Nursing for Nancy

Your  preferred lens is:

Reputation Lens

You listen to your intuition (sensibility) to determine what character traits and virtues will best serve the community (equality).

Your Core Values: Equality and sensibility

You prioritize the value of equality over autonomy. Your primary concern is the well-being of the whole community and you believe that assuring the community’s well-being is the best way to assure that individuals are treated fairly.

You prioritize the value of sensibility over rationality. You believe the best results are achieved by examining each situation in its own context rather than applying one-size-fits-all solutions.

Your Classical Values: Fortitude

You demonstrate courage and steadiness in the face of obstacles. You tend to avoid rash actions while at the same time charting an untested course. You value connections and friendship, appreciating those who work with you as you. 

Your Key Phrase: “I make virtuous choices.”

Because you value equality and sensibility, you tend to assume that everyone lives out the positive character traits required by their role.

Your Definition of ethical behavior: Living out Role Responsibilities

You define an ethical person as one with sound character traits and habits of thoughtful reflection. For you, those who demonstrate strong leadership in their roles and who encourage others to do the same exemplify ethical behavior.

Your Tools for analyzing problems: Tradition

You like to gather information about what others in your role or a similar situation have done, as you carefully assess a problem. Even as you consider what others you respect have done in similar situations, you will remain attentive to the unique needs of the community in this case.

Your Gift: Compassion

Because you value equality, when you are at your best, you demonstrate compassion for others. You care about the community as a whole and about its individual members. While living into the requirements of the role you have assumed, you are able to “tell the story” of each member of your community.

Your Blind spot: Unrealistic Role Expectations

Because you rely so strongly on the virtues associated with various roles, you run the risk of developing unrealistic role expectations. You will tend to rely too much on the virtues associated with a particular role, forgetting that individuals are fallible regardless of their role. Even those who live fully into the virtues required in their role may not be able to resolve all problems.

Your Risk: Self-Righteousness

When you lack compassion for others, you run the risk of believing that the perks and privileges of your role belong to you because you are better than others. This can make you susceptible to insincere flattery and immune to constructive critiques preventing you from doing your job effectively. 

Your Temptation: Entitlement

If you are not paying attention, your temptation will be to believe that you are entitled to special privileges, because you have not accurately assessed yourself or the situation. You will forget that you are not the same as your role and will persuade yourself that your role gives you rights inconsistent with good character.

Your Vice: Hardness of Heart

Without compassion, you tend toward hard-heartedness, unwilling to consider the needs of individuals. Clergy, judges, elected officials – and others with responsibility to the whole community – are particularly prone to thinking they know what the problem is without listening to the individual case and to applying capricious and inappropriate solutions.

Your Crisis: Confusion

Unless you develop the practice of mindfulness and reflection, at some point you will confront the loss of your center, especially if you lose the role with which you have become identified. You run the risk of being misunderstood and losing your personal authenticity unless you remember that you are not your role. 

Your Seeing Clearly: Use your head

To see more clearly, check to see whether your gut and your head agree. To find balance, explore the gifts of the other lenses – consistency and concern for the individual. As you consider the character traits necessary for a healthy community, remember to temper your actions with concern for individuals. Look for ways to balance the rights of individuals with the well-being of the community and remember that consistency is not the same as uniformity. As you learn to consider other perspectives in your decision making process, you will live out the best of your ideals with compassion and care for others.