My Philosophy

Assumption–1: Individuals suffer across the whole of life; physically, socially, mentally, and spiritually.

Philosophical School of Thought: Humanism (Watson, 2008) & Phenomenology (Parse, 1998)

My clinical practice taught me that a patient does not come only with symptoms. They bring their fears, histories, faith, losses, hopes, communities and identities. This aligns with Humanism, which sees people as whole beings (Watson, 2008), and with Phenomenology, which views illness as a lived experience (Parse, 1998). 

My takeaway: Suffering is physical, emotional, social, and spiritual. 

ALL AT ONCE!

Assumption–2: Caring requires both compassion and disciplined knowledge.

Philosophical School of Thought: Pragmatism (Dewey, 1938) & Skill Acquisition Theory (Benner, 1984)

I believe that compassion alone is not enough. Nursing requires judgment, reasoning, and evidence. Pragmatism emphasizes that knowledge must guide effective action (Dewey, 1938), and scholars like Patricia Benner emphasize that skilled caring requires clinical reasoning developed through experience, reflection, and situational understanding (Benner, 1984). 

My takeaway: Science makes nursing care artistic!

Assumption–3: People live within systems that shape their health and dignity.

Philosophical School of Thought: Critical Social Theory (Freire, 1970) & Genealogical Philosophy (Foucault, 1977)

Working within under-resourced and stagnated systems, I believe suffering is shaped by more than biology. Critical Theory reveals how social and political structures affect wellbeing (Freire, 1970), while Foucault’s genealogy explains how institutional power shapes what counts as “normal” or “professional” (Foucault, 1977).

My takeaway: Individual's dignity is tied to the systems around them.

Assumption–4: Nurses understand people through relationships, presence, and connection.

Philosophical School of Thought: Relational Ethics (Bergum & Dossetor, 2005) & Phenomenology (Parse, 1998)

I believe that care is fundamentally relational. Relational Ethics teaches that moral understanding arises through presence and connection (Bergum & Dossetor, 2005). Phenomenology supports this, emphasizing that truth is revealed through lived, shared experience (Parse, 1998). 

My takeaway: Relationships make care meaningful and sustainable.

Assumption–5: Nursing science must continuously evolve to imagine more just, humane, and culturally grounded futures for care.

Philosophical School of Thought: Black Feminist Thought (Collins, P. H. 1990), Radical Imagination (Dillard-Wright, 2023) & Critical Social Theory (Freire, 1970)

From structural limitations in Bangladesh to rethinking nursing in the Global North, I learned that current basis is not enough. Nursing must imagine new moral horizons that honor dignity, cultural diversity, and justice. 

Black Feminist Thought because helps us show how marginalized standpoints expose the limits of dominant moral frameworks in nursing and make visible what those frameworks routinely overlook. Radical imagination encourages nursing to envision possibilities beyond inherited limits (Dillard-Wright, 2023), while critical theory reminds us that more equitable futures must be intentionally created, not passively expected (Freire, 1970).

My takeaway: Nursing should challenge the world we have to build the world we need!

@slam | a SLAM for a parallel world!