Nursing Reflection

Communication is usually taken for granted in our every day to day living as we use it without thought. Good communication skills are needed in the workplace and especially with nursing staff to and from patients when giving first hand care. Good or bad communication can make there experience within the health care setting a positive or negative one and can leave a lasting impression. A good health care provider can use there communication skills to put a patient at ease with a few comforting words or gestures, a lack of positive communication in the health care setting could leave the patient feeling neglected, ignored and not valued as a patient.

Communication involves information being sent, received and decoded between two or more people (Balzer-Riley 2008) and involves the use of a number of communication skills; which in a nursing context generally focuses on listening and giving information to patients (Weller 2002). This process of sending and receiving messages has been described as both simple and complex (Rosengren 2000 in McCabe 2006, p.4). It is a process which is continually utilised by nurses to convey and receive information from the patient, co-workers, others they come into contact with and the patient’s family.

Skin integrity is an important concept that’s nurses assess on their patients. A key skill in nursing practice is to frequently assess the skin for possible breakdown or decreased skin integrity. Skin assessments should be conducted thoroughly once a shift and frequently reassessed for any signs of change. Skin discrepancies may be the first sign of an underlying issue. Early detection of any breakdown can help to implement interventions sooner. Unfortunately, unless there is a major skin discrepancy, skin issues can easily get overlooked, specifically in documentation and report. The focus of this paper is to research new skin integrity assessments to improve documentation effect and accuracy, resulting in decreased prevalence of skin breakdown in hospitalized patients. Topics discussed include reviewing current practices and new skin assessment techniques that decrease the prevalence of skin breakdown and pressure ulcers.

Effective communication is essential for a nurse in a leadership position. If a nurse is not able to convey or transfer pertinent information to other team members or clients, conflict or problems can arise. A nurse is able to effectively communicate through creating synergy, establishing a purpose or goal, actively listening, being truthful, and being responsible. When a nurse leader is able to successfully communicate, patient safety increases and medical errors decrease which leads to a higher percentage of positive patient outcomes. Effective communication fosters positive nurse-patient and nurse-team member relationships.

Communication is life long learning skills for nurses. Communication can be in different forms. It can be verbal or non verbal. Communication is important

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.

It is necessary for nurses to be able to communicate clearly with patients, their family members, and their doctors. Jessica Sharon states that the ability to communicate allows

Communication is any form of expressing and receiving of messages between individuals. The importance of Communication in the nursing profession is to maintain high quality care for the patient but also maintain effective collaboration between professionals. Boykins, D (2014) states that the “registered nurse is expected to communicate in various formats and in all areas of practice”. Various formats include speaking to patients and coworkers as well as utilizing appropriate protocols and systems to effectively communicate regards to patient’s status.

The objective of this reflection is to explore and reflect upon a situation from a clinical placement on an orthopedic unit. The incident showed that I did not provide safe, timely and competent care for my patient when the oxygen saturation was low. Furthermore, this reflection will include a description of the incident, and I will conclude with explaining what I have learned from the experience and how it will change my future actions.

According to J.F Giddens, Communication is defined as a process of interaction between individuals in which symbols are used to create, exchange, and interpret messages about ideas, emotions and mind states. (PP) Communication is a lifelong learning process for a nurse. Good communication between nurses and patients is essential for the successful outcome of individualized nursing care of each patient. It is important in building relationships with clients

As a nurse the ability to communicate effectively with other health care and professionals is very important part of our job. Effective communication can help reduce stress and improve quality care for the patient and families. Nurses should advocate for their patients and at the same time collaborate with other professionals to treat patients as a whole. Few communication strategies that nurse use to communicate effectively are shift huddle and multidisciplinary patient rounding during which includes every professional that involve in the patient care. Nurses should also speak clearly and slowly for other to understand the reason of the conversation, active Listening is very important for nurses to use both with patient and with professionals

This evening was our second onsite clinical at Creasy Springs. I had the opportunity to provide care for my patient by myself as well as to work on and fill out an individualized care plan. My goals for today included filling out as much of the care plan as I could, properly administering medications, and being more willing and at hand to provide help for call lights or the CNAs on the wing. I think overall I did achieve my goals to moderate success, however I think my care plan is still going to challenge me and I am eager to begin making my Nursing Diagnosis and such. I definitely answered a lot of call lights, and I felt much more comfortable talking to the residents and staff today, especially the unit nurse who was so friendly and encouraging me to practice my skills. Some of the skills

After looking closer, I see now how the nursing field has changed from the way it was in the past to how it is in the present. I am more knowledgeable of how the documenting, machines used in hospitals, and the role of hospital nurse has changed over the years. With this new information, I am able to better prepare myself to hopefully join the nursing field myself in the coming years. I think nurses should be given more credit about all the changes they deal with in their field. I hope you see that as well.

I have been accepted to the Doctorate of Nursing Practice: Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Mary to officially begin this fall semester. I graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota in 2014 and since then have been employed as an inpatient registered nurse by Sanford Health. I have not participated in research throughout my career and I do not have a lot of knowledge regarding the development of research besides the general understanding I gained throughout undergraduate studies. Throughout these studies, we did a moderate amount of gathering of research using databases to find peer reviewed and relevant data for papers. I did not thoroughly study nursing research but I did gain proficiency in the use of databases to find reliable research. Due to my limited use of research and the study of research, I am not confident in initiating and working on research and evidence based practice projects. Throughout this course, I hope to gain a more in-depth study of research and a better understanding of how to develop, implement, and bring forth research studies to help dedicate my current and future careers to the use of research and evidence based practice.

This semester I felt like I thoroughly met most of my goals. I had the opportunity to revisit the social determinants of health, become more aware of my personal identity, and work with a palliative client, as well as, individuals with involved families. In my practice this semester I worked in Nelson home health at the beginning of the year. This was a wonderful opportunity for me as I got to experience many things that I was unfamiliar with. I loved having the opportunity to go into client’s homes as the power dynamic completely shifted. This experience altered my personal relational care, as I accumulated a better understanding of power-overs and peace-powers. I obtained a better understanding of my own ability to control power in relationships. Additionally, I was able to better understand the social determinants of health and their impacts, as it was a foremost concern in this area of nursing. Barriers to their health and healing were greatly impacted and seen in home health. For example I worked with a client with mobility issues that lived in a rental with numerous stairs, as health care providers we needed to figure out a way to eliminate this barrier to their health. I did lots of education, wound care, and PICC dressings in this setting. I substantially learned about inter-professional collaboration in this rotation. The nurses that work at nelson home health are constantly collaborating with doctors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, pharmacy, the