Nursing Journal Entry Essays

For my seventh clinical shift at the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, my assigned preceptor Filipina Gumangan assigned me three patients on the 4NW unit. The unit where I precept is an intensive care step down unit. Filipina’s objective for giving me three patients this shift was to give me an opportunity to continue exercising my time management skills and to practice my reporting and charting skills, and wound care. This shift I was responsible for many clinical duties corresponding to the care of these patients. My patients this shift were Mr. B, a 72 year-old Vietnam War veteran newly diagnosed with colon cancer, Mr. S, a 65 year-old Vietnam War veteran in the hospital for complicated urinary tract infection, Mr. R, a 90 year-old Korean and Vietnam War veteran. Caring for these patients taught me more about the humanbecoming perspective of nursing and showed me about multidisciplinary coordination with peers, colleagues, and more.

Tell us why you decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, share with us the academic, extracurricular, or research opportunities you would take advantage of as a student. If applicable, provide details of any circumstance that could have had an impact on your academic performance and/or extracurricular involvement.

In October 2005 the Quality and Safety Education for Nursing program was established. This program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. QSEN was developed specifically for future nurses to understand and be aware of key challenges such as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are essential to constantly advance the quality and safety of the way healthcare systems work. The goal for QSEN is to reshape the identity of nursing so it includes the recommendations by the Institute of Medicine so there is a commitment to the quality and safety proficiency (Dycus, 2009).

After graduating Anacortes High school I plan on attending a four year private liberal arts university. I will be pursing a Bachelors of Science in Nursing leading to a career as a Registered Nurse. My main interest is a specialty in pediatrics. Following a month stay at Children's Hospital after enduring emergency surgery and a difficult recovery I decided nursing is what I'm meant to do. The nurses inspired me, and I hope that I can help a family and child in the same way that they helped

The role of a family nurse practitioner is a fundamental portion of the future of healthcare. The role is clearly not as understood by other healthcare professionals as needed which results in the disagreement if the role of a family nurse practitioner is even required for primary care. As people are getting older, the need for medical professionals that can provide patient care to our ever growing population increases. The need for the role of family nurse practitioners will grow too. The role of the family nurse practitioner, the ability of the FNP to be able to transition into their role.

Transitioning from nursing school to working in a hospital setting can be a challenging time for a new graduate. Due to the nursing shortage, new graduate nurses are being hired with little to no experience. This is overwhelming for new nurses, especially when they are not getting adequate support or training from the hospital. The amount of stress, pressure, and lack of training is leading to a high turnover rate for new graduate nurses. With patient acuity on the rise, new graduate nurses that are filling these vacancies in the hospitals, need to be competent nurses to provide proper and safe care to the patients.

Nursing can be a demanding career, but the benefits far much outweigh the challenges. Most importantly, it’s the rewards it offers by allowing an opportunity to make a difference in another person’s life through the provision of care when they need it. Just as Patricia Benner theorized in her book “Novice to Expert,” nursing encompasses both educational knowledge and extensive clinical experience acquired throughout one’s career. This far, I continue to acquire knowledge and clinical knowhow which will promote proper and efficient care to patients. Since I began practicing one year ago in a long-term healthcare facility, I have interacted with patients, families, physicians and other members of the healthcare team to coordinate patient’s care which has enabled me to gain confidence in myself. While I cannot deny that it was difficult to transition from a student to a licensed nurse, I learnt to overcome these challenges and focus on my strengths. Practicing as an LPN has provided a platform to learn and gain experience even though the duties and responsibilities are limited by the scope of practice.

My nurse preceptor today was Patricia. Patricia was an amazing preceptor with an immense amount of knowledge. I enjoyed Patricia’s passion for knowledge. She just finished her DNP. She spoke to me about how she also held two bachelors degrees and a masters in nursing. She was very caring of her patient and showed compassion to not only the patient but the family as well. I don’t think I would have done anything differently because she was a great patient advocate, caring healthcare professional, and great at time management. I was fortunate to have worked with her today in the CICU. We had a 1:1 assignment, a 67 year old male who had a STEMI. Ultimately, he ended up needing an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) to assist his heart. This was placed 8/31.

