarce for human beings (Johnson, 2018). Therefore, they should strive towards ensuring that they are protected to meet the needs of the future generations. This implies that while the universe provides resources, human beings must strive towards protecting them, hence, the symbiotic relationship between them.
What is a Human Being?
According to my perspective, human being is a creature that God created. Human beings are unique beings that have the abilities to make decisions and act in a manner that is beyond other God’s creations. I also perceive human beings to be independent in their actions. They have the ability to determine their situations and explore methods in which their needs can be met (Pierre, 2016). A human being is also a creature sent by God to the earth. According to biblical teachings, God sent human beings to the earth to protect it and fill it. Therefore, they are expected to utilize their imagination to come up with ways in which the purpose of God can be promoted further on earth.
What is Knowledge?
According to my perspective, knowledge is something we learn from being exposed to some experiences. The experiences can be learning or interaction with others in the environment. I believe that the obtained knowledge is important in addressing issues facing us in our daily lives. In my view, our experiences challenge use to make use of our knowledge. We utilize it to determine the most effective and efficient ways in which we can tackle issues facing us (Zagzebski, 2017). Knowledge should be used in a meaningful way. For example, nurse should use their knowledge to find out the ways in which the needs of the patients can be met using the available limited resources. Through this, people should use their knowledge to transform their environments in a positive way.
My Basis of Ethics
According to my perspective, ethics entails doing what is considered morally right. The basis of my ethics is my religious teachings. According to my religion, we should always strive to ensure that we do good to others in our societies. We should strive to promote the creation of an environment where the rights and needs of others are protected. Besides religion, I believe that our environment plays a critical role in the development of our ethics. For instance, parents play an important role in instilling the right ethics and values to their children. These ethics become evident as the child grows and interact with their environment. Therefore, religion and environmental influences are important in the development of ethics.
Purpose of My Existence
The purpose of my existence is to assist others to overcome their challenges in life. I believe that I develop personally and professionally when I assist others in addressing their needs. I also consider my purpose in life to be to achieve my full potential both personally and professionally. I believe that I am responsible for my happiness. I am responsible for setting personal goals and developing strategies to achieve them. I believe that the things that I experience are attributed to the decisions that I make on a daily basis. Therefore, I should strive towards ensuring that I engage in activities that contribute to my optimum health and wellbeing. I should also seek support from people who have the potential to assist me in achieving my potentials.
Conclusion
Worldview is an important aspect that shapes our experiences. They enable us to understand the ways in which optimum health and wellbeing of others can be promoted in our practice. They also enable us to promote holism in the provision of nursing care to those in need. Therefore, nurses should understand their worldview and the ways in which it influences the care they give to their patients.
References
Choi, J. (2016). Pluralism, relativism, and postmodernism in the healthcare chaplaincy and the evangelical chaplain (Doctoral dissertation, Biola University).
Clarke, B. (2016). Suffragism, Imagism, and the “Cosmic Poet”: Scientism and Spirituality in The Freewoman and The Egoist. In Little Magazines & Modernism (pp. 137-150). Routledge.
Gilbert, R. B. (2019). Health care & spirituality: Listening, assessing, caring. Routledge.
Johnson, C. V. (2017). The dialogues: conversations about the nature of the Universe. The MIT Press.
Kyle, E. J. (2015). Spiritual Being & Becoming: Western Christian and Modern Scientific Views of Human Nature for Spiritual Formation. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Pierre, E. A. S. (2016). Refusing human being in humanist qualitative inquiry. In Qualitative Inquiry—Past, Present, and Future (pp. 103-118). Routledge.
Puca, A. (2018). Scientism and Post-Truth. Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religion (JBASR), 20, 83-99.
Wildman, W. J. (2017). Really Ultimate Reality. Theology and Science, 15(3), 260-265.
Zagzebski, L. (2017). What is knowledge?. The Blackwell guide to epistemology, 92-116.