Reflection Paper In 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.

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

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.

Hello Students, my name is Teresa Damien MS, APRN-BC. I have been a registered nurse for over a decade and currently practice as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at an academic institution clinically focused in addiction psychiatry. I have worked in multiple areas of nursing over my career prior to mental health that include medical-surgical nursing, respiratory nursing, hospice nursing, home care pedicatric nursing, and nursing education.

This semester, I hope to gain the confidence in my nursing skills necessary to help me work more independently with my patient care. Expanding on my assessment skills, communication skills, clinical judgment skills, and safety skills are important in gaining more independence in my care for my patients. I hope that this semester I can learn how to work with chest tubes, be more direct with what I need from my patient, be more confident with my knowledge in medications, improve my skills in delivering an SBAR, and learning the terminology used at Mayo Clinic and in nursing.

As I near the finish with my journey with Aspen, I realize what I have achieved. I have improved my decision-making skills, attained knowledge in leadership and managerial skills. Also, I have improved my communication skills for leadership positions, increased knowledge in the organizations functioning, and increased knowledge in quality. Therefore, we will review some of the areas, which my goals were achieved.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) outlines fundamental essentials for the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) student to further develop and advance the nursing profession. DNP Essential III, Clinical Scholarship and Analytical Methods for Evidence-Based Practice, focuses on the importance of translating research into clinical practice (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2006). Evidence-based practice is the hallmark goal of research studies and DNP graduates are in a position to assist in the generation of new knowledge and affect evidence-based practice (EBP) from the practice arena (Chism, 2013). In order for research to be translated into practice, the data collected, analyzed and interpreted needs to be the result of proper use and translation of the statistics utilized throughout studies.

The Royal College of Nursing (2015) (RCN), believe professional values are to be followed to create the evolving nurse, with Advocacy highlighted as a fundamental feature. The central thesis of this paper is to reflect my understanding of advocacy against my own clinical practice as a first-year student nurse. The analysis to reflect on this clinical practice will use Driscolls (2007) ‘The What?’ Model, which questions the stages of the learning cycles to reflect on, the incident, what has been learned and the outcome on both current and future practice. Patient Confidentiality will be protected and respected throughout this reflection as described in The Nursing and Midwifery code (2015) (NMC), and The Data Protection Act (1988), all personal information including the patient’s name is considered privileged information and be dealt in a way which does not comprise the patient’s dignity or infringe upon their right to privacy.

I am writing to the Texas Board of Nursing with a written explanation of the events that occurred on the night of October 1, 2011 in Saline, Michigan. On this night I made an irresponsible decision to consume alcohol while being 17 years of age with a group of peers before attending my senior homecoming dance. A police officer that was chaperoning the dance noticed a smell of alcohol lingering with our group and pulled us aside. After being questioned and breathalysed, our parents / guardians were contacted to come pick us up from the school.

I can remember serving in the Air Force as a nurse and working with the chief of nursing. During my training period, things just seemed so difficult and hard for me to grasp under such a stressful environment. The chief of medical was very detail oriented and she would always pushed us to think outside of the box. We would go through different mock code scenarios as if we were out in the battlefield for two weeks. If we did not respond to the level of her expectations, she would make us redo the mock code scenario over again. There were many days in which we felt frustrated, giving up and crying. In the end, we realized that the chief of nursing was just trying to build our character, instill confidence and prepare us for future of being in a war zone.

This self-reflective paper focuses on what I’ve learned about myself this semester regarding my strengths, and weaknesses. Concentrating on areas of my professional practice that need improvement and discussing two goals I have created for myself, and how I plan on achieving them. This semester I have discovered I have two key strengths those being a dedication to the Practical Nursing Program, and seeking help in the program when I need it. Both being potential strengths in my nursing career. I have some weaknesses to work on as a student and a future nurse.

The following reflection demonstrates my awareness for my own cultural influences. Through the cultural lenses of a student nurse and a tennis member. They have impacted the way I view others and is a guidance to my bicultural professional health care relationship.

Research, while an intimidating topic to beginners, is an essential reality to the graduate nurse practitioner. Becoming proficient in critiquing the design of research studies and analyzing the results takes practice and perseverance. Thus, reflecting on one’s current state and setting goals for improvement aids one’s development in these areas. Throughout this paper, the author will disclose her current academic studies, as well as relevant background in research. Next, three research-related goals will be created based upon the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of Bloom’s taxonomy. The positivist and constructivist paradigms will be explored with their relevance to nursing research, and the author will discuss which paradigm is most appealing to her and why. Lastly, the author will share her personal beliefs regarding the role of the graduate nurse practitioner in promoting research and evidence-based practice findings, and will discuss her comfort level in initiating evidence-based practice projects.

The nursing profession has been around for a very long time. Through many changes and reforms, it has drastically evolved into the nursing profession we have today. Nurses have an important role within the healthcare industry in the treatment and medical care of the sick. These trusted healthcare professionals continue to make up the largest majority of the healthcare field, as well as the fastest growing occupation. Nursing is a job that allows people to not only care for the sick but also to experience, learn and further their interest in the human body. This course has definitely provided me an insight to the roots of the profession I would like to pursue. I think it is important to know the history of nursing to understand fully on the problems that are affecting the profession. I believe that we cannot effectively address important issues without a foundation of historical knowledge. In other words, by examining the nursing history, I will be able to appreciate my important role as a nurse in the healthcare system. The topics I will be including in my reflection are the works of Florence Nightingale, the affects of World War II, the challenges of Filipinos aspiring to be nurses, and excerpts in Chapter 10 of “A History of American Nursing.”

Furthering nursing research is essential, as it forms the basis for evidence-based practice in healthcare today. With this in mind, developing the skills to critically appraise research articles is of the utmost importance in order to determine the relevance of research findings for clinical practice. As I pursue a doctorate degree in nursing practice, I am reminded of the necessity of these skills. Thus, in the following paragraphs, I will reflect on the research goals I developed at the beginning of the Critique and Design of Nursing Research course, and will discuss my views on the role of the graduate nurse in regard to