3-5 page. excluding the title page and reference page, reflecting on your personal values. Identify the values shaped by your personal characteristics, faith beliefs, cultural values, and individual experiences, as well as the professional values you have had or would like to hold. Include each of these influencing factors as subheadings. Limit the use of personal pronouns as you express your values. Include at least 1 scholarly citation. See the Grading Rubric and sample attached
APA format
Personal Values Rubric
Personal Values: What are the characteristics that I was taught as a child that are important to me? What are some of the characteristics of my personality that inform the way I look at things? Examples: hard-working, resourceful, timeliness, goal oriented, relational, physical, reflective, role in family, etc.
Religious Beliefs: What is my faith and how has that informed my values? (Christian) Do I accept everything that my faith tradition says or do I differ on some subjects? Why? If I am not a part of a formal faith tradition, what are my beliefs about what human beings are ment to do and be in life? What gives me direction in life? How do I understand how I relate to others, the earth, and nature?
Cultural Values: How has my unique culture affected the things I value or don't value? How does my culture look at the roles of family members in decision-making, authority, who gets information, what does the quality of life mean? What are some of the values held tightly and taught in my culture? Example: Independence, dependence, communication, male/female roles, etc.
Individual Experiences: What outside of environmental experiences have you had that have contributed to your values? Consider past teacher, pastors, friends, living environments, specific events in your life, etc.
Professional Values: What nursing values do you already highly value? Which are less desirable? How do you see your values applying to your nursing roles? How do you understand your ethical responsibility as a professional nurse?
Running head: MY PERSONAL VALUES 1
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
MY PERSONAL VALUES 3
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 English Standard Version) and prohibits the spilling of seed (Gen. 38:8-10 English Standard
Version). 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
MY PERSONAL VALUES 4
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 in order 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 in order 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.
MY PERSONAL VALUES 6
References
