THE CONCEPT OF NURSING IN THE PHILIPPINES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NURSES IN REGION I

Abstract

This research endeavored to describe the concept of nursing in the Philippines from the perspective of Ilocano nurses for the purpose of developing a nursing description which is based on the Filipino nurses’ perception on their nursing practice that will contribute to the richness of the concept of nursing in the Philippines. The descriptive phenomenology of qualitative research was employed. The participants of the study were the 16 practicing nurses in Region I (Ilocos Region) who were identified through purposive sampling based on the set inclusion criteria. The researcher utilized the in- depth semi-structured individual interview to gather the data and used the Collaizi’s method in data analysis. The findings of the study revealed four (4) major themes: 1) Mangtaraken or Caring, 2) Mangpasantak or Nurturing, 3) Mangipateg or Valuing, and 4) Mangsalimetmet or Preserving. Nurses in the Ilocos Region describe the concept of nursing in the Philippines as mangtaraken which described as the art, science and discipline of caring, mangpasantak which aims to nurture an individual, mangipateg which pertains to valuing the individual, family and community and mangsalimetmet which refers to the preservation of the profession, culture and knowledge generation. The findings revealed that the description of nursing is culture-based that is deeply rooted to their traits as Ilocanos.