Evidence Based Nursing Essay

The following essay is a reflective account on an event that I, a student nurse encountered whilst on my first clinical placement in my first year of study. The event took place in a nursing home. All names have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the patient (NMC, 2008).

In the late 1980’s a study was performed by Lois Haggerty. Haggerty is a masters prepared nurse who wanted to study the differences of response to patient situations in different types of nursing education programs. Her study prompted a push for more research on this issue and for the increase in baccalaureate prepared nurses. The study began with 44 ADN and 31 BSN students preparing to graduate. They were presented with four case studies. They watched two videos of patients expressing somatic distress and two videos of patients expressing non-somatic distress. They were prompted to fill out a questionnaire for each scenario stating what they would say first to each patient. Haggerty discovered that both the ADN

The new graduate nurses (NGN) are faced with various issues and challenges especially in their first year of nursing practice. The period of transition from a student to a graduate nurse is a demanding period that is filled with new experiences and there are several concerns and factors that can affect the transition process. The research into the issues has recommended some strategies that can be utilised to ease the transition process from being a student to a professional practicing nurse. Exhaustion, reality shock and time management are some of the factors and issues that the new graduate might encounter during their first year in their career.

This essay will discuss a clinical skill in which I have become competent in practicing as a student nurse.

There are many demanding professional adjustments when transitioning from student nurse to graduate nurse and the use of refection during this time is said to be a very important tool in guiding the learning process. It is common in the field of nursing to utilise reflection to critically analyse certain experiences and reflect on how they made them feel and react. This involves looking deeper into a particular experience and deciding what was good, what was bad and what would be a better course of action if they were to re encounter it in the future. However there may be potential barriers when trying to make judgements about a students inner most thoughts and personal experiences. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the concept of reflection and to find out if it is an essential component to nursing practise in the transition from student nurse to graduate registered nurse.

My practice in nursing has been influenced by various elements within my career. I have come to embrace that nursing is a learning process and one should expect constructive criticism. When I began as a “novice,” I found myself nervous in some clinical situations but I managed to remain focused on

Issues such as staff shortage, increased workload, staff feeling threatened by the student nurses, and poor teaching skills can contribute to students not feeling supported (Burns and Paterson, 2005). Nursing students had identified that anxiety as their main concern in the research done by Masoumi and Sharif (2005). The unfamiliarity of tending for patients and worrying of making mistakes during the clinical attachment are the factors that students feel anxious. Mentor can diminish anxiety by utilizing simulation, where genuine case studies and scenarios are being simulated and roles and responsibilities of student nurse are being discussed (Burns and Paterson, 2005).Gradual encouragement in helping student nurse to gain control over their own learning may aid to construct their confidence which will reduce their

The beginning of a new graduate nurses career rarely begins easily, there seems to be a distinct disconnect between the fantasy of what it means to be a nurse and the reality of bedside nursing. Nursing school seems to feed into this disconnection, in that it does not prepare the new graduate registered nurse (NGRN) for their professional practice. What nursing school does is give the NGRN the basics, a peak into what is to come. The NGRN has to find out for themselves what the true meaning of being a nurse is and if it fits their preconceived ideas.

The expectations for any nursing student, dedicated and compassionate, is not easily found. A hard worker is made through the experience of rigorous academic courses, balanced with character building

Throughout the first year Foundations of Professional Nursing course, I have gained a better understand of nursing and thus my perspective on nursing has developed a lot. After learning about the different concepts and theories in nursing, I feel I understand the role of nurses better and it makes me proud to have chosen this profession. I have also realized how much the concepts I have learned this year have affected my perspective on nursing and have helped shape me into becoming a nurse. In addition, I have been able to develop a personal philosophy of nursing. This paper will examine the importance of a sub- concept to nursing, reflect on my personal journey of development as a nurse and discuss my personal philosophy of nursing.

There is a great deal of research focused on student anxiety in clinical settings. Some of the key stressors for students include fear of causing harm to a patient, feeling like an outsider, reality shock and a lack of socialization into the healthcare organization (Houghton, Casey, Shaw, & Murphy, 2012). Other sources indicate that the feeling of lack of preparedness comes from “the ‘gap’ between educational institutions and the practice setting, the quality of undergraduate clinical placements, the need for students to feel a sense of belonging within the clinical environment, and the lack of

Teaching and learning in the clinical setting is not a new concept and the teaching of clinical skill to nursing student ranks high on the current agenda of nurse education (Pfeil, 2003). Therefore, has be the duty of teachers to continue to provide ongoing guidance during teaching and learning taking place. According to While (2004), the mentor is required to feel personally and professionally confident when assessing the student’s performance. This allows the development of the students will become better and more effective.

The purpose of this essay is to reflect on a challenging situation I experienced during clinical practice as a student nurse. The essay will discuss my thoughts and feelings surrounding the situation and analyse the coping strategies I used in managing the situation, linking to relevant theory throughout in order to provide evidence for practice. The essay will also consider person-centred care and whether this was delivered to the patient. To conclude, the essay will discuss what I have learnt from the experience and how this experience will improve my future

As a second year nursing student I felt mixed emotions of excitement and anxiety when I was thinking about my upcoming clinical placement because even though I have been working as a patient care assistant at Royal Darwin Hospital for a year and had already undergone clinical teaching block for one week . The responsibility of being a nurse is big and much complex than my current job [1.2 Fulfils the duty of care] especially when handling assigned patients. Thus, need to have a good supervision from my clinical preceptor to meet the best possible nursing care to my patient with in my scope of practice [2.5 Understands and practices within own scope of practice]. My four weeks of clinical placement was taken place in

The main responsibility of a nurse is to offer a various range of health care services which includes provision of health education, prevention against disease, promotion of health condition and treatment of acute illness. (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) They are expected to perform a wide range of clinical skills for saving patients’ lives and this requires student nurses to have solid foundation in their learnings. The problem-based learning is defined as the learning that develops from the process of working towards the solution of a given problem (as cited in Ling, Bo, Ying, Shao & Hui, 2014) and its learning approach has been the focus in the nursing education for student nurses’ academic curriculum. This essay argues that problem-based learning and self-directed learning help student nurses to develop critical thinking skills and problem solving competency. The essay also explains that both learning approaches develop student nurses to become effective team collaborators with good communication skills, which will make them grown and achieve higher in professional nursing career. Moreover, it describes how problem-based learning aids student nurses to develop their self-directed learning skills and empowers them to adopt to changes in the workplace and health care practices.