I arrived at clinical 0630 and picked up patient information the morning of. I reviewed all assigned diagnoses, medications, labs, and orders with my assigned students, and we discussed our plan for the day. We both took report from the patient's nurse and then Elizabeth presented at preconference. Kala shadowed the Nurse Lead and I helped Elizabeth with brief changes, pericare, and vital signs. I continued to check on both Elizabeth and Kala throughout the day. Last, lunch and then post-conferance.

The purpose of this journal is to reflect on my experience and skills gained during my clinical placement at Ben Taub Hospital. On my first clinical day, I was excited and nervous at the same time. My first placement was in the PREOP/PACU area. I was assigned to help a patient who had been in the PACU area going on 2 days. Normally, once the patient comes from surgery they are only in the PACU area for a short period of time before they are discharged home or given a bed in another area of the hospital. This particular patient still had not received an assignment for a bed. The physicians would make their rounds to come check on him daily. The patient was a 28-year-old Hispanic male, non-English speaking, he had a hemicolectomy. He had a NG tube, urinary Foley catheter, and a wound vac. My preceptor had just clocked in and she needed to check on the patient’s vitals and notes from the previous nurse. Once she introduced me to the patient and explained while I was there, she then asked me to check his vitals. (Vital signs indicate the body’s ability to regulate body temperature, maintain blood flow, and oxygenate body tissues. Vital signs are important indicators of a client’s overall health status (Hogan, 2014). I froze for a quick second. I have practiced taking vitals numerous of times and I knew I could do it correctly. I started with the temperature first, when I was quickly corrected on a major mistake I had made by my preceptor. I HAD FORGOT TO WASH MY HANDS and PUT

Throughout the second half of the semester, I have not made any significant changes to my pre-clinical routine. I still prepare and gather my supplies the evening beforehand, and I try to avoid during schoolwork in order to facilitate restful sleep. However, upon arriving to the unit, I have developed a familiarity with the staff and environment that has reduced my stress and anxiety levels, allowing me to focus more attention on my patient assignment for the day. Although we do not have assigned preceptors, I have developed a mentoring relationship with two of the nurses on the unit and will work with those staff members if available. As we have gotten to know and trust one another, we do not have to spend the first part of our shift familiarizing ourselves,

Starting the Registered Nurse (RN) to Bachelorette of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at Jacksonville University in June 2015 was a simple transition for me. I had graduated an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) program in December 2014 and became a licensed RN in January 2015. I had just gotten hired for my first nursing position the month prior to the start of class and had not yet started working. I was very much still in student mode. While this makes it a bit easier to learn and process information in a classroom setting, I had no real world experience to help guide me. Through the knowledge I have gained as a student at Jacksonville University I have become a competent and well-rounded nurse. I am able to quickly problem solve and utilize critical thinking to identify and rectify issues. I have even put together, and will be presenting, and presentation about nursing practice for staff members at the facility where I work.

“Advanced nursing practice is the deliberative diagnosis and treatment of a full range of human responses to actual or potential health problems.” (Calkin, 1984). Advanced nurse practitioners attempt to maximize the use of knowledge and skills and improve the delivery of nursing and health care services. The field of advanced nursing practice differs from basic practice as the former requires clinical specialization at the master’s level. At this level, nurses become expert practitioners whose work includes direct and indirect patient care. Direct patient care involves caring for patients and their families; this is the focus of my section on nurse clinicians. Indirect patient care includes work as an educator, researcher, and a

The standards of practice describe a competent level of nursing care as exhibited by the critical thinking model known as the nursing process. This practice includes the areas of assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The nursing process includes significant actions taken by registered nurses (RN) and forms the foundation of the nurse’s decision-making (“American Nurses Association,” 2010).

This assignment will present a nursing care study of a patient on a cardiac ward. The patient will be referred to as Ann to maintain confidentiality (NMC, 2008). Ann’s consent was gained prior to starting this care study. The care study will be developed using the Nursing process and the Roper, Logan and Tierney model. These will both be outlined. The assignment will focus on the assessment process and one problem identified during the assessment and the nursing care which followed this.