Running Head: My Personal Values

Running Head My Personal Values

My Personal Values Name Azusa Pacific University Instructor name here January 1, 2018 MY PERSONAL VALUES 2 Personal Values Many of the values taught to me by my religion and by my family guide my life on a daily basis and also help me set goals that I strive to achieve. These values include education, the importance of relationships with friends and family, establishing a Jewish life, and helping others. I believe my parents set me up to live a life based on strong morals and values by instilling such principles into me at an early age. Personal Values Education is a significant driving force in my life. Continuing my growth through learning goes hand-in-hand in developing many characteristics I possess, as I am goal oriented and I strive to foster my own personal improvement.

My family sculpted my belief in this virtue by placing utmost importance on school and learning throughout my life. The importance of education also relates back to my religion, because in the Jewish religion we are encouraged to always be curious, learning, and asking questions, and that every person has an obligation to learn. All of my immediate family members hold college and graduate degrees and thus became role models for me. Education provides boundless opportunities and has expanded my worldview. Friends and family are constants in my life and I value these relationships immensely.

Experiences and life itself are greatly enhanced when shared with loved ones. My family supports my endeavors and helped shape my life and values. I could not have achieved my goals without their support and highly regard my close relationship with them. My friends also provide support to me and I value my bond with them. It is important for me to have a strong support system, and my friends have helped me through various experiences. They also provide great satisfaction and pleasure. Our time spent together is invaluable.

Religious Values Many values that I possess come from my religion. Growing up within the Jewish religion, I value the culture and strive to maintain Jewish values and principles. One of the most important values within the Jewish religion is called “tikkun olam”, or making the world a better place. I continuously attempt to apply this idea in all aspects of my life.

The idea of “tikkun olam” was very important when choosing a career as a nurse since it allows me to contribute something meaningful to society. Based on this principle, I also try to treat others the way I would like to be treated and make a concerted effort to take care of our earth. Jewish culture and religion teaches that human life is sacred. This idea directly correlates to how I live my life. The purpose of my profession is to save human lives or bring great comfort to those who are suffering.

I incorporate characteristics into my work such as empathy, diligence, kindness, and carefulness in order to help me accomplish this purpose. I truly value connecting with other people. In doing so, I pay special attention to each of my patients and their families in order to establish a trusting relationship. While values I learned from Judaism shaped me into the woman I am today, there are some teachings from the religion I do not identify with. Strict interpretations of several Jewish laws do not translate to modern society.

Jewish law commands, “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28), and prohibits the spilling of seed (Gen. 38:8-10). The interpretation of this commandment states families should have as many children as they can or at least one daughter and one son. The prohibition of the spilling of seed restricts the type of birth control that is allowed by Jewish families. I do not value these guidelines and believe each family should choose individually how many children they feel is right for them, and couples should use whichever birth control method they wish. Each child requires special care, attention and financial resources, and I do not wish to see any child robbed of these entitlements if parents do not have the means.

Cultural Values The Jewish religion is very much intertwined with a strong culture. There are many customs that apply to both the many Jewish holidays and daily life. I cherish traditions such as celebrating holidays with big family dinners, observing the Sabbath every weekend by lighting Sabbath candles, and keeping a kosher diet. These traditions help keep the Jewish culture alive and certainly bond Jewish individuals, families and communities.

In the Jewish family structure, marriage is highly valued and a marriage is seen as two halves merging into one being. I am recently married and value the sanctity of my marriage. Both the man and woman in a marriage are valued equally and each person has distinct roles that contribute to the family structure and society. My husband and I value each of our special strengths and use them to complement each other to benefit our family.

Individual Experiences During nursing school, I volunteered in Israel as a first responder in a diverse desert city, Beer Sheva. I treated Jewish, Arab and Bedouin Israelis alike. One instance that had an impact on my life and outlook was tending to a mother who was having a panic attack after hearing news of her son who was in the Israeli army and had died in combat. This experience had a profound impact on my life when I realized the enormity of sacrifice people make to protect their country and its citizens. It deepened my sense of patriotism both towards Israel as my homeland and the United States.

MY PERSONAL VALUES 5 Professional Values As a neonatal intensive care nurse, I realize the fragility of life. Sometimes, a baby is very sick and clearly suffering, but the parents want to apply every life-saving measure to try to save the baby, even painful procedures, when the medical team knows the baby will likely die. It is very difficult to be in this position when all I want to do for my patient is make them comfortable. I am comforted by the idea of an afterlife, and I value that every soul has a meaning and a purpose. While my job can be tremendously stressful and sad, I find importance in the way experiencing life and death issues on a regular basis forces me to think about the meaning of a life.

In caring for these lives, I make sure to display the nursing values of cultural sensitivity, excellence, caring and integrity. Each patient and their family are unique and each value needs to be applied in every situation in order to tailor care for the lives I am in charge of. I take care of many babies whose parents speak poor English. The easiest thing to do would be to gesture and attempt to speak English as much as the parents can understand when updating them about their baby. In order to apply the values of nursing, I use an interpreter so there is no misunderstanding. Diversity is accommodated and excellence applied by doing the job in the best way I can. I am caring for the family as a whole and I have integrity that I honestly did the job well. In assessment of my personal values and goals, I have noticed that many of them stem from my religious and cultural beliefs. The importance of education and helping others guided me to this point in my life as a Masters of Nursing student and I look forward to continuing to apply these values to my profession as a nurse and in my relationships.

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