Orientation Reflection In Community Nursing

Throughout my time on the Mother Baby Care Unit, I have faced many instances in which I have been able to reflect on both my patients and the care that I was providing them. One situation in particular that I found myself critically reflecting upon involved a new mother who was feeling slightly stressed about being discharged as her newborn son would not be going home with her. For confidentiality reasons, this patient will be given the pseudonym of Kayla for the remainder of this reflection.

First Year Seminar is a beneficial, getting started-like course provided by West Coast University during the first term of the program. Since the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is very rigorous this course is helpful in adjusting new students, such as myself, to a very demanding, fast-pace program. This class focuses on topics that help students organize and understand oneself and the mission of WCU mission to achieve the greatest success as a student. In my Signature Assignment term paper I will focus on my experience with FYS and what information I’ve gained to help me understand my learning style, strengths and weaknesses I have as a student, how working collaboratively benefits me and how I will go about achieving success at WCU.

I enjoyed very much this class, especially the clinical. Clinical rotations are a critical key for student nurse practitioner-NP to gain experience. The practicum allowed me to critically reflect upon the way NP carries out his/her duties and responsibilities, which is the cornerstone of the

A number of emotions were felt during this experience, in regards to transitioning from a student nurse to the registered nurse role. Primarily, the transition in role from student nurse to registered nurse was similar to any clinical experience I have had at Midlands Technical College. I was placed in a medical-surgical rotation. I felt slighted that not only were we required to complete a data tool but we also participated in the teamwork model demonstrated in prior semesters. Personally, I did not feel a transition during this particular clinical experience.

Reflection is a process of exploring and examining ourselves, our perspectives, attributes, experiences and actions / interactions. It helps us gain insight and see how to move forward (Nursing Times 2018). I believe reflection is particularly important when it comes to Nursing, as medicine is constantly changing/ improving and us ourselves medical professionals must adapt with the changes in medicine. I find that reflection is extremely useful in doing this as we can look over procedures or experiences that we have had, how that made us feel, whether we would change anything, then in the future we can see the changes that may have been made, whether this has changed our feelings and opinions on medical practice.

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.

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

This objective will affect my future nursing practice because conducting physical head to toe assessments and obtaining vital signs is a different process when working with paediatric patients rather than adults. It is crucial to note any changes that I can catch throughout my assessments, and vital signs since paediatric patients might not be able to communicate with me if they feel any changes in their health. By understanding the anatomy and physiology, the developmental stages of children, and obtaining accurate vital signs and assessments, it will increase my knowledge, skill, ad judgment to successfully complete and distinguish any abnormities and changes during my assessments. Also, knowing the developmental stages and distraction therapy method techniques can help me provide thorough examinations and find ways to help my patients cope if they are feeling anxious and scared.

Elisha (2008) discussed evidence suggested, programs that focused on clinical educators had a positive effect not only with the teachers but also improved the learning environment for students. The school providing opportunities for professional development in curriculum design allows for novice learners to advance their skills (Iwasiw and Goldenberg, 2015). Changes require faculty to expand their views, taking into consideration the future of nursing practice, goals, and how students can be successful in achieving these goals (Iwasiw and Goldenberg, 2015). National League of Nursing (2016) notes that educators have to commit to maintain competency in their educator role with the competency of pursuing continuous quality improvement in the nurse educator role. Educators have to be willing to push themselves to develop the skills for curriculum design and evaluation to continue to provide effective education to nursing students. Success of curriculum development is dependent upon knowledgeable faculty willingness to participate and professional development planned with and for the faculty (Iwasiw and Goldenberg, 2015). Educators will also need to develop skills for evaluation of student learning and part of the curriculum development. Evaluation of student learning is key to determine if the current curriculum allows for students to achieve set goals for the course and evaluation methods used match course objectives (Iwasiw and Goldenberg, 2015). Evaluation helps to understand what works and what areas need improvement to ensure student

The following essay is a reflective account on an event that I, a student nurse encountered whilst on my second clinical placement in my first year of study. The event took place in a Fountain Nursing Home in Granite City. I have chosen to give thought to the event described in this essay as I feel that it highlights the need for nurses to have effective communication skills especially when treating patients that are suffering with a mental illness. Upon arriving to the Nursing home for the second time on Thursday November 14,2013; assigned the same patient as before. On meeting my patient the first thing I noticed myself doing without even thinking about it was giving her a visual inspection. Before nursing school I never really looked at

I reviewed the text and the video. I was impressed by many points made in them. I liked that they paired each competency with a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to perform the job the best possible way and meet the goal to improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems (http://qsen.org/about-qsen/project-overview/). That way if there is insufficiency in one or another category, it can be addressed in timely manner and positive changes implemented. It is also great that they implemented the new knowledge first in the nursing schools, so that the new nurses start on the “right track” and be trained properly in the innovative ways of care. It is also great that the school were given the opportunity and the place (QSEN.org) to exchange experiences and suggestions for teaching and improving the program.

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.

Upon reflection of this assignment, I must refer to my personal journey as an RN to BSN student. Currently, there is an influx of nurses returning to school at the same time and none of us have graduated yet. During my journey as an RN to BSN I have learned that changes are not as easy to implement. In addition I have grown to appreciate that I can no longer make a statement, or ask why a change is being implemented. Furthermore I have developed a sense of appreciation to learning new policies and procedures. I have become more flexible. Prior to my RN to BSN program I had no desire to be apart of any nursing committees. Over time I have developed a sense of awareness as to time management and ways to decrease feelings of burnout.

As higher standards expected are from the public and higher patient safety demands are expected from health boards, therefore, there is a need for a way of measuring standards of practice which can be achieved through active thinking in a clinical environment brought about by critical reflection (Rolfe, Jasper & Freshwater 2011). Reflection has become such a key component in the role of a nurse that the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have seen it fit to include it in their professional code of conduct the Code: Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses and Midwives, hereafter referred to as the Code (Nursing & Midwifery Council [NMC], 2015). With reflection being a vital skill for nurses to continue their professional development (Parrish & Crookes, 2013), an analysis of what it means to reflect within nursing is needed by all who intend to enter the profession to ensure its effective use is applied.

The Royal College of Nursing defines reflection as the process of thinking deeply with the purpose of understanding (RCN 2013). Reflection is a way people recollect, think and evaluate their knowledge which is a vital part of learning. (Boud et al cited in Royal College of Nursing). Reflection allows us to be conscious of any form of discrimination. It enables learning from mistakes and prevents future occurrence (RCN 2013). In addition, Jasper et al (2013) looks at reflection as a way professionals learn through various experiences in their role. They also went further to say, for development to happen in our roles as professionals, there is the need for continuous process of building our knowledge.